INTERCONNECTION AND THE FUTURE OF THE HUMAN RACE

INTERCONNECTION AND THE FUTURE OF THE HUMAN RACE

I posted a part of this article last August in an attempt to ask readers to reassess the thinking about their role in life and their thoughts, beliefs and way of living.  However, since then we have witnessed the terrible scenes in Paris and Brussels - every day we read about more and more atrocities. We frequently hear of strident voices from all parts of the world declaring or proposing ideology that is deeply concerning to all of us. The huge diaspora of migrants struggling to reach a new life, whether this is for economic, safety or possibly violent reasons of belief,  attempting to impose their will and way of life in a violent way on the world and all of us. 

The idea that one person is better than another or that one religion or political belief is better than anything else is a true absurdity, but to these people it is very real indeed - the world has experienced immense pain and suffering from a wide range of ideologies - in the 20th Century alone with two world wars, the holocaust, Mao and the cultural revolution in China with tens of millions of people killed, Stalin wiping out huge numbers of people in the Soviet Union, the killing fields of Pol Pot, massacres in Africa....it goes on and on - now we have the violent Wahhabi ideology in the name of a vengeful God, with ISIS, Al-Quaeda and similar groups proposing and acting out their Salafist Jihadist beliefs that killing of non-combatants is religiously sanctioned.  Sunni hating Shia and visa versa - horrific gun death statistics in America - and that is only a part of the scene - it is not a pretty picture at all - is it? However, there is hope, but all humans have to change the way we live and think to achieve happiness and peace, which is absolutely within our grasp... Please read on - thank you:

You're probably thinking this is a piece about online internet connections! Well my friends, whilst the internet does indeed connect all of us that have access to computers, mobile phones etc., that would not be a correct assumption.  This is about a subject that is probably the most important you will ever consider, which is that WE ARE ALL INTERCONNECTED. Why is this important to understand? Because understanding that there is direct interconnection between all living creatures large and small will most likely be the saving of the human race.

Pretty strong statement, eh? But it's true and we will look deeply into this together because, whether you like it or not, we are all together and interconnected, and unless the human race raises its level of consciousness and understands how important this is ...  there might not be a human race in the near future. You're probably asking, "what the hell is he talking about?" Maybe you're saying "What's wrong with the human race - we are all doing fine thank you very much!" To you I say, "please read on..."

It is estimated that there are nearly 8 billion people currently living on our Earth and that number is growing fast. It won't be long before there will be 9 billion!!. Think about that! On the most basic level, how will people find food and water to survive? OK, I get it - you're probably thinking, "well I'm alright - there's a very good Chinese take away restaurant around the corner; the Italian restaurant in town serves great pasta; the grocery store is open until late; the shopping mall is doing good trade - I'm fine, thank you very much!"

I certainly don't want this piece to be a boring list of statistics but, according to internet research, there are currently around 17,000 species of animals that are on the endangered list and nearing extinction. Apparently that doesn't include fish, which we vacuum up from the ocean floors with complete disregard for life or any thought about what we are destroying.  Think about it - the human race has been extraordinarily successful in killing creatures large and small, and destroying rain forests and similar life-giving environments. What's more, we are continuing to kill everything around us, including millions of other humans. Well done, Homo Sapiens - the greatest killer the world has ever seen. BRAVO...

We don't learn from the past. Centuries ago (also not long ago in Ireland) Catholics hated Protestants (and visa versa). One of the Crusades wasn't against Muslims in the Middle East ... it was against the Cathars in Southern France. It seems just about everyone hated the Jews - incredibly anti-semitism is still rife in Europe, despite protestations that Europe is civilized! - Today we are witnessing the hatred and destruction between Sunni and Shia Muslims (and against Christians and anyone else who stands in their way). And, of course, throw in North Korean threats, Tribal hatred  (in Rwanda it is estimated that 800,000 Tutsi were killed by the Hutu's - Appalling race hatred that still prevails).  Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria, Turkey and the Kurds (not to mention the Armenian genocide). 

It makes pretty depressing reading doesn't it?- BUT THERE IS GENUINE HOPE IF THE HUMAN RACE CAN STOP,  LISTEN AND CONSIDER SOME VERY BASIC FACTS - AND ACT UPON THEM.

I have written before about this subject, but as each day goes by it becomes so serious that I have come to believe that if we don't get a grip on ourselves, there won't be a life for our children and grandchildren (and their children). It's hard to know where to start. The mega corporate machine that dominates and controls so much of our lives globally knows exactly what it is doing, as it trawls the land and oceans to feed its rapacious demand for more and more profit - plundering the earth's assets such as oil, natural gas, water, gold, minerals of all descriptions, forests, crops, and the food chain. We are now witnessing the race to colonise other planets, so that we can grab those assets too! As California suffers in its drought - the fire hazard grows -  this is just a microcosm of what will develop across the globe as the water supply rapidly diminishes. And we still have to listen to them say "there is no global warming?"

How can we put a stop to this madness? It is possible, providing people are willing to listen and think of the future and this incredible planet we live on. 

Let us come back to the point where I started - INTERCONNECTION. How can understanding this word, and what it truly means to all of us, help the human race and the world we live in? Let us begin by looking at YOU - yes YOU!

