Change Your Narrative.

You are here, now, but it is not where you are meant to be.

You cannot control this world into which your soul has brought you. Generations of ancestors dreamed of creating a world for their children’s children, knowing reality has a way of nurturing and shattering dreams. This was not where you are supposed to be.

How you decide to react to actions that exploit the poor and vulnerable for personal profit, or capriciously create lies at someone else’s expense, or treat lives as if they are not important, will depend on you. You alone must choose how to act. Non-action has its place, but it is an action.

You  have watched how Charlie Chaplin could use images without words to capture a sentiment in a way that brought a smile. He recognized the madness of Modern times, challenged the Great Dictator,  and captured the endearing qualities of a kind-hearted poverty-stricken bum who cared for the Kid by boiling his boot.

You now watch how bots alter public opinion and you question the growing threat of Artificial Intelligence, that like most cures, can also be used as a poison. You alone must decide if you are going to believe yourself or what the media portrays as real or what you read on the Internet that is generated by a self-serving anarchist machine that is AI.

You are watching a world of good dreams that could come true being dissipated by short-sighted megalomaniacs. You have little recourse to follow. You are not meant to be here, but this is not the first time those like you have felt this.

You know that it is not new that government leaders have robbed from the poor both financially, medically and in education, so that the rich and powerful can become richer and gain what power money can buy, at any cost.

You are part of Humanity and suffer the trauma of existence.

You may notice some individuals with varying kinds of mental illnesses, that are at the root of aggression, dominance and superiority complexes that really stem from inferiority. But, you also see how many of humanity have adapted and care for others without violating others and the law.

You are left to create a micro-world within this chaos. Often friends who you trust and respect can offer shelter from the storms, however, historically, friends of people in high places often die by ‘committing suicide’ or execution. In 1591, Rikyu, the  tea master and one of the closest confidants for the Japanese head of state, Hideyoshi, was ordered to commit hari-kari because of crucial differences of opinion and because he was too independent and posed a threat to his so-called friend. 'Sudden Russian Death Syndrome' features many prominent leaders who have had suspicious suicides. At least, Henry 8 owned up to silencing his friend Thomas Cromwell, by execution.

You probably know that money, religious  and public supporters can change the narrative of a cruel leader.  The story of Scrooge reflects that of  Alfred Nobel. A mistaken death notice made Nobel change his ways and leave a positive legacy. You may not know that this is also part of the story of  the Dharma or Ashoka wheel .

 Ashoka, the Fierce and the Great,  was the last Emperor of the Mauryan iron age between 322-187 BC. He massacred his brothers who were heirs so he could get power. His son, Kunala,  blinded by a concubine, became a wandering singer who recorded the stories of what went on during the reign; of how spies and assassinations were needed to run an empire according to  a source handbook of the science of material gain, Artha-shastra.

Ashoka designed a torture chamber, based on Buddhist Paradisal Hell, that was made to look like paradise, with the beautiful exterior with  exclusive baths decorated with flowers and fruit. However, it was full of sadistic and cruel instruments of torture, with furnaces that poured molten metal on prisoners to represent the Buddhist concept of suffering endured by people.  

 Ashoka chose to use a consolidated aggressive expansion policy by spending all the profits of the land for war. He accepted  a loss of revenue and devalued the labor of workmen and destroyed the country made mostly of farmers. 

Ashoka found redemption when he converted to the struggling faith of Buddhism. The Buddhist promoted Ashoka the Pious, as frank and sincere. Ashoka destroyed the torture palace he designed, but not the unfathomable well where Yaksha, a haunting guardian nature spirit of the feminine Ashoka, resided. Ashoka  built temples and obelisks, intended to spread  educational reforms and moral transformation. He wrote edicts and sent missionaries to spread an ideology that led him to become the beloved of the gods and became regarded everyone with affection.

The legends of Ashoka are described in the 24 spoke Dharma or Ashoka wheel that  represents the 12 Links of dependent origination plus the reversing of the 12 Links, that define liberation and happiness as painless and without sorrow.

You know that History is written by the victors,  but truth finds a way to eventually surface.

This message to you is imperative. You alone are the most important person in your life. You alone are the only one who knows what is the best you can do. You know there is no longer a doubt that  matter and energy are connected. You have the power to make the improbable possible.

You will need skills and confidence to manage the many crazy situations you witness in this world where you do not belong. You were not meant to be here, in this confused angry greedy world, but you are.

You alone will decide the path you will follow need to find where you feel you really do belong. You may choose the path that measures success based on selfish financial gain, or give away all of your wealth, or  travel over the windy canyon to where you may find you belong, along a wide road, a narrow bridge or a tightrope.

You alone are the only one who can do your part to make the world what you hope it can be. You alone must work to understand the world and treat the Earth and its people with respect. If history teaches you something, you might be wise to create a  narrative that offers redemption and dignity to those who have done wrong.

Perhaps you hold the creative genius of Chaplin, and can find an option that brings a smile and at the same time helps those who feel they stand above others, to realize that they too might belong here, connected to others on Earth, and part of a greater legacy than money can buy.