The Re-Awakening of Compassion ...

Take a little trip back in history with me ... not all the way back to 6,000 years ago this time ... just a wee bit back (relatively speaking), into the early 18th century ... the early 1700's. Let's pick England, as it was considered to be "quite civilized" at that time.

You and I would be utterly shocked at the utter void of compassion that was displayed at that time, in that "advanced" place. Executions were spectator sports ... "hanging day" was a banking holiday, with people showing up in droves, to witness the killing of another person (who had committed such petty crimes as pickpocketing, vandalism, or indebtedness). People were branded on their cheeks, to indicate what crimes had been committed ... including begging, or starting fights. Children were treated beyond-cruelly ... infants who were unwanted were thrown into open drains and sewers ... parents would even maim/cripple their children so that they could be better beggars. Animal torture was prolific, with cock-fighting, and ratting. People with disabilities were considered to be "possessed with evil spirits" ... babies with deformities (as well as their mothers!) were often killed, or exiled. Charity was rare .... seen as absurd.

Compassion was scarce, if in evidence at all ...

Compare that with today. Now, by no means am I claiming that we don't still have cases of cruelty happening ... but it's seen as abhorrent by most ... and we speak out. We no longer hang children for stealing ... we don't allow for animal cruelty, and a large number of people give regularly to charity. We have compassion. We've got a long way to go, to be sure, but we've come a long way in just under 400 years.

So, what happened? What changed, between 1700, and now..?

What is compassion? It's a product of the imagination -- being able to "put ourselves in another's shoes". Feeling what another feels ... feeling *with* them. Compassion is transcending ego-isolation -- connecting with another. Tapping into a shared identity with others.

As Steve Taylor eloquently puts it:

"... this new spirit of compassion can be seen as the expression of a collective psychic change that seems to be taking place within human beings: a gradual movement beyond ego-separateness. The first wave was something that individual human beings made happen, but this -- the second wave -- is something that seems to be happening to us... Whereas the first wave was a tiny undercurrent,the second wave is a mass movement, involving a sizeable proportion of the human race."[emphasis mine]

Going back to our portal into the 18th century ... from 1750 or so on, it was a tremendously transitional time to be alive ... for 6,000 years, slavery had been taken for granted, as a human "right". But in the 1700's, it began to be questioned ... is this good? And the anti-slavery movement was born. So too, it was unquestioned that some humans were *better* than others ... but it was being re-thought ... is it true? And a new model of democracy began to spread. For almost 6,000 years, it was unquestioningly assumed that men were superior to women -- that women were vastly inferior and fit to be beaten. But during this transitional time, the women's rights movement was birthed. The question of the rights of animals to live free from cruelty was pondered ... and the SPCA was formed. The treatment of criminals was reformed ... branding was outlawed, stocks/pillories were abolished, along with flogging and the rack, along with all forms of torture. Corporal punishment of children was opposed ... a sense of empathy for the suffering disabled children grew ... with a growing realization that we needed to care for everyone, including the very young, and the very old.

It wasn't perfect - not by a long shot (for instance, the "enlightened" founders of the USA only considered while male landowners to be free to vote ... and certainly the abysmal treatment of the Native Americans attests to the prevalence of the egoic/separate psyche). BUT ... something was happening ... transformation was observable.

Also during this era, the artists, authors and musicians began to demonstrate a profoundly new attitude toward nature, including the body. Romance literature emerged ... with poetry reflecting the inner life, not just the brute/logical conquests of conquerors. The artists were becoming aware of Something More than meets the senses. Catch the beauty of Wordsworth's poetry:

And I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy
Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
Of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man:
A motion and a spirit, that impells
All thinking things, all objects of all thought,
And rolls through all things.

This newfound (remembered!) sense of empathy extended to all living things, and to all of nature ... rather than being merely detached observers of the world, they participated in it..!

War also changed ... rather than being merely a conquest for land ... it became more about liberating others from oppression. WWI was the last war to be openly welcomed by those who participated in it ... and because it was so devastating, the League of Nations was established, to ensure that nothing like it ever happened again. Unfortunately, such harsh punitive measures were taken against Germany, this led to them instigating what led to WWII.

(Shame never helps -- it always harms.)

It's interesting that Europe has been peaceful for the past 60 years ... after centuries and centuries of previously ceaseless fighting ....

Obviously, we have a long way to go regarding war..!

What else has been changing, in this "second wave" of compassion...?

- Attitudes toward sex and the body - our sense of shame has been fading.

