Awakening: Lifting The Veil Of Illusion And Deceit: Writing Contest

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I’ve read some very interesting stories about the awakening experiences many people have had. I’ve enjoyed them all. Probably the best known story about awakening and thus achieving true enlightenment is the story of the Buddha. A man born a prince who left the palace in which he resided to live life in the forest, where he achieved enlightenment. In more modern times we have the life of Henry David Thoreau. He also espoused simple living in natural surroundings. He is probably best known for his strong beliefs about resistance to civil government. He thought it a moral responsibility, and I couldn’t agree more. Something he said resonates with me: “Order comes out of intelligence. I was not born to be forced.”

I am no Thoreau, and certainly do not compare to the Buddha; however, I would like to share a couple of experiences I’ve had while on this path toward awakening. I had a desire early in my youth to find spiritual peace. This search led to an awareness that opened my eyes to a world full of illusion and deceit. The very religion that was supposed to give me this peace was and is an illusion. I had a strong curiosity about the religion I grew up with. Before I was old enough to verbalize my desires I knew that this religion just filled me with fear and uncertainty, something that seemed contradictory to what it was supposed to do. Many years ago, I ventured away from the religion my parents imposed on me. The answers provided to me by this religion on questions about spirituality were vague, and I really didn’t enjoy the ritualistic aspect of it. I was not satisfied, and it felt forced. As I ventured away from Catholicism, I encountered a multitude of other christian religions. How was I to choose the right one, especially when they all claimed to have the answers. I was perplexed. Come to think of it, I’ve been perplexed most of my life.

In the course of my life, when I’ve been faced with a very difficult decision to make, it’s been my nature to not make one. The situation with religion was no different. I simply couldn’t decide which religion to embrace. Instead, I began an earnest study of all religions. In studying religion, I veered off the christian path and found many other non-Christian faiths. I was fascinated by my findings. It was like venturing off the beaten path from one of the many hikes I’ve made over the years. To my amazement, there were people all over the world searching for spiritual peace and the christian belief systems were but a handful of the many different belief systems scattered all over the globe. Christianity itself was not even the preeminent belief system on the planet. The veil of mystery that was spirituality slowly and reluctantly bared her soul. I was overwhelmed with wonder. Today, I am in a much better spiritual place than I was in my youth. It is an awareness and intelligence I acquired only through my own perseverance. I was not forced.

In conjunction with this spiritual quest, I’ve also sought optimal health. Well, if religion as a means for spiritual comfort is an illusion, then let me say that what passes for medicine these days is outright deceit. When I speak of medicine, I am not just talking about pills or capsules, tonics, elixirs and vaccines or the myriad of other things doctors may push on you and call medicine. I am also talking about food. It is no secret that historically, all health care professionals make an oath to practice medicine ethically. This Hippocratic Oath written by Hippocrates in the 5th century B.C., but Hippocrates also said “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food”. I give this statement the same level of gravitas as doctors give the Hippocratic Oath. Clearly, food is medicine. A doctor who does not teach this to his or her patients is not being ethical.

Since high school, I’ve always associated good health with exercise. Exercise is still vitally important in my life and I continue to do it with zest and vigor. But exercise alone will not give you optimal health. Food plays a crucial role. Why wouldn’t it, we are what we eat. Current social norms are those of eating heavily processed foods, and when we are sick, doctors are more than happy to prescribe one or more of their synthetic products they call medicine. I fell into that lifestyle because that’s what anyone living life on auto pilot does. College kept me pretty busy. Add to that a full work week and the load gets heavy. I accepted the load because seemingly, that’s what you did to achieve success. I worked and put myself through school. Eventually I added a family to my life. Social commitments and of course, trying to stay on top of the latest sports and T.V. programming, it’s a wonder that I still managed to squeeze in some exercise. I was reacting to life, not living it. I was still a healthy guy, but I was nowhere near the optimal health I envisioned myself having at some future point in my life.

The school phase of that time ended and I settled into a more stable schedule. I began to have some leisure time. I used that leisure time to venture into the world of nutrition. It is a fascinating world where I discovered how business saw an opportunity to provide convenience to the masses, at the expense of nutrition. The processing of food to prolong shelf life steamrolled out of control. We’ve had preservatives, food colorings, flavor enhancers, pasteurization techniques, irradiation techniques, Genetically Modified Organisms, pesticides, insecticides, ammonia rinses, fillers, sugars, synthetic sweeteners and a great number of other procedures involved in altering food for the sake of convenience and cyclical consumption. Some food is processed so much that it needs to be enriched or fortified with the minimum recommended daily allowance of what some institution deems is acceptable in order to call it nutritious.

Actual nutrition is so far removed from the equation that we now have one of the most diseased citizenry in the world. Talk about an awakening.

I began to avoid the false paradigm of nutrition. Once again, awareness and intelligence came out of my own perseverance. The predominant “reality” that exists in regards to medicine is not real. This alternate reality is being forced on everyone. It is creating chaos and disorder on everyone. The deception in religion and food now evident, it didn’t take long for me to see past the veil of democracy. Soon thereafter, I was able to see how corporate structure manipulates government. Like a stack of dominoes, reality all around me was falling down. The ultimate farce was the money based economy this entire system depends on. It is this fiat based currency that controls us. Money is the tool by which those in power manipulate our minds and souls. The challenge as I see it is convincing society. It will happen, but it will not be forced. You cannot force truth onto the people. Truth is self evident when you are aware.

Buddha may have the distinction of being the original “enlightened being”, but Henry David Thoreau was also an enlightened man. Many enlightened individuals throughout history and today continually strive to awaken the masses. I have subscribed to the same mission. We should all embark on a journey to enlighten the world. I find great satisfaction in knowing that I have something in common with Thoreau and the Buddha. Siddhartha Buddha himself said, “…I will fire the arrow of wisdom and kill the tiger of ignorance in living beings.” Amen.

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