Perhaps the most mulled over question in life is, What is the point of it all? During a deep conversation with the mushrooms, a few pieces of the puzzle came together in a succinct way. This is something I’m familiar with and incredibly grateful for after many years working with teacher plants. Here is what came to me in those moments:
Context is vital
We need context in life, that seems obvious. Simply put, we need ‘bad’ in order to understand what good means - this is for our growth. Otherwise we may as well be a stuck cog in a machine, moving nowhere. As Ramakrishna once said, “Why does God allow evil in the world? To thicken the plot.”
The Universe/God/Source/Void (whatever you prefer to call it) does not judge anything as bad or good. It simply is. It is our egos that judge. And for our sanity, we must have separation. We must have the illusion of separation - again, for our growth. Otherwise, what is the point?
Again - context. Left, right, up, down, good, bad, etc.; everything has an opposite. The purpose is balance, and to project us into ourselves. For inside, in the shadowy corners, is where the growth lies. Yet we might ask the question, Why is darkness where the growth is?
We must come into balance with ego
It is an ego game. Ego judges good and bad. We are repelled or repulsed, and we turn away from the bad. That which repels us triggers us; it makes us uncomfortable. Yet this is the very thing that we need to reach for. We must reach for it in order to win the battle over the controlling and fearful ego (that aspect of it anyway). We need to come into balance with ego… just as we need to come into balance with everything else in life.
Balance, pushing boundaries, sitting in your discomfort, reaching for the light without bypassing the darkness, not judging the dark or the light. Accepting that it just is, and it all exists for us to experience and consequently define our orientation.
Is it any wonder that we yearn for connection?
Ultimately, we must have the illusion of separation and we must have choices, so that we (source/God) can come back to itself, full of knowledge of itself. God simply wants to grow and understand. God is curious. God is bored of being singular, of having no tribe… for eternity. Is it any wonder then that we yearn for connection?
There is a big lesson in that, too. To be human and yearn for connection, but not to get caught up in ego traps and fear-based attachments. To be able to recognise true, rewarding connection, and to recognise the lessons in ‘wrong’ choices of connection. Again, this is growth.
““For I am divided for love’s sake, for the chance of union…””
It seems that there are built in mechanisms in the universe designed for us to escape the sense of separation, in order for us to then make the journey back to ourselves and back to our truth.
The path of return, beyond the abyss
We have to get caught up in the cosmic game in the first place for us to eventually see that it is oh so simple. This is the cosmic joke! As Ram Dass said, a cosmic giggle on the breath of the universe is what we are.
The plant medicines are here to teach us the simplicity of it all. Surrender, surrender, surrender. Let go or be dragged by the flow of life… the inescapable flow. Moving… always moving. Life is recreating and birthing and destroying in every moment. From moment to moment to moment, a new dimension. We are shifting… always.
Just as every situation we are faced with is flowing, when we battle, we are in resistance and we lose. When we surrender, we are free to enjoy the beauty. When we do not resist, we grow. We cannot stay stagnant.
The plants are a frequency changer
The plants are a radio frequency changer for those brave and willing enough to drop the ego and learn real truths. Often painful, harsh truths since the ego has to admit to misunderstandings. Again, that harshness, that pain - it takes us to the light. We cannot bypass.
The plants show you your true, divine essence. They are another of these built-in universal mechanisms, designed to show us unity and oneness so that we can appreciate separation, but ultimately remember our divinity. This is balance.
We can choose to remain unconscious, but it is a choice… it’s a free will universe. Yet if we choose to avoid the pain of self discovery, then perhaps we will just keep being reincarnated into what some might call a prison or a school, or whatever is conjured by their personal perception. We may never ascend. Dull unconsciousness may last an eternity...
The ultimate question is WHY?
Ego cannot be placed ‘in’ the body. No one can tell you what it is made of. No one can tell you where to find it. It is not a separate consciousness to us, but paradoxically, it is separate too. Both of these statements are true.
Everything that I write and think is both true and untrue, because there are infinite possibilities in a universe that consists of everything. Yet my writing comes from the collective consciousness. It cannot be thought without first existing. I take it from the creator. But I am the creator. I am also only a fragment of the creator. Everything is both true and untrue.
We are strands of the one consciousness, and the one consciousness is exploring everything/Itself. This is why we must not get trapped into spiritual dogma. “Truth” to each individual is different. True spirituality is in your uniqueness. Your truth.
The ‘enlightenment’ trap
The ego can easily trick us into thinking that we are enlightened and have no further work to do on ourselves. This traps us into remaining stagnant and unconscious, with a comfortable, illusory sense of consciousness. Never look to one teacher/practice/religion for guidance and realisations. Pick only what resonates with you. Dig into your own truth. This is true spirituality.
New age spirituality teaches us to only feel with the heart. Yes, we should follow the heart - but not only the heart. The idea of following only the emotions is horrible. Emotions can be deceiving. Some emotions may not even your own, especially if you’re naturally empathic.
Think with your head; feel with your heart, but do both and try to find alignment. We need critical thinking. We should not demonise the mind and intellect. We have been gifted with the mind and rational thinking… so logic plus intuition is the recipe. Sit with your discomfort and really go there.