- Gender boundaries ("what men do" and "what women do") have been blurring ... giving rise to empowered women, and "new men" (those who seem less influenced by the power of the fallen-ego, who are more sensitive, more empathetic, and less aggressive -- more secure in being, than in doing).

- More empathy toward nature ... a growing number of people becoming vegetarian/vegan ... animal rights ... a connection to all life, a reverence for life ... and a growing sense of responsibility/stewardship for the planet we all share.

- The decline of theistic religion ... more openness to what the Eastern/mystical religions/mindsets have to offer ... less focus on "consolation" and more emphasis on "transformation."

- A desire for reparation ... repairing the past harms done against indigenous peoples ... a desire for correcting injustices.

None of this paints a false picture of a Utopia. That's not even the goal (really - think about it -- it would bore the snot out of all of us). We have much work to do, much awakening to experience ... we're still in the "pig sty" coming to our senses ... never before have we seen such rampant materialism/greed being manifested ... never before have we seen such damage done to the environment ... and every day we hear of atrocities committed by humans, against humans.

And YET -- for the first time in the past 6,000 years of history, we are experiencing a growing movement away from the pathologies of the fallen/egoic psyche ... even if it is still, admittedly, a minority. We appear to be experiencing a shift -- moving from a "dominator" society into a "partnership" society ... a clear indication that humans are changing *on the inside* ... just as they first changed on the inside, 6,000 years ago. The signs of increasing empathy strongly suggest that the "walls of separation", borne of the egoic fall, are coming down...!

Why is this happening to us?

It appears that, in order to survive (even ourselves), we are becoming *more alive* ... that we are evolving into a higher consciousness (yeah, I'm well aware of how "woo-woo" this may sound -- stay with me!).

It may be happening because it *has* to ... otherwise, we may destroy ourselves. The built-in capacity for survival, built into this universe, may be kicking in ... doing what needs to be done to keep life itself going.

It almost seems as if a Plan were unfolding ...! ;)

Next ... I'll wrap up this book-study ... looking at how we've come, in a sense, full circle ...

Shalom, Dena

Whatsa Matter With Humans?!?

Okey-dokey then ... I'm launching into this exploration of "The Fall" by Steve Young -- and yes, I do recommend the reading of this book ... I'll hit some highlights, but there's a wealth of info here, to which I just cannot do justice.

It wouldn't taken an "alien" observer very long at all to conclude that the human race (at least on Earth), is an inordinately violent species. In fact, the humans are the *most* violent species on this planet. Some say that this is just our inherent nature -- that we've always been this way (perhaps due to too much testosterone in males, or a "selfish gene"). Steve Taylor sets out to say, "this just ain't so" ('cept he doesn't say "ain't").

First, war is foreign to the rest of the animal kingdom (with the rare exception of some apes, who appear to react with war-like actions after being disrupted by humans -- interesting in and of itself).

Secondly, while we're told that war is "as old as humanity", war is actually a relatively recent development ... "recent" being relative to how long humans have been on the planet (roughly 125,000 years, by some estimates -- the problem is that someone, who shall remain nameless, went and misplaced that first photo-album, so no one knows for sure!).

What's incredibly interesting, and enlightening, is that war began only 4,000 years ago. Now, along with war, there are other main characteristics of human societies throughout the world/history (with a few exceptions that we'll look at later). War, as mentioned, and patriarchy (or male-domination), and social inequality (class status distinctions).

Which brings up another point -- to say that the human race as "always" waged war is only half true. The reality is that only half the human race has done so --the male half. And, further, males have fought against females as well. The past few thousand years have demonstrated a long rampage of brutal oppression of women by men (hang in there, this isn't going to be unabashed male-bashing!).

What's interesting, is that the artwork, the burial sites, and other evidences of life during the early Neolithic (Old Stone Age) societies show a lack of evidence for men dominating women. It seems that women played just as equal a role in those societies as did men. Some were even distinctly matriarchal (which meant women-revered, rather than women-dominating).

