The Witness

There is a clump of ideas in my mind of such things as The Witness, The Over-soul, The Cloud of Witnesses, Christ Consciousness, Buddha Consciousness, Cosmic Consciousness, and so forth. I realize that in many minds there are distinctions, one from the other, within this list.

The idea of the Over-soul first came to me, I think, from Ralph Waldo Emerson and the American Transcendentalists that I read in college. Later I had a lot of fun with it as I read the series on "Over-soul 7." It seems to me that I've had some personal experiences that lead me to concur that what is incarnated here is not all of me, not all of us.

The Witness idea is in various scriptures, in writings of medieval mystics, and in modern attempts to understand what is going on, such as Ken Wilbur's ideas. One strand says there are other worldly beings watching and guiding, our Cloud of Witnesses. Another strand tells us that it is spiritually healthy to be our own Witness that observes and feels and engages with what is going on here on earth, both personally and globally, BUT takes none of it seriously for it is just a play.

The Christ, Buddha, Cosmic Conscious ideas are the awakened soul's understanding in the awareness of Oneness. We breathe in the atoms of the cosmos, of one another, of the past, of the future for they are one dance. We are not only connected, we are in a cosmic dance of Oneness. God and I are one. You and I are one. There is no one here but God.

BUT the vast, vast majority of sentient beings on this particular planet are content in their own little versions of what life is about and, so stay in their fiefdoms, never seeking, never questing to Know. I pray for ideas that might spark awakening to humanity.

I know we cannot move forward much longer with crazy ideas, crazy actions, violence, etc. Daily on the television I see screaming people telling people who disagree with them to shut up, even calling them fascists  all the while being the ones exhibiting fascist behavior. I see supposed leaders inciting attack against those with a different point of view. I see talking heads on television saying outlandish and untruthful things. I see increasing hit and run attacks, as well as knife and gun violence. I see South African leaders going down the crazed road of Zimbabwean confiscations of lands. I see hoards of invaders going into European countries and into our own country, people with a different culture and values who want to destroy the West. But, we are destroying it ourselves, for we seem to have abandoned our spiritual and historical roots, let alone pursuing the journey farther.

Civilizations come and go over the course of history on this planet. Somehow we seem to learn little from history, so we repeat it in endless variations. I am certain the way forward and the end of the ad nauseum repetitions involves authentic spiritual growth and understanding that leads to awakening, to wisdom, to compassion. We are capable of such an awakening. Will we do the work to heal ourselves?