Thursday, August 6, 2009

The 2012 problem

I'm sure many of you are by now familiar with all the hype surrounding the supposed importance of 2012. The problem I'm finding with all the chatter is that there are as many ideas out there surrounding what's "supposed to" occur in 2012 as there are people imagining they know the truth of it. For starters:

The Mayan calendar "end date" falls on December 21, 2012. Or it falls on October 31, 2011. (Take your pick. The two main calendar researchers - Calleman and Jenkins - have long been engaged in a flame war over this.)

The Mayans themselves were predicting:

1) The end of the world
2) a cataclysmic decimation of our planet and a massive loss of human life
3) a harmonic shift in human consciousness that will elevate our species
4) the apocalypse
5) the close return of our sun's twin star and its accompanying gravitational disturbances
6) our planetary alignment with the energy field in the galactic center
7) the ushering in of a new world order
8) an instantaneous resolution to all our social problems
9) the arrival of higher-dimensional visitors from other worlds: i.e. alien contact
10) the division of our species into "enlightened ones" and those who are "left behind."
11) nothing much at all - it's just another date
12) the conversion of material-bodied humans into immortal, ethereal light beings
13) a dimensional shift in our reality
14) nobody knows

Of course, not all of the above can be true. In fact its quite possible that none of them are accurate predictions of what we might experience when 2012 does roll along. These proposals are kind of like religion in that way. People have cherished many thousands of religious dogmas over the eons (most of which have long been abandoned by now.) So what are the odds that the beliefs of any current religious system will prove to be 100% correct? Why, for that matter, must we "believe in" anything at all? Why can't we just embrace the unknown and allow cosmic reality to unfold in its own sweet time?

What troubles me most about the whole 2012 thing is this: once again it looks like humanity is placing a bet on our hopes of an outside trigger to impel us to "fix" or change what needs to be done here on Earth. If 2012 is the "end times" for this incarnation of human reality, what's the point in doing any work to fix things in the here and now? I fear we place too much emphasis on messiahs, saviors, alien beings, cosmic vibrational tones, etc. and too little on turning within to discover what we can do to alleviate human suffering right now. It's a childlike approach to life, which served us well as children but doesn't do much to solve the problems we're creating as troubled juveniles.

I respectfully suggest that it's time for us to take some adult responsibility for the mess we find ourselves in, to let go of our wishful thinking about being "rescued" from ourselves, and to roll up our sleeves and decide what kind of a world we wish to build. Then we should build it and become it NOW - not wait for 2012 to bring it about so we don't have to.

It's wonderful for us to have a vision of a new humanity, but it's also imperative that we actively take steps toward creating it ourselves in this, the real world, rather than wait longingly for the universe to provide it all for us. After all, the universe has given us arms, legs and strong healthy backs; minds, hearts and a powerful intuition. These tools can be found in all our respective tool belts, and we have the skills and energy to wield them. So what on planet Earth are we waiting for?

If 2012 comes around and nothing significant happens, the tendency of the perpetual dreamers will be to come up with an alternative date for the next messianic arrival of cosmic salvation. I say instead we pull together today and begin creating the world we want to share anew. If something significant does happen in 2012, wonderful! Let's greet it with open hearts and embrace the change. If not, at least we'll have moved toward a better future for ourselves and our living planet. All this new-age business about us being able to "mind manifest" what we want doesn't work; not unless we put our shoulders to the wheel and actually do what reality reequires of us to create what we want. At least, that's the limitation we're stuck with until the cosmos decides we're ready to play with some brand new tools. I suspect it'll evolve us after we've demonstrated adequate mastery over the many and amazing tools we've already been gifted.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Right to Life?

When it comes to the United States Declaration of Independence, the following sentence is the line we most often hear quoted:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

My heart soars whenever I hear those words, for they are truths that resonate down to my very soul. The unalienable right to life - what a beautiful acknowledgment of the preciousness, the sanctity, the exquisite wonder of life itself. Why then, do we not honor that fundamental belief by acknowledging that every human being on the face of planet Earth is entitled - endowed by creation itself with the unalienable right! - to their own little slice of tangible space in which they can actually live?

The right to life is not merely a lofty ideal to be admired - it's the founding principle of a nation that supposedly values life above all else, including profits. The capitalistic society we've constructed however, has tilted that scale in favor of profits over the rights and needs of living human beings. When banks foreclose on distressed families, it forces them into the streets where it's illegal for them to even lay down and sleep. Vagrancy (homelessness) is against the law in most cities in this country.

How fascinating that is. We've actually made it illegal for people who can't afford to buy space to occupy any space at all. What options do we suppose are available to such people? Do they have magical anti-gravity tethers that enable them to float above the ground, so as not to "disturb?"

