Get Real, Knowledge vs Wisdom

Would the prisoners be left wondering why they had never tried to get free before, or would they wonder
why they had never even thought to question their reality.

This story leaves us with many questions when we place ourselves in the position of the liberated prisoner.
In today’s world, with all of our knowledge, technology and sophistication, we still find ourselves
wondering about our perceptions of our reality.

Some people are happy and content to accept things as they appear to be. Others sense that there is much
more and move slowly, safely and steadily through changes. Of course, there are those who fight to hang
on to their beliefs, while others actively seek greater understanding.

Although the Cave Allegory is much more complex than I have illustrated here, it should at least serve as a
great example of perception of reality in today’s world. We like to believe that we are far too evolved and
intelligent to be compared with the cave dwellers, but are we?

If we put ourselves in the position of the prisoners, our initial response is that we would rejoice in being
freed. On deeper reflection, we might recall many times in our lives in which we fiercely resisted change. I’
m sure we have all been involved in petty but passionate arguments in which we insisted we were right.
Haven’t we all stayed in jobs, relationships and situations which were obviously soul destroying? Often,
we sense that we are more than we understand and that life is greater than our personal experience.
Something is missing and we are vaguely uncomfortable or perhaps deeply insecure.

We want more; we believe there is more and we long for more. But we do not want to let go of what is
familiar and comfortable. We don’t like big or sudden changes and we don’t like to accept that we may
have been wrong.

It might seem quite absurd that people would allow themselves to be tied up and imprisoned without
question or resistance. It’s even more ridiculous to believe that shadows on a wall would be accepted as
reality. But is it? Look up now and you might notice a television set in the corner of your room. It might be
interesting to ask yourself how much of your belief system has come from mass media. Does television
influence reality or does reality influence what is on television.

Our perception of reality is very rarely based on our own thoughts and experiences. Media is an extremely
powerful influence, as are culture, religion and education. These are not bad things and serve as excellent
foundations, but have we lost our ability to think for ourselves.

Imagine if you came to Earth from some other planet and sat down with a group of people and asked them
what life was like on Earth. Suppose there were a child and an elder, a Russian, Indian, African, Aborigine
and an Englishman, a movie star, cleaning lady, farmer and a millionaire and some from the 1920, 1960
and 2010. If you can imagine this conversation, then you might realize just how varied our perceptions of
reality can be.

To a large degree, our belief system is determined by geographical location. Social norms are where we
find our comparisons, and most of us mould ourselves to fit our environment. Most people do not choose
a religious belief, nor do many bother to explore religion outside their own denomination. Often when they
do, it is only to arm themselves with an argument to prove the others wrong. The same can be said about
education, social skills, ethics, food, dress and language. We all like to believe that we can think for
ourselves, but the truth is, that most of us have been fully programmed before we enter adulthood.

In pondering our own perceptions of ourselves or our experiences, we can compare ourselves to the
prisoner in the cave. Much of our understanding serves us well, but it’s not until we question our belief
system that we begin to expose the illusions and then the illusions beyond those illusions.

Some people appear to function very well within their given environment and may feel no desire or need to
question it. Most of us have mastered the art of looking like we fit. In today’s world, we compare
ourselves to others within our environment, and consider ourselves and our lives to be normal or
successful, based on the status quo.

Many people feel that they don’t measure up and experience great distress. Some people think they look
good but feel that they are faking it. These days, we seem to hold material issues in very high regard, and
many judgements about a person’s value have little to do with the person at all, but rather the wealth, fame
and career status of the person. We also seem to be somewhat impressed with celebrities or physically
attractive people. Now, tell me that’s not shadows on the wall!

Life today is materialistic and very, very fast. With so much emphasis on earning money, we find ourselves
running faster and faster, just to stay in one place. We feel that we are on a treadmill and someone else has
the controls. We are ever conscious of the fact that just one wrong step and down we’ll go, face down
and flung across the room in a heap.

At some point, we must ask ourselves who is controlling our lives, what exactly is my life, who or what am
I, and what does it all mean. Well, I think that you have just met the puppeteers! You can swallow the
questions and go back to your place in the line, or you can move towards the light.

The Physical Realm

On a practical level, we view ourselves and our lives in terms of physicality. A great deal of our awareness
is focused on our physical body, its protection and maintenance. Self preservation is our strongest instinct.

