What happens when we ignore the insights of those who offer to be our guides, those who help us find our way in this life we are given? What happens when we rely on our old, conditioned habits and the beliefs, attitudes and values of our family and community simply because we have always done so? “‘Our brains are statistical organs that are built simply to predict what will happen next,’ said Karl Friston, a Professor of neuroscience at University College London. This makes sense, in prehistoric times, faulty predictions could lead to some very unpleasant outcomes–like a tiger eating you. So-called prediction errors (like surprise salmon instead of turkey on Thanksgiving) send us into a tizzy because our brains interpret them as a potential threat. Rituals and habits arise from the primitive part of our brains telling us, ‘Keep doing what you’ve been doing, because you did it before, and you didn’t die.’”[i]
We didn’t die, however, neither did we learn to live in harmony with the tigers. Our old behavioral habits, including the self-destructive habit of thinking, must be transcended or a life filled with the fear, pain and suffering that most of us experience will continue. Luckily, we have the aforementioned insightful guides whose advice remains available to all those with an open mind and an open heart.
As we begin our voyage in search of Reality, the sine qua non of the principles we utilize is that they must be logical, above all. Do the insights that we are collecting to build our cruise ship (our worldview) hold water? Because if there are any leaks, the whole vessel goes down.
We offer here the following design characteristics, a blueprint which we believe offers a watertight ship. Come aboard fellow voyageur. You are about to embark on the most important cruise of your lifetime.
As we stand on the bridge of our ship, taking the readings that will tell us where we are on the charts spread before us, we can see two possible choices: (1) unsafe, afraid, self-destruction; or (2) peace of mind, sustainability. It depends on how we read the charts.
When Albert Einstein was asked what is the most important question for voyagers on the sea of life he responded: “Is the Universe friendly?” A profound answer to his question tells us where our species IS on this voyage. It answers the First Great Question: Where are we? If only we believed it.
Most of us on this global voyage have answered the question of “Is the Universe friendly” with a resounding “NO!” Our course setting can always be changed but, at this point, the passengers and crew of the good ship Global Village are beset by rough weather and hostile or indifferent fellow sailors.
Why so many problems? Why can’t we seem to find smooth sailing or many friendly fellow travelers? Cartoonist Walt Kelly in his strip “Pogo” answered that question. He has the Pogo character saying: “We have met the enemy and it is us.” Precisely! We can sail out of the bad weather and find that our shipmates are wonderful people, but we must set our course according to specific principles and “readings.”
The first principle is to take responsibility for our part in creating the experience of our voyage. And secondly we must choose a friendly universe as our context (worldview).
Jesus of Nazareth joins the more insightful of our navigation advisors to help us reach a healthier narrative, a calmer sea. When asked the answer to Einstein’s Universe question, he spoke of the “gospel” or the “good news.” In other words, he urged us to choose a worldview that would calm the seas and see our fellow travelers, in all fundamental respects, as perfect Creations in a perfect Universe. This paradigm shift would bring harmony and calm to our voyage.
Seth, another of our navigation advisors joins us on the bridge, and confirms that indeed, we do create our own Reality by the choices we make. It is not surprising that the experience we are having aboard ship is affected by our outlook on life.
Edgar Cayce arrives and emphasizes that the story of our species, when profoundly understood, reveals that all aspects of our perfect Creation are inter-connected, inter-related and inter-dependent. He emphatically shouts “Oneness. Oneness. Oneness.”
It is clear that our choice of worldview, i.e., our narrative or context, has everything to do with how we experience our cruise.
Well, now I have seen everything. Look, who just wandered onto the bridge and is bending over the charts, the Bard himself. An insight from Shakespeare will help us steer a truer course. In Hamlet Act 2 Scene 2 he writes: “Why, then; ‘tis none to you, for there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Maybe now we can begin to see how important Einstein’s question was: “Is the Universe friendly?” If we don’t think we are safe, then we are afraid; and if the principal expression of our energy is fear, then our behavior is self-destructive.
But what if we choose a context that gives us peace of mind? Or as Jiddu Krishnamurti waving us over is about to tell us: The attitude that must be attained in a sustainable worldview is “I don’t mind what’s happening.”
It is clear that a key attribute in having a pleasant voyage is self-reliance with complete trust in the Creator’s benevolence. Oh! Here comes Joseph Campbell. He told me a story once related to a friendly Creator. He was in Japan concluding a tour of a Shinto shrine and walked over to thank an elderly priest who had been the guide. “You did a wonderful job of explaining the Shinto rites, rituals and symbols but I have one question. What is your theology?” The old man smiled and replied: “No theology. We dance.”
And while it’s true that the foregoing principles of navigation must be rational–and they are–they must above all be heartfelt. Without sensibility no sailor will be able to read the divine guidance splashed across the heavens.
Now we have enough basic navigation principles to reset our course to avoid the savage seas and howling gales of the “Bermuda Triangle.” We can now look forward to entering the “Port of Tranquility.”
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Supplemental Reading: The Spiritual Path, The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol 2
#75 Where’s the Leak?
[i] Murphy, Kate. “Pandemic-Proof Your Habits.” The New York Times Book Review. November 29, 2020, p. 10.