But something happened 6,000 years ago (~4,000 BC), that brought about a cataclysmic change -- since that time, patriarchy developed, and the status of women plummeted ... suddenly women could not own property or land ... Assyrian men punished a rapist by turning over his wife to the husband of the victim, so that he could treat her as he desired, in his rage. ritual widow murder/suicide was practiced in many societies ... and to this day, there are cultures in which women are little more than slaves. If an unmarried girl is raped in some areas of the Middle East (even if she's raped by her own relative), there's a strong chance that she'll be murdered by another relative, in order to "save honor" for the family. In Saudi Arabia, a woman can be stoned to death for committing adultery -- while a man is allowed to marry four times. In China, women were subjected to having their feet bound and mutilated, in order to meet a standard of beauty imposed on them (and to keep them unable to get around). Beating of wives has been considered a good and sound practice -- to "keep women in line," since they were considered to be overly emotional and undisciplined -- they needed to be taught self control via violence (this rational is still used by men who abuse women). Females are killed by infanticide FAR more than are males. Female "circumcision" (genital mutilation) is practiced in some countries today ... in order to prevent women from enjoying sex, and to keep them from straying (many have life-long infections, or actually "close up" as they heal ... requiring yet another mutilation prior to marriage). And then we have the Inquisition, and the witch-hunts -- the state-sanctioned, church-approved mass murder of thousands (some say over a million) of women who dared to speak out, to heal the suffering (mid-wives), or, heaven forbid, dared to be too attractive for the comfort of the men who saw them.

But it's not just women who have suffered from patriarchy -- men have dominated and oppressed each other as well. Since 4000 BC, the unfolding story has been of the brutal oppression of "many" by "some". Caste systems were created, land-owners (who lived in luxury) prevailed over the serfs (who lived in utter squalor).

All of this came about because many men didn't consider either women, or most other men, as truly human -- they were sub-human creatures who didn't deserve empathy or equality.

So, what's wrong with humans? What happened? We're so used to violence, oppression, class status, inequalities, that it's hard to imagine how odd and even *insane* all of this would appear to an "alien" (impartial) observer. Is life really meant to be this way?

Are our religious explanations correct? Did we plunge into this darkness due to a choice of rebellion against God? What's interesting is how the very people who have been so brutally oppressed, are the same people who have sought to console their suffering with a religious belief in a rewarding afterlife ...

Beyond the physical suffering, there is also the psychological suffering we humans experience. We struggle to be happy. We seem bent to suffer ... all around us we see depression, drug abuse, alcoholism, eating disorders, psychological disorders ... anxieties, worries, guilt, shame, regret, jealousy and bitterness. We ain't happy campers. Why are so few of us content or joyful?

Interestingly, it appears that our earlier ancestors, those prior to 4,000BC lived more peaceful, content, and satisfied lives than we do. We can see this in "less civilized" cultures today -- i.e., the Native Americans, the Eskimos, the Aborigines of Australia, and the Pygmies of Africa. They don't seem to suffer with as much psychological malaise, as we do in the "more civilized" cultures.

Evidence mounts that something happened ... a giant transformation amongst humans ... an "opening of Pandora's box" that spread ...

Let's look at our current state of "discontent" -- we seem wholly restless, finding it difficult, if not impossible, to *do nothing* -- we seem to need to have something external happening at all times, to distract us from the inner pain and discomfort ... we seem driven to ensure that we are never inactive, and alone with ourselves. We fear going "within." It's even likely that most of us spend so much time watching TV, because it's incredibly effective at keeping our attention focused *outside* of ourselves.

Why are we so driven to *do*, rather than to *be*...?

Why are we afraid of looking within, facing our souls?

Why do unemployed and retired people more prone to depression? Could it be that they cannot stand the lack of distraction that a job offers?

And why are we so driven to own *things*? We spend most of our time earning the means to possess stuff.

Similarly, we're driven to be ea "success" in the eyes of others. We crave status, attention, applause, accolades, respect, admiration. We seem to *need* to become "special and important people." We feel a huge lack within ourselves ... and we're driven to fill it from the outside.

And why, when we accumulate the money, and the stuff, and the respect, and the admiration, why is it that we're NOT satisfied...? Why do we live in a perpetual state of *wanting*...?

According to Steve Taylor, "there seems to be a kind of psychological discord inside us, an inner discontent that continually plagues and torments us ... paying for our talent [and achievements] with psychological imbalance and turmoil."

As the Buddha said, "An enemy cam hurt an enemy, and a man who hates can harm another man; but a man's mind, if wrongly directed, can do him far greater harm."

We have met the enemy, and he is us.

So, what went so wrong, that we're bent on destroying ourselves, each other, and our planet?

Let's hear what Steve Taylor says:

Should we assume that human beings are just naturally violent, sadistic, and discontented, so that there's nothing we can do about it, as the evolutionary psychologists (who tell us that war and patriarchy are the result of natural and sexual selection) and the physicalist scientists (who tell us that they're the result of hormones and brain chemicals) would have us believe? Or, as the myths of a "Fall" which are common to so many of the world's cultures suggest, was there an earlier time of relative harmony, a time when these problems didn't exist, and a point when for some reason a giant change occurred, and we "fell" out of harmony and into social chaos and psychic disorder?