We view our environment in physical terms and place a great deal of importance on safety and comfort.
Our community is also important to us, and we strive to be a part of it and to be supported by it. Our
physical reality includes our bodies, homes, relationships, jobs and all things related to keeping us safe,
comfortable, supported and alive. Our physicality is often the overall view that we hold of ourselves.

Much of our awareness is governed by intellect and emotional responses. Intelligence seems like a loud
voice and a keen eye, a constant commentary of judgements, comparisons and analysis. Past experiences
are recorded and provide predictable outcomes as information and skills are stored for easy access and
reuse. Intellect is a great decision maker and problem solver, and emotion is a great motivator. Intellect
and emotion are usually the ways that we view what we do and how we feel.

Most of the time, we operate from a physical, intellectual or emotional level. Ideally, we strive to keep
these levels in balance, but often we experience conflict between them. Some believe that these three
levels are the sum total of the human condition.

Much of our physical, intellectual and emotional awareness are externally focused. We pay a lot of
attention to doing and what is being done. We like to be intellectually challenged, stimulated and
entertained. We seek emotional highs and avoid emotional lows. We pursue physical comfort and
pleasure. When we are physically, emotionally and intellectually balanced, we feel content and safe, and
most of the time we view ourselves as happy, successful or complete.

Although we may achieve a perfect balance and attain a sense of well-being, we find ourselves still sensing
or longing for something more. It may come as a deep sense of being disconnected or a subtle hint of
insecurity. At times, it may present itself as sheer panic, a profound loneliness or intense anger. More often
than not though, it is just a vague nagging voice and it seems to be saying, “This is not my real home, this is
not the real me and these are not my people.”

At this point, we have nowhere else to go and find ourselves listening to and then following ‘The Voice’.
The voice of course, is the spirit or soul.

A lot of people think of spiritual communication in terms of religion. Religion can be a great way to explore
spirituality and often works very well. Too often though, people find religion to be controlling, limiting or
threatening. Much is preached about sin and punishment, and on a not too subtle level we find ourselves
viewing life as a thing to be endured.

Life becomes a test and we are all on trial here anticipating, ‘A pass into heaven or an eternity of hell’.
Some believe that this is hell and we are only here because we owe a debt or need to be punished for past-
life mistakes. In trying to earn our way into the ‘Promised-Land’, we find ourselves making a choice
between living a spiritual life or living a physical life.

The great illusion here, is that we are left believing that spirituality is separate from physicality. We
denigrate our lives and struggle to over-power our physical needs or desires. In a way, we find ourselves
at war with ourselves. Who we are, what we are and how we are require all parts - the mind, body and
spirit are interconnected.

You wouldn’t decide to disregard your body and emotions just so that you could live your life on a purely
intellectual level. Nor would you consider living emotionally and disregarding your intellect. Yet, many try
to live physically and disconnect themselves from their spirituality and vice-versa.

Probably, the greatest illusion of all, is that we define ourselves and our world as solid mass moving
through lineal time. We tend to measure time in terms of events, or use time-frames as markers. We have
big time-frames, like infancy, childhood, adulthood and old age.

Rarely do we think of time as a minute to minute evolution. If we did, it would be easier to comprehend
how fluid our lives are. Even our own bodies are dying and renewing, cell by cell, minute to minute. We
are energy within a sea of energy; everything is changing, and everything is evolving, and everything is
being affected by everything else.

You may notice skin particles and hairs dropping from your body, or wrinkles forming on your face and
muscles sagging with time. You may not have even considered that every tiny little particle within you is
also changing form on a daily basis, nor may you have considered that every few years your body has
been completely replaced.

Our thoughts, beliefs, emotions, knowledge and perceptions are also changing. We often notice the change
in seasons, and accept that trees drop leaves, but do we really accept that all of nature is in a constant
state of change.

If we perceive life in big chunks, then we may as well look at it as only one big chunk, and that is that we
are born and we then die –that’s it, that’s life.

By viewing life as a series of events, we will find it far too easy to become involved with judgements. We
begin to predict future events and judge them as good or bad. Rather than living in each moment, we find
ourselves fast forwarding our consciousness into what we hope will be a better event. The greatest
problem with this, is that we con ourselves into believing that when we get there, we will be able to stay
there.

Living with this perception is like being caught in rapids, desperately making our way to the nearest buoy,
and believing that once we find our safety we will never need to let go. We view our families, homes and
jobs as safety nets, and desperately want to believe that when we attain them, we will be able to maintain
them. We all hope that when we get to ‘Our Happy Place’ we will be able to stay there.

