A Day of Remembrance; a Day of Complexity — with Hope for Simplicity

Life really shouldn’t be as complicated as we make it. In fact, it does not have to be so.

Making life complex extrapolates to and is most fully apparent in governmental and political life. Nations are usually made up of people with shared and common geographic, ethnic, and cultural identities. Great. Still doesn’t have to be complicated. Where do complications happen?

When nations, actually not the citizenry but rather duplicitous, power-mongering, manipulative leaders, believe they have to be better than others, then we should expect wars. We say individuals should not be like that. Then, neither should governments be allowed to. When they fight for superiority over others, when they do any array of things that reflect the same sort of problems that appear in individuals due to Ego having authority it should never have been given, that is wrong.

Ego, ego, ego complicates life and sets up double standards. Nations should operate on the same standards as individuals: come to know Heart and live according to that identity. Any individual who does that knows our main concerns are with knowing and loving Self, which then extends to others as we determine how to live and enjoy that Self in the world.

When that happens, we have created a purpose we enjoy, take pleasure in, and live, and while doing that, we are loving the world. Pretty awesome! Nations should be concerned with engendering those conditions for individuals. When a critical mass of individuals live according to Heart, then the positive energies of life and Universe will flow.

When a critical mass either are resigned to living Ego as their primary operating system or they purposefully choose to ignore Heart and live Ego, then life becomes complicated — not only for individuals but also for whole nations.

Nationalism, by and large, is a symptom of Ego working at a mass level. If life should be simple for individuals, it should be simple for nations. In fact, many nations probably wouldn’t exist in their current form if Heart had been employed by the leaders of those nations. Just one lousy nation can create complications affecting multiple others.

Unfortunately, when egomaniacs like Hitler or Hideki engage in determined paths of ego destruction, decisions need to be made. Usually, the responses illustrate similar ego destruction. In the case of WWII, nothing was easy about response. Japanese aggression sealed the deal for the United States. Complications, like I said.

Quite honestly, I can’t and don’t want to judge the leaders of Allied nations in that war. Many wars have been downright, unequivocal ego stupidity. Probably WWII was in the same category; however, Hearts do not lie down and allow eradication. They do, though, take the path of least destruction and death. Complicated.

And today, when I reflect on the attack on Pearl Harbor and all it represented to America, I am conflicted. Horrible acts initiated by Ego always create personal conflict. I feel remembrances like today should not be used by leaders to extol nationalistic pride. That shit is usually ego-induced propaganda.

Leaders who are Heart-principled leaders should use such days to focus on healing and opportunities for all of us to reconsider the sort of emotions that start such deadly actions. And despite what many historians, scientists, philosophers, or politicians might say, wars and conflicts emerge from human emotions, plain and simple — ego emotions, plain and simple. Or maybe I should say plain and complicated.

I will say this: true leaders, including politicians, who have any merit or respect in my book, are those who lead people to know and cultivate freedom in Heart truth, who encourage others to live Heart, which means we walk in love, respect, and openness to one another. Any other sort of governance is ego-based.

Am I aware of how simplistic I am making this sound? Yes. Do I know nations in my lifetime will never operate on such principles? Yes. Will I lie down, resign myself to it, and allow it to go unexposed and unchallenged? NO.

Is an egoic oligarchy ruling America right now, including not only government but also power brokers in business, banking, industry? Yes. Do they do things like continue to disrespect and destroy other nations and peoples who stand in the way of their goals for power and wealth? Yes.

So today, I think that we should think of how we are responding to and treating some in the Middle East. I think we should look much closer to home and stop the disrespect of the Native Americans. Cold. DAPL dead in its tracks. 85% complete? Tough shit. I think days like today should be remembered and then broader principles applied to our lives. Simple things, you know, like the relationships of individuals without racial or ethnic considerations or respect for those who try to, with good souls, enforce laws that mitigate ego and enforce peace.

And I think of that watery graveyard in Hawaii and the ghostly image of the Arizona still burping steady bubbles of oil, and I remember the tragedy, death, and destruction that Ego creates when we as humans do not recognize the power and divinity in ourselves. If we did that, we would not need to resort to Ego for grasping after identity and power in the big picture of ideas like nationalism.

Yes, today I remember the death wrought at Pearl Harbor. I remember how it affected the whole world. I know those actions were based on human emotions fueled by Ego. I want to live Heart and joy and the pleasure of that in love to others more than ever.

For those who may say it just can’t be that simple, I would recount the words of one of my senior girls on September 11, 2001. With tears streaming down her face, she asked a question most would consider naive and maybe even disrespectful. I heard her sincerity: “Why can’t we all just get along?”

​Because too many ignore Heart, that’s why. Choosing Heart is simple; getting along is simple; love is simple.