You never forget your first time. My first time was in 1969 in front of Florida State University. I was with my Mom and a couple thousand of our friends at a war protest the first time I was tear gassed.
I’m an old hippy. I was raised by many of our founders and great thinkers – by John Lennon and Ram Das, taught that love was all you need and peace was the object to sacrifice all else for. But here’s something I’ve been wrestling with lately.
The question begins with consciousness. If we accept Ernest Holmes’ suggestion that each of us is a focal point within a larger, universal mind – and if that universal mind must be infinite (because really, how can anything truly end?) – what implications follow?
From a Christian perspective, isn’t this like what Paul wrote about the Holy Spirit dwelling in all believers, making us one body? Doesn’t this suggest we’re both individual and unified at once?
And looking at Hindu thought, when they say “Aham Brahmasmi” – “I am Brahman” – aren’t they pointing at the same thing? That maybe our separation is just an illusion, and underneath it all we’re one unified consciousness?
Think about this: in an infinite universe, doesn’t everything that’s possible have to exist? Not just once, but infinitely, in endless variations? So here’s what I keep coming back to – with infinite possibilities, why would we choose this particular existence? Isn’t it like choosing one specific ride at an amusement park when you could ride them all?
Here’s where it gets interesting: if we’re all expressions of one universal mind, and that mind is everywhere at once, aren’t we also everywhere simultaneously? Could it be that this “here and now” is just where we’re focusing our attention, like being so absorbed in a movie you forget you’re sitting in a theater?
So here’s a question I need to ask: If we created this reality to experience it, and if everything possible must exist within infinity, could it be that the violence and conflict we see around us serves a purpose we don’t fully understand?
I’ve walked both paths. As an old hippie, I’ve marched for peace. As a former student of war, I’ve felt the pull of combat. I understand why young people are drawn to video games about warfare, why we celebrate valor, why action movies captivate us. Don’t we all feel that primal pull of violence sometimes?
So I have to wonder: Is it arrogant of me to protest war if we created this reality specifically to experience everything – including conflict? Where do we draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable violence? At the eagle stealing the crow’s egg? At international conflicts? When I pay for eggs at the market, aren’t I participating in the same cycle?
I don’t have answers. But in an infinite universe, could this place be a stage where we come to experience the full spectrum of existence – from the highest peace to the darkest violence? Is that why we’re here?
This isn’t a comfortable question for someone raised on “peace and love.” But it’s one I need to ask. Could understanding our place in this cosmic dance require us to hold space for both the beautiful and the terrible, seeing them as two sides of the same infinite coin?
What do you think?
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