Another great illusion that many of us live by, is the belief that we need to prove our value. So many
people suffer so much anguish by believing that they must do something great in order to be validated as
worthy. Not only do we judge ourselves by what we do, but we also judge others and allow others to
judge us, value us, or at least label us as worthy, based on what we do. Almost as ludicrous as this, is the
belief that what we have makes us worthy. More often than not, we marry the ideas of what we do with
what we earn, and as unbelievable as it may sound, we actually label someone as important or valuable,
based on their occupation and material assets.

When I was younger, a group of us used to hang out together and the boys in the group decided to learn
to play musical instruments. They used to practice at my sister’s house and they were not very good. I
used to write lyrics and the boys would try to work them into songs. We all thought that they were as great
as any pop stars around at the time.

The girls used to shop for old lady’s dresses at the op-shop (long before it became trendy) and we would
chop the dresses into minis, add beads or lace, and turn out some pretty amazing originals. On Saturday
afternoons, the boys also played Rugby League at the local oval, and most mornings they went for early
morning surf. Life was good, healthy and a lot of fun. We laughed a lot and we were all very close to each
other.

Back then, we did what we did for fun, we did not think of ourselves as designers, fashion models, rock
stars or athletes. No one thought about becoming rich and famous. We created and we did things because
it was in us to do so.

These days, everything is about being a celebrity, gaining fame, looking good, earning money and acting
like ‘We are Someone’. Really, showing a bit of tit and running computerized sounds through a mixer
hardly qualifies anyone as a musician, and being paid millions of dollars to kick a ball around is a rather
shabby measure of human worth.

If we were to measure worth on doing, then my personal votes would go to mothers, farmers, carers and
nurses. Doctors and lawyers are often esteemed, but I would rate them average and variable. However,
this is not about joining the ‘Value by Occupation League’, it is about exposing it for what it is - just
another illusion.

Being of value is not about what you do, what you have, or what and who you know.

All these things are transient and only small fragments of your overall experience. None of this is who you
are, and your life’s value should be based on the simple fact that you exist. The consciousness or energy
that you are is as vital to the mix as anyone else’s. An ocean is not made of a few select drops of water,
and the Universe does not exist the way it is meant to exist, if your energy is not included.

Accelerated Time

They say that as you get older time appears to speed up. Christmas takes forever when you are a child,
and yet as an adult it seems like we have Christmas every six months. Perhaps it is my age, but I really don’
t think so. I acknowledge that clock and calendar time may well read the same, but I do not agree that my
experience of time has not changed. As a kid, I used to wonder what being an adult would be like, and
now as a middle-aged woman, I still wonder what adulthood would be like. I often feel like I am still
waiting for my real life to begin.

Time is fast and we are busier than ever. Kids know their alphabet and how to count before they even
begin school, and many parents have them booked into college before they are ten. The average woman
has children, runs a home, goes to gym, and an evening class and works at least a forty hour week. Many
men are working sixty hours a week and are under pressure to gain further education. We need to move
fast and talk fast, we are so structured and organized that we rarely have more than thirty minutes a day to
ourselves. We are bombarded with information and noise.

We refer to the Internet as the Information Super Highway, and in many ways it is probably one of the
most wonderful inventions in history. Despite all of the advantages of gaining super-fast information, we
really need to wonder just how much is enough. Many of our kids are being drugged and sedated; we
label them hyperactive, attention deficient, obsessive-compulsive and defiant.

Many kids are placed in day care centres before they are one or two years of age. In many ways, this is a
good thing for the child and a necessary thing for the parent. The problem is, that kids are being so
stimulated from such an early age, that by the time they are ten years old they have only one speed – full
throttle.

A child at day care has constant attention, stimulation and entertainment. After day- care, the child is
further stimulated by the family’s attention and busy-ness. In addition to all of this, they also have
television, radio and computer games.

My school report cards typically stated, “Sonya has great potential, but does not apply herself.” It’s quite
common now for assessments to include behavioural problems as well as academic observations. Children
as young as five or six are being labelled as disruptive, lacking empathy and social skills, defiant and
aggressive.

I believe that the future generations will be extremely knowledgeable. My guess is that they will know
more in the first twenty years of their lives than we will ever know in our lifetime.

This brings me to my next observation of illusion – Knowledge vs. Wisdom.

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