So your nation mass murders poor people....

So your nation mass murders poor people in other nations for decades. You find yourself feeling guilty about it. Everyone around you ignores this reality that the nation mass murders poor people. What do you do?

Being a conscious being today is not an easy job. Most of us exist around a large majority of people who care more about their favorite football team than they do about the Chinese workers committing suicide because of the horrible working conditions at manufacturing companies for Apple iPhones.

There are many ways to approach this problem. But one thing that should be pointed out right away is that this is not a new problem.

We all remember the allegory of Plato's Cave. In this philosophical inquiry, Plato proposes we think about a cave within which hundreds of people have been facing a wall of shadows, chained and bound so that they could not turn their heads. All they see are the shadows on the walls in front of them, unaware of the light source behind them at the opening of the cave.

Nobody has ever left the cave or seen what's behind them. Until one day someone breaks free, and ventures outside of the cave to discover a completely unrealized existence, an entire world of color, light, wind, water, and life. An entire cosmos awaiting anybody willing to break free from their chains.

Plato wonders what it would be like for the conscious person to wander back into the cave and to try and describe the wonders of the world beyond the shadows on the wall. But nobody will listen. Everyone's content with the shadow world. Not a single person is moved to break free from their chains to at least try and see what the person is describing.

The Plato's Cave allegory is synonymous with today's conscious being. Whether we're talking about a person who has traveled outside of the shadow cave of fear and guilt and shame of the Catholic church and its doctrine in order to experience the real spiritual world beyond the confines of these archaic story religions, or whether we're referring to someone who has escaped the confines of the instilled ignorance of the 'patriot' who was taught to pledge allegiance to a flag and believe the nation could do no wrong, finally casting aside the lies to come to terms with the fact that millions of people have been sacrificed to needless wars so that rich, mostly white, people could become even richer and more powerful.


You go to the Zen master and say, "I have a problem. I can't seem to forget that there is needless suffering in the world. I am guilty for the mass murdering my government has been doing." And the Zen master says, "Show me this problem. Bring it to me. Hand it to me." And you say, "Well, I can't hand it to you." And the Zen master says, "Problem solved."

But just because we can forget about a problem, does not mean that it does not exist. The Zen story does not adequately handle the issue at hand. Sure, the Zen doctrine would have us clean the Zendo when there is dirt to be cleaned away. But our complex world is far beyond the simple fixes offered up by the Zen masters. The Zen masters were not dealing with a world where thousands of species were going extinct because of human activity and greed.

We can think entirely selfishly and plan our escape into new lands where the corruption and vast powers of the U.S. government do not reach. Or we can stay and fight and work for change.

Are any of those things wrong? I cannot say. Don't we all feel responsible for what happens? Aren't we all partially responsible for the direction this nation goes?

What are your thoughts on these matters?

Everyone Is Going Conscious: Thank You Snowden