Last night I watched a movie that a friend had highly recommended. All through the movie, I was anticipating that it would get better, then it ended without fulfilling the expectations I built up based on my friend’s gushing. In fact, to me, it was rather shallow. I thought, how could she think that this was a great movie? Then I caught myself judging her tastes and values. This was yet another example where I am being shown how one must not come to conclusions or judge a person or situation based upon one’s likes or dislikes. This kind of teaching experience has been showing up for me lately, so I was not surprised when I read the message on my tea-bag this morning: Appreciate yourself—honor your soul.
I am being reminded of this gem: Appreciate yourself—honor your soul. This teaching comes to me in many guises, sometimes in my own life experience, or in the lives of people around me. Our myths teach us this lesson and in the modern myth of Star Trek, one of the stories that depicts this teaching for me, is the series on The Borg. The Borg are a race of extra-terestials whose existence is based on a hive colony matrix, consisting of a queen who is served by drones, all connected to one central mind. They all share the same information, one mind with no individuality. Their mandate is to conquer other species and assimilate them in order to add biological and technological resources to their own. They force other cultures to adapt and service their own, stripping them of individuality and suppressing all emotions. When a species is being taken over, there is an ominous monotone voice announcing their intention, “We are The Borg, …you must comply, resistance is futile…” In one episode, the starship, Enterprise is being confronted by the Borg with the typical greeting. The captain of the Enterprise replies, “Impossible, my culture is based on freedom and self-determination.” The Borg responds, “Freedom is irrelevant. Self-determination is irrelevant. You must comply.” The captain says, “We would rather die.” To which The Borg responds, “Death is irrelevant. Your archaic cultures are authority driven.”
The mentality of The Borg is somewhat like our culture today. We live in a society that determines for us how we should live, think, act, and dress. Though we cherish our individuality and freedom of expression, it is not unusual for some people to judge themselves if they do not conform to the norms that society portrays as acceptable. These predilections are so insidious they are bred in the very fabric of what is considered normal behavior patterns. We want to mold the universe to our way of thinking instead of letting the universe mold our way of thinking. For example, I met a high-school student who is intelligent, creative and has an enthusiasm for learning and exploring mysticism and the philosophy of eastern religions. He is happy with his life except that he is often plagued with a need to fit in with his peers, to be as gregarious and to enjoy doing what most teenagers do these days. He often has confrontations with his friends about his lifestyle choices. It does not surprise me that he experiences low self-esteem and tortures himself with wishing he was more like his friends.
It is important to recognize that we are all have different personalities. Some of us are introverts, some extroverts and sometimes we move between these two ways of being. In our society, being an extrovert is considered normal and being an introvert can be challenging if you want to succeed in the world which rewards extroverted behavior. The message, “Accept yourself—honor your soul,” is relevant here. We gain personal success when we honor who we are, just as we allow other people to be who they are. No matter what another person is doing with their lives, it is perfect for them for whatever lessons they are wanting to learn. There is no one way that is right or wrong, just different. What is meaningful is that we are true to ourselves. For me I am mostly an introvert bordering on being a hermit and yet there are times that I can be very social and enjoy that too. I have come a long way in accepting my nature, and not be too bothered by what people think of me. My friends accept my idiosyncrasies and let me be. I appreciate that about them, and I honor myself for my choices.
The mystics speak of our paradoxical nature; that though we are all made of the same fabric of universal consciousness, we are all individuals with a creative impulse, seeking to return to the experience of unity consciousness. On the one hand, we are all intrinsically the same on the level of spirit, but in our human incarnation, we are a splendid variety of personalities each with our own uniqueness. The beauty of this existence is that in the myriads of life-forms each individual exudes a singular beauty, delightful in its form and function. A sense of freedom comes with the ability to embrace each person or thing that we encounter. It is a gift to have the perspective that everything is perfect in its being, and has a right to exist, whether or not we like what we see and feel about it. When we do not appreciate the diversity of existence we can create suffering for ourselves and others.
