Live

Let go desire and want and live in the moment, says the Buddha. Good advice amidst the disorienting, anxiety provoking, cacophony of shallow human constructs in this 'modern' age. 'Success’, ‘power’, money, ‘prestige’, religion, nation - all human invention, none of them real. All of them tickets for a chance to grab the imaginary brass ring of ‘happiness’, forever just out of reach. Round and round we go. 

Shame we are not wired to live just in the moment. Buddhism then, just another drug to help us tolerate the intolerable - our shallow constructs - our 'modern world'. 

So much of human construct is based in myth and make believe. Invented for social cohesiveness in an age of short, difficult, lives, thousands of years ago, most have seen their day - especially in light of the destructive potential  of our modern-day technology. Almost all human constructs are hierarchical, guaranteeing conflict and unnecessary human suffering. 'Success' - we live, we die, we try to be nice along the way. A few create and/or discover truths of our universe. Established to insure societal cohesiveness, it is not real - and as such will never be attained. 'Power' - greed by force. Two dimensional, false, and shallow. Self made kingdoms of ego and greed and an utter waste of time. Money, at once establishing wealth and poverty guaranteeing global suffering, conflict, and environmental harm. 'Prestige' - Pompous after thought invented by the untalented who lay partial claim to the work of geniuses, who had no time for it. Religion - a focal point of intolerance and hatred. How many have perished in battles over which god and which followers are best? How much hatred in the name of 'god'? How much harm? Nation - us versus them with an emphasis on us - despite sharing just one fragile globe. Unsustainable, and in today's world, pure illusion. 

We must rid ourselves of so much of this. All were once used to hold societies together in an harsh, confusing world. But our understanding of our universe has increased exponentially and with it the need for myth, magic, money, and make believe, gone. What has held society together for millennia now promises to destroy us. We must move away from these self-invented constructs, not by blocking them out in moments of mindfulness, but rather by evolving past them.

 

But if we discard human construct where would we be? We need focus, reference points, goals, or we go insane.

Imagine a simple rose. Nature has taken soil, water, sunlight, and air and turned it into a rose. Right there in front of you – a miracle. Soft scented petals just days before atoms of atmosphere and dirt. Ancient atoms now arranged to simple perfection. All around you, ancient atoms arranged into everything there is, as ancient atoms were arranged into you. You, as the rose, are every bit a part of the immense complexity of breath taking beauty that is this universe. Parts of a whole drifting through space-time as does the sun, blades of grass, entire galaxies, dew on a petal – as does everything - as do you.

Close your eyes. You live on a planet that spins at 1,000 mph on its axis, 90 million miles from the sun - a continual thermonuclear explosion a million times earth’s size. Say hello to our ancient companion the moon as it circles us in a perfectly locked orbit 200,000 miles away. Know that our sun, with us in tow, is in orbit around our galaxy, a grouping of 100 billion other suns 100,000 lights years across. Trillions upon trillions of miles across. And within its spiral arms trillions upon trillions of ancient atoms – arranged and scattered and arranged yet again over billions of years. Trees and sky and stars and galaxies and atoms and quarks and you. This, your reality. 

Focus on that. Know that. Live that. Belong to that. Reference yourself to space-time, to reality, and live. Learn your reality, let go useless human construct, and live.