You Are One Idea Away from Peace

And so is the entire world—it’s this.

Announcements

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You Are One Idea Away from Peace

The world is one idea away from peace.

One idea away from the end of war.

One idea away from the end of unnecessary suffering.

And so are you.

What causes all the suffering in the world? What causes it in your own life?

We’ve been taught to cast blame on:

• corrupt politicians

• corporate greed

• weaponized religion

• fascists, Marxists, and racists

• climate change

• forever wars

No one would blame you for raging against the pain these things have inflicted on billions, but they’re not the cause of suffering.

Rather, these are the result of the true cause that makes them possible. Corruption, greed, and war are symptoms, not the root.

What is the root cause?

It is that we think too little of ourselves.

Said another way, we have denied the Essential reality of who and what we are, and this choice has created a sense of disconnection from ourselves and each other.

This has immense consequences for all life, because when you think too little of yourself you’ll think too little of everyone and everything else, too.

As a result, your actions will reflect your beliefs because all actions are inspired by your way of seeing the world. Worldviews are, literally, self-views. We make the world “out there” in our image.

Thinking Small

What does it mean that we think too little of ourselves?

What I don’t mean is that we fail to measure up to our inherited ideals of what we should be or should aspire to become. Those are struggles of the Comparison Game everyone is playing.

I mean something bigger. I mean that we believe we’re mere mortals, and we’ve dismissed the idea that we are made of eternal stuff. We’ve mistaken ourselves and others for ordinary people when we are anything but.

I was raised in the Christian tradition and once mentioned this idea to a friend. His response was, “Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, Kevin. The problem isn’t that we think too little of ourselves. The problem is we think too much of ourselves.”

There was a time I would’ve agreed and used any number of passages from holy books to back up my claim. Now I know that even those who appear to think too much of themselves are driven by a deep division (and sometimes self-hatred) within themselves. Just ask any therapist or look within yourself to see if that’s true.

No Ordinary People

I first wrestled with this idea during my freshman year of college when I read C.S. Lewis’ The Weight of Glory (1942):

There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.

Re-read that passage again. Slowly.

It’s quite a worldview. A bit radical, too, depending on your upbringing.

Now imagine what would happen if we saw each other like this for just a single day. Or even an hour. What if you knew yourself this way? What kind of world would you create from such a self-view? How would you treat yourself or others differently?

Lewis takes things a bit further, maybe too far for some:

It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree helping each other to one or the other of these destinations.

“[G]ods and goddesses” is a bold choice of words. But Lewis isn’t the first to use such words. Jesus used them while quoting the Psalms when he said:

“Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods"’?¹

And nearly every spiritual tradition in the world makes such a claim, that whatever the Source of existence and reality is, we are it. To put a clearer, finer point on it: It is us—living in, as, and through us.

The recognition of this simple truth is often called enlightenment or awakening. But it’s a kind of blue collar enlightenment that’s earthbound and so simple you have to look with childlike eyes to see it. There’s nothing exotic about it. It is simply seeing yourself as you are, free of the ordinary labels we and others slap on us.

The results are world-changing, because when you see yourself as you really are, you’ll also see everyone else as they are. This what is meant by the saying “the divine in me recognizes the divine in you.”²

The recognition of our shared being with others goes by another name: love. And the recognition of our shared life with all created things goes by another name, too: beauty.

Where to Begin

How do we begin to make this a lived experience?

Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies, too. But to do either you must first love yourself, which means knowing, experiencing, and living from your true nature. Your true identity as more than ordinary, more than a mere mortal.

You are eternal stuff wrapped in skin. And so is everyone else. Consider this as at least a possibility and ask yourself what that would mean if it were true.

The inevitable result of this view is a world made new, a world made in a new image where we see and honor the true nature of all humanity. From this perspective, starving our fellow man makes no sense, and neither does war, greed, and corruption. To hurt others is to hurt ourselves.

Is this idealistic? Not at all. It is the most practical and sane view of all.

Is it possible? Of course, but like I said this is a blue collar kind of knowing that begins on your street, with your neighbors and co-workers, and the strangers you come across in the grocery store.

Start where you are. Do what you can right now. Love yourself. Show kindness to the next person who crosses your path.

Pray for your enemies until you no longer see them as enemies. If you’re compelled to action or protest, do that. Love demands to be heard sometimes.

Trust yourself to know and act. Love is not weak, and neither is the truth. Both will inspire you to choose in ways that lift not only yourself, but everyone else as well.

You’re one idea away from peace. We all are.

One idea away from freedom.

One idea away from the end of war with yourself, which is the beginning of the end of all wars everywhere.

Only don’t think too little of yourself. Consider the possibility that you are far more, and so is everyone else.

This is how the world is made new.

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Join our next LIVE Centering Practice

What are we doing?

This is a short (20-30 minutes) virtual gathering led by Rewilded Soul founder, Kevin Kaiser designed to give you a restorative pause in your day. We’ll settle our nervous system with some guided breathing and then Kevin will lead a short meditation meant to take you from this 🪫 to this 🔋.

When is it happening?

Thursday, March 20 at:

• 2:00 PM Eastern Time

• 1:00 PM Central Time

• 12:00 PM Mountain Time

• 11:00 AM Pacific Time

• 7:00 PM CET

*Don’t see your time listed here? Click here.

Here’s how to join:

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4. Bring your beautiful self and whatever baggage you need to drop. 😉

1. From the New Testament, John 10:34 in which Jesus quotes Psalm 82:6.

2. Namaste is a Sankrit word normally translated, “the divine in me bows [or recognizes and honors] the divine in you”.