The Lessons of Rona: A recap...

(Originally released by email on 24th April 2020)

Many thanks to all those who have been reading and replying to my recent emails. I’ve had a bumper postbag as they used to say on Blue Peter so before we tackle the final lesson, the biggie, FEAR, let's do a short recap of some of the points people have raised. I’ll try to explain myself differently than I did before...

1: Gratitude

The point is that gratitude for the good things is easy. Anyone can be thankful when life goes well. But can we be thankful when it goes badly, appreciating that pain is the greatest teacher? If this is super-difficult it is only because we are so wedded to the idea of happiness. Sure, it is nice to be happy and smiling and laughing, it is certainly better than being miserable. But it’s better still to be wise, and the way to be wise is to see that every time you fall you are actually being given the opportunity to learn something which you otherwise would never see. Life is a school, not a playground. This school of life has a playground attached which we are free to use, but the lessons take place inside the school and life has a way of forcing us there until we learn. I get that this is hard to see never mind accept but I am quite convinced that it is true. One might even say that the global lockdown is a form of detention because we have not been getting on with our lessons….

2: Uniqueness

Nature is efficient and creates only what is needed. Human difference is not superficial, but intrinsic to life itself. The fact that 99% of human DNA is alike misses the crucial point that you will never meet another living soul who looks quite like you or sees the world quite like you. This means that everyone is valuable because no-one can ever be replaced. Once you are gone you are gone, and your Life will never happen again. If this were widely accepted there would be a revolution, which is perhaps why there has been such a concerted war on uniqueness for so long now.

From a spiritual perspective (though in truth everything I say is from a spiritual perspective because life is spiritual), uniqueness is the gateway through which you find fulfilment, meaning and peace of mind. In times of crisis the urge to band together is a powerful one, yet it is only ever the unique individual, the one apart from the group, who finds the way out of the crisis.

Uniqueness is particularly relevant to health because everyone’s body system is slightly different. A dietary regime that suits one person will not suit another, a medicine which brings good results for one will bring side effects for another, and a vaccine that works for one will bring terrible consequences to another…

No matter what those in power say, no matter how often they repeat it, and no matter how many weak-minded fools go along with it there is no one-size-fits-all solution to life’s problems.

3: Love

The Ladder of Love is just a structure to help us embrace more Love. It is certainly possible to disregard the ladder and simply love, but the core lesson is that as you go higher up the ladder so things become less and less about you. This is important because 'giving in order to get' never works.

Many people said that they had difficulty with Step Three, the one that requires you to love those who have done you wrong. But there was once a wise and loving man who said, “forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Maybe we can’t love those who have done us wrong, but we should not hate them. Hate is such a profoundly dangerous emotion because it fools you into thinking that your hate is righteous or justified. Except that once you give into hate you are no longer in control of your life. This is a deep-seated problem which politicians, campaigners and activists ought to be more careful with. It is easy to believe that anger is motivated by compassion or a quest for justice, and maybe it is. But it is even easier to cross the line where the noble cause becomes only about sticking it to the man. It is easy to destroy, but it is far more difficult to build.

Some people lamented the fact that they were only on Step One or Two. Well, self-honesty is a wonderful asset! Much better to know you are on Step Two then delude yourself that you are on Step Six. And at least you are on the ladder, for not everyone is.

4: Death

Quite a few people shared their stories of past lives that someone else told them that they had. Care is required here, I think. Others can give clues and general guidance, but who are they to tell you what you are, let alone what you were? Because the area of past lives is so littered with the possibility for delusion and fantasy any clues from others can only be a starting point.

A few people questioned whether they really believed in reincarnation, to which I say that belief is not necessary. My maxim, through all of life (not just spiritual things) is

Believe nothing. Seek to know.

There is so much misinformation out there now. Social media has spread human knowledge, but my god it has also spread human ignorance.

Now, I recognise that it takes a bit of effort to gets one’s head around GRATITUDE, UNIQUENESS, LOVE and DEATH, particularly in the ways that I have described them. But to me they are fundamental to any kind of meaningful life. This is not just more information, but a platform upon which you can build a sustain ably successful and fulfilling life.

Next time, the biggest lesson of all, the one that is responsible for the Corona Panic and the deliberate destruction of centuries of human progress… FEAR 😊