I surely can't be the only person who sees the nonsensical disconnect between what we as Americans say we value, and what we're doing to each other for the sake of money.

As a citizen, I've paid taxes for as long as I can remember. Those taxes have gone to support many government programs I agree with, and many more I actively dislike - including the massive banking bailout now known as "Tarp." It's an appropriate name, given that trillions of our tax dollars have been tossed beneath a blanket whose corners are being held by AIG, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup and Bank of America. Those dollars then disappeared before our eyes, in a rather magical "now you see it, now you don't" kind of way. Meanwhile, those same financial institutions are conducting themselves in a "business as usual" fashion. They've raised our credit card interest rates, lifted our mortgage interest rates and added fees and fines to the bills of those who are in financial trouble. Their earnings are therefore coming back to profitability, but it's happening at the expense of the same living beings who just spent trillions to keep their businesses afloat. What were we thinking? Were we thinking? We saved the very institutions that are pressing their weight upon our necks. Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen that made us do so. But in any case, it's time we reconsider that decision for the good of us all.

I say we simply repossess the banks, cancel everyone's debts to them and redistribute all the foreclosed homes in America to those who are still in need. We can also take over the many hotels that have gone into foreclosure and are now bank-owned due to the recession, and install some homeless people in their empty rooms. Last but not least, all the national parks we currently pay to support could be turned into temporary refugee camps for the downtrodden, at least until we figure out how to provide them all with a place to live.

If we truly support and believe in the inalienable right to life, how is it possible to divorce that right from actual space to live in? On the other hand, if we'd rather continue to put private enterprise profitability before the right to life, perhaps we should write a constitutional amendment that goes something like this:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men must find the means to afford to live, that our banks have been endowed by their Creators with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are the right to pursue a profit at the expense of Humankind, to deprive people of their right to utilize our public spaces and to cut short their pursuit of Happiness unless all their bills are paid."

Think about it...please.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Welcome to the Universe Project

Welcome friends, to the Universe Project website. UP, if you're into acronyms, which we kind of are because they're mostly silly and fun. (For what it's worth, UP sounds a whole lot better to us than DOWN or OUT or HEY, so there you have it.)

Although our name may sound ambitious, the only mission of this website is to encourage people from all walks of life to come joyfully together for a single, common purpose: to do what we can to encourage our species to move more deeply into alignment with the trajectory of universal creation.

What, you ask, is the trajectory of universal creation? Good question. And the answer is...UP, at least the way we see it. You may disagree. If so, feel free to start your own website with your own acronym and ideas. We're not attached to being right, we just enjoy feeling really good about life. If you too like life then you've come to a welcoming place. Sit back and relax.

Next question...you, over there in the red t-shirt. Yes, you. Come on now, don't be shy.

How, you ask, will we know if we're stepping into the cosmic flow, or if we're stepping into something, well...much smellier and worse?

For starters, being in the cosmic flow feels good! To embrace life, to honor nature and its movement toward higher order and greater consciousness, is to recognize what we've been evolving toward since humankind took its first, stumbling steps upon this planet. It's to know ourselves as part of an infinite and eternal process, connected to all that has ever gone before us and all that will ever come later. It's to let go of the need to know all the answers, and instead be free to ask questions, like: who the heck am I, and why on Earth am I here?

It's a good idea not to strain our brains by trying to answer those questions. Any answers we come up with at this early stage in our development will only limit our capacity to change. And if there's a single constant in this immense and awesome universe of ours, it's change. So we mustn't be afraid of change, of stepping into the vast, uncharted unknown of our tomorrow. After all, there isn't anything out there but the unknown. (Another word for it is reality.)

Being afraid of reality doesn't serve much purpose. It's like being afraid of breathing. There's no percentage in fearing what we must do. Life's going to happen whether we like it or not, so we might as well figure out how to enjoy the ride, and perhaps make it better.

What we're proposing here is this: anyone who has a curious mind, an open heart and a desire to connect with others who also don't have much clue as to what it's all about but who too feel an impulse inside themselves to seek out answers - just swing by our home page now and again and offer into the mix what it is you're experiencing or wish to know. We're here to learn from each other, to share our thoughts and feelings and perhaps to teach...but mainly to learn.

Whatever comes of this endeavor, be it magnificent or the mildest of whimpers, I believe our universe is smiling down on us all, the way an indulgent parent might gaze upon its not-too-bright (yet still promising) young child, in hopes that the child will someday outgrow its obnoxious, awkward phase and come into its own - whatever that is. While we may not have an answer yet, let's hope we will make our parental unit proud.

For now then, it's over and UP.