outside perceived authority

I See with My Little Eye

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 2 Comments

There is a strange kind of paradox that happens when we are seeing all that we foresaw coming to pass. Partly, I feel vindicated and tempted to wave the banner of “I told you so!” On the other hand, I find myself deeply saddened by a) the refusal of humanity to see the signs that have been there all along, b) their refusal to hear and take heed of the millions of warnings hurled their way (by myself and thousands of others), and c) the very real consequences of an empire in its collapse – one that promises not only to destroy itself, but which is threatening to take the whole world with it.

As we learned from the Three Little Pigs, a house of straw is bound to collapse, if not first going up in flame.

Up in flame is where we find ourselves today. An unhinged emperor who, to those with eyes to see, is wearing no clothes, and an entire House of fools who are either participating in the madness, or complicit in their silence. From those who were charged with the responsibility of holding the emperor in check – crickets.

Hello….hello….is anyone out there?????

Nope. Nary a one. As such, we sit in shock over the wholesale corruption that is revealed in the collective silence. A deafening silence that had been experienced in words, words, words, nothing but words, and not one iota of action.

With the exception of Minnesota!  The entire state is, not up in arms, but up in LOVE – standing up for what is right and just. Upholding the law while holding the federal government accountable to it. Minnesota is putting our President, Congress and Supreme Court to shame – as they should.

But I digress. We’ve seen this coming. We knew the consequences that would unfold with the election of a reality TV star as our president. And if we knew enough to ask, we have known the evil and corruption that would be laid bare under this emperor’s reign. We elected one who represents the very worst of us and all that is wrong with the American system and given him permission to bring all the evil out to play.

It’s horrifying. And yet, it needs to be seen. As is true of all that hides in the shadow, the collective evil of this nation needs to be seen. Only in being seen can it ever hope to be healed.

So, this is where we find ourselves – the little boy standing along the route of the emperor’s parade who is shouting, “The emperor has no clothes!” We are aghast and horrified with seemingly nothing we can do about it. If our elected officials won’t do anything, then how can we?

But herein lies the lesson at the heart of the collapse – what got us here, ultimately, is our attachment to and belief in someone outside of us who is a) going to take care of us, b) provide for and support our needs, c) and keep us safe. Addicted to this attachment, we have given our power away to men (mostly) and women who say they have our highest good in mind, and who will fight for our rights – but do they? Are they? No matter what side of the aisle we stand on, I think we can agree that No, they have not.  No, they are not. Instead, it seems there is some invisible force that is their true employer – a master who is pulling their strings.

The lesson for us, is the same as it has been for 10,000 years since egalitarian cultures gave way to hierarchy:

The only true authority is that which dwells within us. We are the only true source of power and agency. Once we remember this truth, we start (like Minnesota), taking back the power we gave away, and begin building the new world we have been dreaming about. One founded on Universal Love, celebrating diversity, and built through understanding, collaboration, and the cooperation of community.

Besides the death of the empire, I’ve seen this too. “I see with my little eye the possibility of a whole new world waiting to be born.”

*original art by Catherine E. Case, used with permission.

The End of the Guru Age

/ Lauri Ann Lumby / 1 Comment

For the past 5000-10000 years (since the advent of hierarchy), we have been conditioned to believe that there is some outside force who:

  1. Is the source of Truth (universal Truth and our own truth).
  2. Is the cause and source of salvation.

Every tradition has its own names for these outside perceived authorities: guru, priest, savior, psychic, etc. For all these years, people have sought after these outside perceived authorities for guidance and direction in their lives, hoping for them to tell them what to do and how to live their lives. During this time, people have also sought after those who others have told them will save them (from whatever it is they need saving). For thousands of years, people have given their money, their soul, their devotion, and their worship to these outside perceived saviors when all along they have within them the vehicle and knowledge for their own salvation.

There is no one outside of us who can save us! Period!

Jesus knew this. The Buddha knew this. Indigenous teachers knew this. And yet humanity has taken and twisted their messages in such a way as to further condition society’s addiction to outside saviors.

Jesus did not come to save us in the way we’ve been taught! He was not some divine sacrifice for humanity’s “sins.” (In the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, Jesus is quoted as saying, “There is no sin.”)  Jesus never said that we had to proclaim him our personal Lord and Savior in order to be saved. These are the hierarchy’s words used to enforce humanity’s obedience to the religion they created in Jesus’ name.

Instead, Jesus taught his companions how to access and take root in the salvation that was already present within them. He showed them how to unhinge from the hierarchical conditioning under which they had been enslaved. He supported them in finding the source of their own inner truth and to understand that this source (which Jesus called Love) is God within them.

It was for this that Jesus was killed. He spoke Truth to power, questioning the status quo, and challenging the culture of codependency that had been fostered by the self-appointed religious and political authorities who benefitted from those who feared them.

Two thousand years ago, Jesus, and others like him, presented a new (original) example of personally responsibility to our own Truth and to the Source of salvation within us. Today, we find ourselves at the threshold of the world they envisioned and where the fruits of their labors are finding their fulfillment. Here we are being given a profound choice: we can continue to remain enslaved by the guru mindset where our salvation and the path of our truth are only accessible through some outside perceived authority, or we can enter into the new world where we are our own guru – knowing that the Source of Truth is within us, and that this is the true path to salvation.

In other words:  stop throwing your money and obedience to some external source of Truth and learn how to find the answers within.