It's my intention in this book to show that this latter scenario is the true one, and that there really was a point in history when something went wrong with human beings.

Something did happen, which brought about not only this incredible malaise, but also gave rise to the incredibly positive advancements in our creativity, our ingenuity, and our technological/scientific achievements.

All of this came about 6,000 years ago, during The Fall -- or, the Ego Explosion.

Next, I'll describe what life was like prior to The Fall -- according to some surprising sources of evidence..!

Shalom, Dena

"The Fall" in a Nutshell...

Tomorrow, I'll begin sharing some highlights in "The Fall" by Steve Taylor. For those who aren't yet familiar with it, feel free to check it out, via the synopsis and reviews on Amazon, and you can even read the entire introduction in the "See Inside" portion (top left corner - click on the photo of the book).

In the meanwhile, I'll share here a sneak-preview of coming attractions ... a preview that is rated G for all audiences ... perchance to whet your appetite.

Once upon a time, there was a "Golden Age" upon the earth. This earth. Hard to believe, no? And yet, archaeological, geological and historical records give hard and strong evidence to this. Sociologically, every culture has a story, a myth, of this Golden Age ... and of something rather cataclysmic occurring, about 6,000 years ago, that dramatically and drastically altered that peaceful life.

The Judeo-Christian story for it is recorded in the biblical book of Genesis ... and when it's read as the metaphorical myth that it was intended to be, we learn much of the depth there ... which is hidden from view when a more western/literal/historical interpretation is forced upon it.

Yes, there was life on earth prior to Genesis ...!

And not Neanderthal cave-dwellers, either ... but a flourishing civilization ... many tribes, throughout the world, living in peaceful, egalitarian, hunter-gatherer societies ... complete with buildings (some as high as five-storey!), roads, rough sewers, and flourishing expressions of art.

These societies were largely matriarchal ... which does not imply that women *dominated* ... that's not the nature of the female psyche -- but that women were highly revered, even seen as the symbols of the source of life. All live was seen as reverential, infused with the Spirit of all, and this Spirit was seen as All in All.

The original understanding of this Spirit, of God, of the Source of All Life was of "Mother". Womb. During this time, all were equal ... a time of equality for all ... sharing of all things among all. No ego-dominance, therefore no competition. The arts flourished ... the people were healthier, physically and emotionally. Less stress. More freedom. No violence. No dominance. God was seen as in all things, sustaining all things ... all was one. Infused with the divine.

The Garden of Eden, and the other "Golden Age" stories, which all cultures have, speak of this time. It was a time before the ego-explosion of 6,000 years ago. The Genesis account of the Garden of Eden speaks of this in metaphoric terms ... of the "fall" into the ego, into duality, into thinking in terms of "good and evil" ... into the realm in which man did indeed rule over woman, and woman did indeed begin to seek her identity in man. When the fertile regions did become desert, and food became scarce ... when people began competing and fighting ... things of the earth/body/sex/female became abhorrent and devalued ... violence and suppression of women began, and has continued.

And it was IN that time when the scriptures were written, during the reign of patriarchy (which we've been in since then), wherein the concept of God as Womb/Mother was replaced with the Male "God in the Sky" -- separate and distant ... angry and war-like (just like the dominating, patriarchal men). So of course God would be seen as "Father" only. And of course Jesus would meet them where they were, and lead them into more. Our problem is that we stopped with them then ... we've limited our understanding to theirs.

The God I've been experiencing, since I cried out to know what's of man and what's of God, is not the distant, male, separate, war-like God of patriarchy. The God I experience is a God of All-Inclusiveness, all in all, pure and perfect Love, pure and perfect Wisdom, the One within who leads and guides and nurtures and reveals.

And this God is leading me to explore the feminine side of Divinity ... as I'm quite familiar with the masculine side.

The goal is transcendence and integration ... but you can't integrate that which you've not experienced.

I'm open to experiencing whatever God leads me into.

I'll share more of what I've been learning in this book, and in the one that I read after it ... "The Dance of the Dissident Daughter."

Men -- this is NOT just "for women"! Patriarchy has damaged and enslaved men, just as it's damaged and enslaved women ... perhaps in just more subtle ways. This is about the freedom of HUMANITY, not just of women. This will not be about male-bashing ... I happen to adore men (including my own husband and five sons). This is about exposing the egoic, patriarchal system that has done much harm, and which is threatening to destroy us all.

But we have the option of waking up.

Join me in this discovery ...!

Shalom, Dena