I have periods when I need to go into myself, to assess the confusion that arises from the conflicting information that presents itself in the form of opinions and beliefs. Who is right and who is wrong? Why do I lean towards one side more than another? This is a perfect time to be in the arena of the world. We have been thrown to the lions with no audience but ourselves. We watch from our tiered seat as we use all the tactics we can to avoid being snapped up in the jaws of the lion. It is a slow motion scenario, so there’s time to calculate our chances of survival, and that means questioning deep-held beliefs: on the surface and under the surface and above the surface. In short,a holistic approach to problem solving. Let’s be clear, if we are thrown to the lions (and we are on a daily basis!) do we have time for being right or wrong? And yet it is here where the opportunity, the potential for change occurs. We are in the arena now and always have been.
Where am I in all of these fine words? This is the point. My thoughts about life – what’s happening on many levels in the world right now – are just thoughts about it. They are not “it”. They are based on old drivers of belief, of childhood versions of right and wrong, both individually and collectively; political and spiritual. They beg the internal question: Who am I in all of this? I find when I look at my day to day life and the encounters I have, whether in person, phone, Zoom, or the written word, who I am is revealed. I don’t act from a belief. I act from a deeply visceral response to each situation as it arises. I don’t use a fine mathematical problem to calculate my response. I may use shielding techniques that make for a shallow connection, but if I act from what arises in whatever present moment I’m in, I find there is a seamless sense of joining. In short, the rampant lion becomes my best friend. Not an enemy to be feared or to fight. These are just inadequate words to express something that is so present that it cannot be conveyed by the words themselves. At best a whiff of it will stop us looking for something to believe in or an opinion to hold on to, but rather, by looking deeply at the learnt beliefs we hold, we can free ourselves to act in the presence of danger (which, let’s be honest, is around us all the time!) and to be seamlessly connected.
Having said, all of this is about our own inner integrity. If we can court and marry that, we cannot not change what is going on “out there”, whatever our beliefs and opinions! When called upon, we simply need to be prepared to respond with our deepest connection to one another. Even in duality we can act as if we are one…and then the lion will lie down with the lamb.