"There is a sphere where there is neither earth nor water nor heat nor air, for it is beyond the field of matter; nor is it the sphere of infinite space, or consciousness, for it is beyond the field of mind. There is not the condition of nothingness, neither is there the state of this world or another world, nor sun nor moon. This is the uncreated condition I call neither arising nor passing away, neither dying nor being born. It is without form and without change. It is the eternal, which never originates and never passes away. To find it is the end of sorrow."
-Udana Sutta
I recall from a very young age wondering exactly where I came from. My world in Whitesburg, Ky was full of mountains, loving folks and family, loud trucks and gentle little lambs. It was a world of wonder as the world is for all youth--humans and animals alike. Images of rambunctious cubs and pups come to mind.
But then I would think, hmmmm, before I was born--for ME at least--there was nothing, nothingness. Then April 8, 1955--BOOM! I suppose I was slapped as many babies are to get them breathing, to get them REALLY ACQUAINTED with the nature of the world they'll have to navigate. There's just gotta be some meaning to a newly born child's first ever sensory experience being VIOLENCE.
Sure, the slap is done as a loving act to save the child by getting him/her to survive. But I am beginning to really believe that this seeming innocuous act might have a truly lasting influence that in part leads to our violent world--a world that sees war as necessary to create peace, a world that glorifies violence, whether on the field of battle or the fields of football.
Psychologists could tell us more than my own musings, but according to their well established principles the fact that much of humankind enters the world with the FIRST experience being a slap, one intentionally hard enough to cause a shout of pain, must result in a psychological IMPRINTING in the subconscious of those most impressionable minds. Has to.
There must be a better way to introduce humanity in the world. I know if our mindset was one of peace, we would find such a way. Or is the world just destined to be a place as full of violence, fear and hate as it is of beauty, peace and love?
It really gets to a "what came first, God or the Universe?" If the Universe came first--Big Bang or otherwise--then the subsequent evolution of humans with their capacity for both emotions AND critical thought, then God was simply created by humanity in order to rationalize their world. Later such religion would be termed "an opiate for the masses." In this case, the words of those fatalistic realists who say "there will always be war, rich, poor and injustice evermore" are a reminder of the futility of even attempting to seek higher ground. So go ahead and slap the little tot.
However, if God came first--as I believe--then the result in our little sphere called Earth is that He allows nature to take its course. It's not so much that He prevents bad from happening, although He is there to comfort the faithful when afflicted. But He has repeatedly shown and taught us the way to do on Earth as it is in Heaven--a land with peace, love and justice. For Christians, that message was perfected in Jesus. But there have been many sages and signs--from Confucius, Moses, Muhammad, the Dalai Llama, Gandhi and many more.
The more we listen and follow those sages, and I will now refer to Jesus as His is the plan with which I am most familiar, the closer we will come to this perpetual land of milk and honey. This is an evolution of thought and faith in which humanity has no doubt made progress on a path still long and crooked.
How far till perfect peace on Earth? Who knows as we can only look backwards from this point in history. But envision looking back from the year 4004 . Folks then will be so much closer to the ideal that they will look back to 2004 and say something like "they actually slapped new-born babies?" They will undoubtedly marvel at much of what we now take for granted as being acceptable, just as we now detest slavery and wonder how on earth that was ever appropriate.
Perhaps one such phenomena will be how this society would allow a few millions of people to keep trillions in savings while many billions have nothing. Maybe it will be how insular "nations" so focus on their own immediate wants and needs that they fail to see the ill-effects on their long term interests by enriching themselves while neglecting--and often degrading--others. [Okay these may reflect my own personal observations and biases in which I MAY be wrong. In any event I am certainly part and parcel of that system.]
By then we will all be gone in our current fleshly form. Will it be a return to the same nothingness as the one I mused about as a little boy? Or will it be "the eternal, which never originates and never passes away"?
Richard F. Dawahare
18 September, 2004
