Gordon Robinson | We are all one

I’ve written that real power comes only from inner strength and that true inner strength only comes from unity.

Anything contrary you may have been taught is a lie. That feeling of stubborn determination that comes from “going it alone” isn’t inner strength. It’s fear. Action based on fear only ensures the fear becomes reality and you’ll need that stubborn determination to fight that reality. The problem with “going it alone” is it’s fundamentally a fight against this existence’s essence. In this world, “separateness” or “going it alone” is illusion.

To understand this we must recognise who we really are. I’ve also written we are, in reality, little pieces of God sent to this existence to experience relativity or what Chinese philosophers call yin and yang.

Yin and yang is a fundamental principle of Chinese Philosophy, dating back to well before Christ was born, that proclaims all things exist as inseparable and contradictory opposites, for example, female-male, dark-light and old-young. The pairs of equal opposites attract and complement each other. If you accept that we all come from God; if you accept that everything on the Earth comes from God (as is taught in Genesis) then you have no logical option but to accept the principle of yin and yang.

So there’s no such thing as separateness. That illusion was created by unenlightened man to explain differences in appearances and personalities. But appearance difference is illusion created in the eye of the beholder. Personality differences are essential ingredients of yin and yang. Let’s take a closer look at this “appearance difference” thingy. Take, for example, your dining table. It’s solid and stationary. Right? WRONG! A microscope will prove it’s anything but solid (mostly empty space) and that each of its particles are in constant motion. Even the stability of the ground under your feet is illusion as we now know that it’s spinning on an axis and travelling around the sun.

NO TIME FOR SPIRITUAL ENLIGHTENMENT

The human body is no different. Our minds have tricked us into seeing differences in size, shape, colour and, of course “beauty”. Too many of us work too hard at being “beautiful” (or “wealthy”) to the point where we have no time for spiritual enlightenment. Enlightened seekers of spiritual truth know we are all just energy. If we focused on our innate ability to use the microscope within our minds which causes illusion to dissipate we would see we all look exactly the same. Since we originated identically (from God) this revelation ought not to surprise anybody. But misplaced ambition (and hormonal impulses) prevents us from reaching for that microscope.

So “separateness” is a lie. We are separate from nobody and nothing in this existence. Everything came from God and, in time, will return to God.

If we acted as if we believed this fundamental spiritual truth we’d heal the world. If we truly understood that we are all from One; are One; and will return to One; we’d understand that the only power we should be seeking is power “with” not power “over” anyone else.

In a most insightful letter to the editor published on Tuesday, January 25, celebrated community activist Horace Levy seemed to opine (and, if so, I agree) that the creation of the new Ministry of Legal and Constitutional Affairs is intended “to bring the constitutional changes that will allow freer use of states of emergency (SOEs)”.

He wrote “This madness in the face of raging murder will indeed be the product of the go-it-alone rather than national approach that I recently highlighted.” Hank Kingsley’s (as played by Jeffrey Tambor) word used to warm up audiences for The Larry Sanders Show is the best response

Applesauce!

Horace’s follow-up analysis was spot on:

“Determined to follow its selected SOE road, and not being able to change the mind of the PNP, the PM has taken the next step of changing the Constitution. Doing that, with Delroy Chuck’s Ministry of Justice apparently unwilling, has meant, for Holness, establishing an entirely new ministry under Marlene Malahoo Forte.”

Again, applesauce! This is how to pick sense out of nonsense using an incisive analytical combo of logic and clear thinking while tossing tribal political worship out of every window. It should’ve been Letter of the Day!

Horace correctly warns:

“The Constitution is not a stone monument. It needs amendment in some very important areas, for example, the structure of the Senate, our ultimate court of justice, etc. However, it cannot be treated as a tool to be manipulated to suit every political party-selected policy.”

If we keep trying to achieve national objectives by imposing our “certainties” on others instead of seeking unity via collaboration we are doomed to failure. If your plan is a “go-it-alone” plan it cannot succeed regardless of merit.

But Horace put it better than I ever could:

“Underlying the go-it-alone approach is a powerful individualism. As a driving component also of the Jamaican personality, it works against the sense of community, of oneness with other members of the country who require and deserve care…..”

The problem is that, in the JLP, go-it-alone individualism has deep roots. Seaga’s ‘my way or the highway’ we well remember. But that was directed only at dissenting party members, not at the nation. In fact, when, in 1983, the JLP got the House to itself because of the PNP’s boycott of the election, Seaga took steps to have their voice in the Senate … .

This is kareck! And also a vital part of Jamaica’s political history which should be a compulsory subject in every secondary school.

In 1983, Edward Seaga had the opportunity to go-it-alone handed to him by a combination of:

• a corrupt winner-take-all governance system imposed on us by England and retained by weak-minded acceptance of mental slavery;

• a petulant PNP that saw defeat about to be grabbed from what it considered the jaws of victory.

Seaga could easily have taken a dictatorial approach. Instead he sought to advance true democracy as best the flawed system would allow him to do. This eventually led to his political demise in 1989. That attempt at national unity hasn’t been repeated since.

Humans have continued to pursue this illusion of power over other humans despite repeated examples of the failure of so crude an aspiration and of the successes of unified action. For example, the difference in the benefits of labour to unionised and non-unionised workers is stark. But, even among unionised workers, those unions seeking a mutual approach with owners of capital achieve far more for members than those encouraging contention.

FEAR AS A TOOL

Every person or institution lusting for, seeking then desperately obsessed with holding on to the illusion of power, has used fear as the tool to achieve these ambitions. The Church is a prime example. “Fear of God”, the Being from whence we all came, is drilled into weak minds by pastors as the way to eternal peace. How, in God’s name, can fear ever bring peace? Or harmony? Or enlightenment? That teaching aide is a thinly veiled Machiavellian threat used to capture minds with fear and keep the flock tithing.

But it gets even more ridiculous as we are also taught to fear Satan, the horned Devil that tempts us with evil like sin (especially sins of the flesh). So we must fear Good (God) and we must fear Evil (Satan). What rubbish! Satan. Is. Not. Real! But there are no more fertile breeding grounds for fear than rage brought about from sexual frustration or interracial/cultural distrust. No organisation recognises the value of these human frailties as tools of mind manipulation more than the Church and political parties. So this stupid fallacy that humans must deprive themselves of consensual sexual relations until some pastor blesses a “marriage” in church because premarital sex is a “sin” encouraged by Satan is just another misuse and abuse of religion to spread fear. Equally, the insane idea that you should hate and fear your political opponent or neighbouring resident to the extent that separatist states are created within small communities based on political or criminal affiliation with “sovereignty” enforced by armed gangs is just another misuse and abuse of variegated politics.

Recognise that we are all one. Recognise that real strength, like God, lies only within. Recognise that this true strength can only come from unity. Recognise that disunity breeds soul destroying emotions like fear, anger and contention. Recognise that real power coming from inner strength can overcome any obstacle without trying to enslave, oppress or dictate to others.

If you can achieve this power by clearing your mind of man-made distraction and manipulation you will find the true and eternal bliss that comes from oneness. You will find and keep….

Peace and Love.

- Gordon Robinson is an attorney-at-law. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.