I wonder, what’s the longest period for which there hasn’t been a war anywhere in the world?
What about during just the 20th and 21st centuries? How many years in total were there when no “western” country was involved in some kind of war? Maybe in the 19th century? What about before then? How many years of political stability can we count in the world’s history?
The previous ten thousand years of human civilization have been marked by violence and destruction. Why would it be any different during your lifetime? You claim that your country and its people have always led a modern, stable, and progressive life. You claim you live among this peaceful community, and it’s only recently that things have gone downhill. Is this realistic considering the facts? Sure, certain problems may have skyrocketed lately, but they were already there beforehand. They just didn’t touch you in your bell jar, so you could pretend they didn’t exist. You were perhaps living with your head in the sand until circumstances finally reached you.
If you come to the conclusion that this is a pessimistic article, then please take the time to read it again. It’s actually the most optimistic article you could read, because it aims to free you from make-believe and delusion. I am sure you’re going to hold on to them tightly, though, because there’s nothing as scary as taking responsibility for your own life and bringing matters into your own hands. I mean yours—I mean mine. I mean the crazy delusions about what life is, who you are, who I am, and how this life should make us all happy. These are the reasons for all the suffering and violence in the world. Even so, you and I, as well as the rest of the human race, have no one to tell us who we are, so we will continue holding on to these delusions and experience pain and violence. If only we could let go of all these delusions.
I’ll correct myself here, because saying “we” is exactly what holds us back. So, if you can let go and vanquish all your false hopes, then there can be a realistic, optimistic way out of here. Please, remove your head from the sand. See the world and your country for what it actually is. Wake up. Know your conditions and understand that they won’t improve by themselves or with the helping hand of a savior. You will not wake up tomorrow to see it was all just a bad dream. It’s likely going to get worse before anything gets better, and if you don’t do anything about your own life, no one else will do anything either. And no, sending your good wishes to the universe and making some pleasant affirmations is not enough. If you think bad things can’t get to you if you hide at home and don’t go out, read this article again.
Perhaps nothing will change when you do something, at least not right away. After all, you cannot prevent today’s suffering by taking action today, because it is the consequence of what you did and did not do yesterday. If you expect things to change and improve immediately, you’ll be greatly disappointed. That said, if you don’t do something today, the future will see even more pain. Unless you face all the pain today with all your courage, see everything as it is, and sacrifice your delusions to reality, you will be unable to do anything. At the moment, you act like you would never have suffered were it not for certain event, and you believe your would have lived forever. You act as if suffering and death were caused solely by these unfortunate events, and you had no part in them whatsoever…
Well, wake up! See the truth of your being. Today, if you and I can believe that there is compassion as well as violence in a person, we can embrace a consciousness that knows evil is born out of fear and fear is born out of ignorance. Today, if you and I could understand that the main reason people hurt each other is the fear of being hurt themselves…Today, if you and I could realize how people hurt themselves and each other in a constant struggle to be satisfied and reach an unachievable happiness…And if you and I are to endure all of this, we must know that we won’t see the effects tomorrow but rather over a longer period. Maybe we won’t even see a harvest from the seeds we plant, but there’s no other way. The world won’t change on its own. Gandhi was right. You and I have to change. We must see our truth. Unfortunately, there is no other way…
