It seems like being a good person should be a simple thing. Have good morals, act accordingly, and always make the high-minded choice. Yet, so very few people are pure hearted, and almost all seem to make mistakes on a regular basis throughout life.
For a long time I thought there was no actual purpose to human life except to create your own movie, and enjoy the crazy experience. We are simply having an experience of life. Go! Yet now, I have to add onto that vision in consideration of the way the experience is set up. The prime example – everything that tastes good is bad for you. Why?
Why is it so hard to be good?
Why is it so easy to be bad?
Some people consider this and think that it’s a predetermined factor of our existence that we humans are ‘sinners’ – born that way and forever tainted by the fall of man. Even if you’re not religious, you may think ‘nobody’s perfect, we all make mistakes.’ Or there’s the cynical approach – ‘people are stupid.’
Philosophers and dreamers are always trying to figure out the meaning of life, the purpose of life. Individuals who are seekers or questioners also come to various times in their life when they ask themselves – ‘what is my purpose in this world?’
It would be perfectly possible to have a life of crazy, adventurous experiences without getting sick, being in pain, or being depressed – but all of these things are a part of the package. Perhaps it makes sense to live in a reality of opposites so our senses could experience joy as a contrast to pain. Yet, there seems to be an imbalance in the amount of super happy people compared to the amount of seriously depressed people. I just don’t see people who experience constant happiness, but I witness many who are trapped in constant sadness & negativity.
With all that in mind, I have come to a new perspective in my mind. I feel that the purpose of human life is simply, to be a good person. It’s a simple concept and it’s the central theme in most societies and religions. Civilizations created rules and laws for men to live by – why? It’s difficult to be good when there are so many temptations that cause us to feel good temporarily, but they’re actually harmful to us in the long term. It seems unfair that life should be set up this way, right?
It would be unfair if it were not for the idea that the whole game is to resist temptation, go against the current, find self-discipline, and ultimately – become enlightened so that there can be a heaven on Earth. So imagine if every person alive on the planet was pure hearted. The actions of every individual would exemplify compassion, sharing, cooperation, and goodwill towards all living beings. That is heaven on Earth and it’s attainable.
Proposing this idea begs the backlash of doubt, and the ego side of man, the selfish side, really does not want to be destroyed. Ego’s strong grip is exactly what we’re supposed to loosen, by choice and with thoughtful consideration, in order to gain a level of awareness on the path to enlightenment. To those of us who cling to ego relentlessly this sounds like hocus pocus. Doesn’t matter – those types don’t read these kinds of essays any way.
It does seem rather impossible for every human to become enlightened at once. It seems extremely rare for one to become enlightened. So this game is hard. It’s difficult to beat the house because every bit of the virtual reality of mankind presents an obstacle course beset in a maze with temptations flying at you like bullets. We don’t see many enlightened ones because they’ve gone to a higher dimension of awareness. We’re completely entrenched in the game.
The people who have attained enlightenment have given us a gift. They have clued us in on what the game is all about. The teachings include: Love one another. Charity and goodwill towards men are the path to freedom. Selfishness is the only sin. Have compassion for all living beings. Feel regret about past mistakes and change in order to attain liberation. There are bibles, holy books, commandments, prayers, mantras, etc. – but even for those who have never engaged with the teachings – enlightened beings made it possible for us to find liberation.
We don’t have to be religious to understand our own reality. In quantum physics it is shown as scientific proof that the observer creates his reality simply by observing it. The observer may also impose his will in order to change and shape the reality. Some folks, religious or scientific or neither, don’t want to believe human beings have that kind of power. It’s the reason you hear stories of enlightened ones who could walk on water. They existed and demonstrated this scientific principle by willing the surface of the water to hold them up, so that other people may understand that if you can clear your mind of the muck of selfishness, you can completely steer your reality into a paradise, just by being on a higher level of awareness about how to do it.
If we really take into consideration the world of men – it hardly seems like a paradise. It should be The Garden of Eden but human beings are convinced they’re unable to create and experience a Utopian Earth. Again, the whole planet isn’t likely to become enlightened all at once. So each individual is on his/her own path, each person is creating their own story, such is the factor of ‘choice.’ We choose what we believe and how we behave, and create outcomes by doing so. Good choices lead to good outcomes.
Ever meet someone in life who seems charmed with a perfect life and perfect circumstances? It’s not often you meet someone like that, but they’re out there. Some people have more good karma coming to them than others based on their decisions and actions. Some people seem cursed with the dark cloud of bad luck always looming over them. Some people that are paying off karmic debt and dealing with challenging circumstances are good-hearted people who have made poor choices innocently. It’s actually ok to let people work off their karmic debt without making them seem pitiful.
We need not worry about where others are at on the path, and we need not spend time trying to fix them. This is a huge snag. It’s a part of the game, a trick we humans fall for again and again. We develop compassion, then we start analyzing those around us, concerning ourselves with teaching them and giving advise so we can help them. It feels good. Yet it’s a subtle mistake that leads us back to ego, and helps us divert attention from our own issues and what we need to change about ourselves.
Trying to fix other people is a trick, so that we choose to look away from our own problems and issues within the vanity that we are entitled to judge others and wise enough to guide them to a more righteous place. Put that way – it sounds messed up to want to help other people. It’s something we all want to do if we’re on the path of charity and good will towards men. Right? Yes, yet we need to tap into the stark difference between helping someone with no strings attached, and wanting to change someone else’s beliefs and/or behaviors.
The only way to beat the game is to develop self-discipline and focus on the spiritual path of loving other beings as much as self, and making the high-minded choice in every situation. I think the first step is changing our belief that this is an impossibly difficult challenge. It’s not. Being kind is easy. Getting rid of our ego is a challenge, yes, but no more challenging than developing a good habit.
Wish good things for every person, even your enemies. Trust karma. Seek to control only your own beliefs and actions in life. Seek to have control over your mind and over your ego, so that any negative thoughts about self or others can be stopped and changed to a positive thought. Envision your life as you would like it to be to replace worrying about the future. Feel regret about past negativity and make a solid vow to change. Be honest. Be humble. Create your heaven. Mostly, believe it’s possible.
Help Raise Consciouness 