On Being a Guardrail
I’m old enough to remember the so-called Doomsday Clock. “Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity from unchecked scientific and technological advances. The clock's original setting in 1947 was seven minutes to midnight. It has since been set backward eight times and forward 16 times for a total of 24, the farthest from midnight being 17 minutes in 1991, and the nearest being 100 seconds, from 2020 to the present.” — Wikipedia
The Doomsday Clock is a metaphorical representation of how close the members of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (a non-profit organization) believe we are to a man-made global catastrophe. In this metaphor, midnight represents that catastrophe.
In January 2020, the clock was moved forward to 100 seconds before midnight. The original setting, seven minutes to midnight, was undoubtedly the result of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. The first, of course, destroyed Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and the second obliterated Nagasaki on August 9. I was born on August 13 of that year.
Let me share a story relating to my birthdate.
Last year, my wife and I attended a Mayan Cacao Ceremony in San Marcos La Laguna, Guatemala. As a prelude to the festivities, our Mayan shaman host referenced that particular time period. She related how those on the other side of the veil, having observed those terrible events in Japan, decided to send volunteers to incarnate on Earth to act as counterbalance to the prevailing forces at work on the planet.
According to the shaman, those of us who came forth immediately after the end of World War II were termed the “first wave.” When I heard that story, something clicked into place, though it has taken about nine months for the idea to take sufficient form that I could talk about it.
How does one act as a counterbalance to prevailing forces? What are those prevailing forces, and how do they shape actual events?
One of the principles spoken about in spiritual circles is that “thoughts become things.” This principle means that the world we perceive is formed as a result of our patterns of thought. From a materialist perspective about what is real in the world, this idea seems odd if not naive.
However, I have written extensively in this blog about an alternative to the materialist perspective, one in which materialism is understood to be an illusion originating in our acquisition of language. In order to participate in the world with others, each of us has to learn the components of which the world consists, and language is the delivery system of that understanding.
In terms of this alternative perspective, what we think of as the world is an interpretation of sensory information. We don’t experience the world directly, because the interpretation or description of the world stands in between. As a result, the world itself is and always will be an unfathomable mystery to us. All we have is our description, and we all mistake that for what we believe is the external world. Our description of the world lives in our thoughts and beliefs, and this is how thoughts become things.
From this point of view, that we create the world we experience with our thoughts, what are the prevailing forces on the planet that determine actual events?
Because we all became members of our culture by learning the elements of the worldview we share, that worldview has its own momentum from generation to generation. It also has its own agenda, which is to survive. I call this worldview the Global Ego or the Egoic Field. Just like a fish in water, we are immersed in this field. Just as in the case of our immersion in the gravitational field, we have no choice but to collaborate with its agenda because it shapes what we experience. The Global Ego has defined for us the possibilities, opportunities, and choices we have in how to conduct our lives.
It’s clear to me that sober reflection on the history of our world during our lifetimes, since World War II in mine, presents clear evidence that the Ego’s agenda does not take into account the needs and desires of human beings, other creatures, or the planet itself.
So, how did the “first wave” act as a counterbalance to the Global Ego? Now bear with me…
In addition to “thoughts become things,” another of the principles discussed in spiritual circles is that of The Law of Attraction. This law has been stated by Abraham-Hicks.com as “that which is like unto itself is drawn.” It implies that it is the thoughts of human beings that shape the world we experience.
It is my belief that all of us desire a better, more peaceful world. Why don’t we have one? According to the Law of Attraction, it is because that universal desire is filtered and limited by the Ego’s agenda. Remember, the Ego’s agenda is to survive by staying in control. The Ego doesn’t thrive when things are peaceful. It thrives by placing all of us in conflict with one another so that we turn to It for answers… which, of course, it doesn’t have.
Those of us in the “first wave,” of course, were born into the Global Ego as well. But some of us carry within ourselves enough awareness of what we all desire to reach for that awareness in spite of the nearly overwhelming force of the Ego. We are aware that our true desire is peace, collaboration, and the highest good of all, and not the sham gratifications of conflict, competition, and “every man for himself.”
Law of Attraction responds to all desires. That desire for peace and the highest good of all is authentic and thus more powerful than the desires for immediate gratification that the Ego demands.
Naomi August on Unsplash
And that is how we act as counterbalance to the Ego’s forcible hijacking of our power to create according to our hearts’ desires. We recover our own power by using that power in service to the betterment of the human experience. This is how the Doomsday Clock is kept from finally approaching midnight. This should serve as comfort to all of us who fervently wish for the end of all those aspects of our world which are inconsistent with a thriving humanity, other creatures, and the planet itself. This is how we serve as guardrails, keeping the “traffic” of our societies from going entirely off the road while we wait for all to awaken to our true nature as students of creation.