Who are you? Who do you think you are? I am sure we all have an opinion about ourselves: we look in the mirror and we might like what we see, or we may not. "Must get rid of those grey hairs;  these wrinkles have to go; must go on a diet; my eyebrows need plucking;  looking good; I hate myself; will she like me? Will he marry me? Our thoughts change from minute to minute, hour to hour - day to day. Don't they? In fact, our thoughts pound in our brains every moment of our lives.

We all have an image of ourselves as separate... as individuals - but are we really? Stop and think. Without the trees and plants you couldn't breathe; without the sun, the rain, the oceans and the earth, and stable climates you couldn't exist and of course, without food and water you'd starve. How do you get the food and water you need to survive? I'm not talking about the local supermarket or the water company.  I mean, where does all this originate from? It comes from the planet we live on and the environment and climate that allow us to live and exist. Therefore, it logically follows that if we don't look after our planet (our home) we won't survive, will we? This is about as basic as it can get...

Let's take this a step further. Where does the corn in your Corn Flakes come from? What is the source of the rice and wheat that you enjoy at the local Indian, Thai or Chinese restaurants - or the pasta that we all love? It grows on the planet we call "home," and is cultivated by millions of people all over the world. Without these people, none of the food would get to your table, rather, you would have to grow your own food and search for water to survive. Without the sun, the moon and the minerals in the earth, there wouldn't be any trees or plants or crops ... would there? Without trees, we couldn't breath Without paper, we wouldn't have any books.  You get it? Everything is INTERCONNECTED and interdependent, and our lives and the lives of all living beings depend on it.

There is an incredible ecosystem that flows across all forms of life: the bees pollinating; the wind that carries the seeds that produce the trees and plants that allow us to live; the food that others grow, nurture and distribute. We all co-exist because we are interconnected at every level of life - none of us has any actual sense or reality of individuality, because we can't exist without others and the environments we live in.

Every one of us - humans, animals, all living creatures large and small - feel pain and suffer. A fisherman once told me, "it's OK to fish because the fish don't feel pain." Question: how would he like to have a hook in his mouth, as he struggled to escape from someone trying to reel him in?  Let's get it straight: all sentient beings (and by that I mean all living creatures) feel pain, and want to live. 

This point is not about converting you all to become vegetarians.  It is about making you realize that if we don't take care of all life - there won't be any life left!!!

The Sunni or Shia or Christian or Jew or whomever you hate feels just as much pain as you do. That person across the street you dislike so much, feels pain and suffers like you do. Your boss, who is always so grumpy and a pain in the neck, feels pain and suffers like you do, too. What about the cows, sheep and goats (pigs too) that line up in the slaughterhouses waiting, in absolute terror, for their throats to be cut, or to be stunned by an electronic stun gun, or killed by a blow to the head, feel exactly the same pain as you do. Halal or Kosher meat, and indeed all forms of killing for food, causes immense suffering - and when you eat that flesh you absorb the terror and fear of that animal while you chew that rare steak! 

How would you like to have your throat cut while you are still alive, or, as with lobster, thrown into a pot of boiling water?

We all feel pain. We all get sick ... we all ultimately die - all life is the same, and we need one another, because we are ALL INTERCONNECTED - DAMN IT! Why can't the human race understand that without one another we couldn't exist. Without the sun and the rain and moon ... without the air we breath and the minerals and trees and crops, we wouldn't be here.  IF WE DON'T START TO RESPECT ONE ANOTHER BECAUSE WE ARE ALL THE SAME - AND TO LOOK AFTER THE AMAZING PLANET WE LIVE ON AND CHERISH ALL FORMS OF LIFE ... THERE WON'T BE A HUMAN RACE.

We cannot separate ourselves and say, "I am more important or better than someone else." Why? Because, we are all the same. It doesn't matter whether you are white, pink, red, black, coffee colored, yellow, grey, dark or light - we are all the same and we need one another to exist. A religious or political ideologically- inspired belief that says "we are better than you" - or "we are the only true path" or "I am better than you," is utter nonsense, because it is only by showing total respect for everyone and for all forms of life that the misery, pain and sufferings will stop.

We have to learn and learn NOW that nobody is better or different to anyone else and that LOVE, RESPECT, COMPASSION and KINDNESS are the only creed that the human race needs - all the rest is complete bullshit - if we don't accept this then the suffering will continue until the human race obliterates itself 

Please be aware of your every action ... of every thought. Remember that your MIND is who you are and what you do, and that it is so important that you begin the process of reducing the EGO,  PRIDE,  OVERT DESIRES,  JEALOUSY,  ANGER,  HATE and all the emotions that dominate your life. Be aware of the ant you step on, without even thinking about it, or the fly you swat, without a thought. Consider the cow that suffered for the steak sandwich you eat with pleasure. The fish fingers your kids eat. Or the chicken curry that tastes so delicious. All of these are the product of the suffering of a living creature, and you are ingesting that suffering when you eat it.

Remember that the person you hate or are angry with also feels pain and suffers and is exactly the same as YOU.

It is only by changing the way we think and act that the future will change for all of us, and that the terrible suffering we see on out television screens can begin to disappear.

There is a path - and it's now up to you.

Never forget that LOVE, COMPASSION, CARING and KINDNESS create and bring HAPPINESS.

But also never forget that EGO, PRIDE, OVERT DESIRE, JEALOUSY, ANGER, HATE and IGNORANCE always cause SUFFERING.

If you begin to pray for those in pain and suffering, you will begin the process of healing your life and all those around you.

Thanks for reading

Peter