Second World....First Choice
Let me tell you of two worlds, one
seamlessly nestled into the other. The natives of the first, completely
oblivious to the second. Those of the second, all too aware of the
first....for it was there they were born...there they live....but have
never belonged. Oh, they look and sound much like First-worlders. In
fact, most believed themselves to be, until their inner landscape
shifted and the stirrings became unsettling.
After much struggle and attempts
to quiet the deep insights and restless knowings acutely part of their
nature, true Second-worlders began to surrender to these stirrings and
let them rise. It was then that they began to see through First-world,
though not into a second. That would take some time yet...and for some
it would never happen at all. The invisible scales sealing the eyes of
all those born into First-world would have to first reveal themselves
and then fall completely. Besides, awakening to First-worlds cyclical
nature of opposites would be all they could tolerate at first. The up
and down, and in and out, and this and that, and right and wrong, and
love and hate, and high and low, and rich and poor, and happy and sad,
and bright and dull, and good and bad, rushed up to meet their
awareness, shaking them suddenly awake to dreams spun and illusions of
perception built firmly upon the vaporous mist of belief. Awed by the
sudden unraveling of all they had ever known they sat motionless as wave
after gentle wave of understanding filled them. Slowly they began to
look around them. They saw homes built and possessions gathered,
sacrifices made, and battles won. And then they began to laugh a
knowing laugh that swelled from deep within a new awareness. Some
laughed for minutes, some for days and some are laughing still. But
when the laughing ceases, all sigh a deep, long sigh as the invisible
weight of First-world falls forever from their lives.
Many then feel compelled to
share their stirrings and insights....but no one seemed much
interested. They were too busy going in or out, or up or down, doing
this or that, being right or wrong, feeling high or low, filled with
love or hate, acting happy or sad, being bright or dull, or good or bad.
Frustrated attempts to communicate often resulted in exaggerated,
emotion-filled outbursts geared to shake awake the seemingly
trance-bound until each began to think the other insane.
It was then that many
Second-worlders simply walked about unnoticed...feeling themselves more
than ever, on the outside looking in. Several retreated into the woods,
or high upon mountains, some simply tucked themselves away behind
closed doors. There they sat with their stirrings.....alone, silent,
and resigned to the depth of their inner knowing. Each became quietly
consumed with the now obvious realization that First-world spun on
exhaustive madness, carefully disguised behind curtains of time and
layers of perception. Round and round it went repeating the same things
over and over, year after year, decade after decade, generation after
generation, cloaked in the illusion of difference, and dreams spun of
change.
Those that sat and embraced this clarity through which First-world could
no longer hide from them, simply accepted the cyclic nature of up and
down, and in and out, and this and that, and right and wrong, and love
and hate, and high and low, and rich and poor, and war and peace, and
happy and sad, and bright and dull, and good and bad...and in this
embracing they found themselves freed from it. Freed from the tangle
that the entirety of First-world spun upon. Freed from dreams spun and
illusions cast. Freed from the strife and struggle and any desire to
continue to play the game upon which First-world thrived. And with their
acceptance Second-world was born....seamlessly nestled into the First.
A pervasive place of knowing, without opposite, or point of view,
tucked itself into the only world anyone had ever known. There and
then, one by one they found themselves moving without moving at all,
into a Second-world....seamlessly nestled into the First. Caught up in
quiet splendor, at rest as never before, they chose to live in this
landless land, upon the shoreless shore.
Those that refused to simply
embrace the truth they had discovered about First-world, railed against
it ceaselessly. Rather than be revealed, the invisible scales that
covered their eyes began to cloud and darken. Eventually blind, they
found themselves trapped in a First-world they could no longer
navigate. Bitter and defeated some became angry, others became
depressed. Many simply stumbled about in dark confusion for the
remainder of their lives, believing themselves the victims of some huge
cosmic joke only they were in on. Upon hearing of this, those that had
been exploring the newly discovered Second-world began to move once
again among the people of First-world to teach about it, but language
failed them miserably. Words that they had used their whole life now
held a depth of flavor and meaning that First-worlders simply couldn't
hear. But the wandering blind took notice and began to listen intently,
and then to deeply understand. And with this understanding their anger
was healed, their depression lifted, their confusion arrested. The
hysterical blindness that had once trapped them vanished as the scales
fell from their eyes completely, revealing the first glimpses of their
true home; Second-world....seamlessly nestled into the first.
"Let those with ears hear, and
those with eyes see" became the mantra of Second-worlders as they
explored their true home and shared their discoveries with the curious
of First-world. Some taught, others simply rested in a kind of peace
that baffled and confused all First-world understanding. And in their
teaching and in their resting a perplexing curiosity began to grow
within the heart of First-worlders. And this perplexing curiosity
became the seed that Second-worlders began to scatter everywhere they
went...just by being Second-worlders. They did not erect temples,
nor seek to save. They simply lived attuned to the pervasive inner
knowing of Second-worlders, revealed moment by sacred moment. They did
nothing but be who they discovered themselves to be from one
moment to the next, sharing a place without place.....a time void of
time....tucked into this very land, this very place... right now! A
world its own, apart from worlds, one that issued from within, calling
from its shoreless shores, beckoning...."wade in".
To the amazement of all, one by
one, First-worlders began to stop all the coming and going, and inning
and outing, and hustle and bustle to win at all cost or simply survive.
They abandoned the rule oriented temples they had built to the various
gods of their creations and began to listen and watch Second-worlders,
that for them held great fascination. Mocked and teased by the still
busy First-worlders who saw no value in this, the wearily curious let go
of the pull to fit in a world that no longer seemed worth the effort.
They were beginning to awaken. Soon the invisible scales of First-world
would fall from their eyes and they too would behold a
Second-world....seamlessly nestled into the First. I know this to be,
for it happened to me!
So if you find yourself from
time to time...or all the time...on the outside looking in. If you feel
at times you simply don't belong to the world around you, judge it
not...least its judgments fall back upon you....the cyclical nature of
up and down, and in and out, and this and that, and right and wrong,
and high and low, and rich and poor, and war and peace, and happy and
sad, and bright and dull, and good and bad. Instead trust the feelings
that find you, and soon you'll see that what you feel is true. You
don't fit in! You don't belong! This is the gift of bright insight.
And if you sit with it quietly it will teach and guide you until the
invisible scales of First-world are revealed and fall from your eyes
allowing you to behold, your always was and forever will be, true home,
Second-world.....seamlessly nestled within the first.
Let me whisper of a land,
without land at all.
A place without place.
A time void of time....
It is a world
apart from worlds
seamlessly nestled within,
calling from it's shoreless shores,
beckoning "wade in".