If the world needs healing, how does it get healed? What heals it? Or is it a who?
Here’s a little story to ponder…
Suppose that a great commotion arises in the street about a lamp-post, which many influential persons desire to pull down. A grey-clad monk, who is the spirit of the Middle Ages, is consulted about the matter, and begins to say, in the arid manner of the Schoolmen: “Let us first of all consider, my brethren, the value of Light.
If Light be in itself good—” At this point he is overrun and knocked down.
All the people make a rush for the lamp-post and the lamp-post is down in ten minutes. The crowd goes about congratulating each other on their un-mediaeval practicality. The lampost is down! What a triumph!
But as things go on they do not work out so easily. Some people have pulled the lamp-post down because:
They wanted the electric light
Some wanted some old iron.
Some wanted darkness, because their deeds were evil.
Some thought it not enough of a lamp-post.
Some thought it too much.
Some acted because they wanted to smash municipal machinery.
Some just wanted to smash something.
And because there is war in the night, no man knows whom he strikes. So, gradually and inevitably, to-day, to-morrow, or the next day, there comes back the conviction that the monk was right after all; and that all depends on what is the philosophy of Light. Only what we might have discussed under the gas-lamp, we now must discuss in the dark. -adapted from GK Chesterton, Heretics
What do you make of this story?
Can you think of other, more similar or more modern stories?
Are there stories like this in your own life? Have you ever acted hastily and regretted it? Have you ever acted immaturely and felt embarrassed later? Have you ever lashed out in hostility and felt shame afterward?
What do you think about the mob mentality demonstrated in the story? Is there hysteria involved? Why would people do something compulsively or impulsively that will eventually be harmful to them? Was the behavior in this scenario rational? Irrational?
Were the players active, proactive, or reactive? How does each method work? What is most effective? What changes the world?
And underlying all that is a question or questions about the monk: Was the monk speaking the truth? Or trying to? How do you know? Did the crowd know the truth? What is the truth? Where is it? And where is the light now?
The truth is that they all plunged themselves into darkness while they trampled the monk.
Is that noble?
Is it wise?
Was the monk’s message heard?
What does this story teach?
When has crowd hysteria served the light? When has a frenzy served the light? When has an angry mob served the light?
Did it serve the light when Joan of Arc was burned at the stake? Did it serve the light when witch hunts from the fifteenth century to the Salem witch trials in America that resulted in the burining of an estmated 40,000 to 60,000 women?
Did it serve the light for Hitler to proclaim the Jews less than human and begin a campaign of extermination resulting in the deaths of more than 6 million of them?
Did it serve the light for Senator McCarthy to randomly accuse people of sympathizing with the communists resulting in the upholding of the “American tradition of the KKK” and the eventual blacklisting of actors in Hollywood? Did the House on Unamerican Activities who arbitrarily labeled people “Communists” serve the light?
Did it serve the light to imprison women suffragettes who wanted to be considered equal to men in their right to vote?
Did the Klu Klux Klan serve the light?
Or the Christian Crusaders who killed in the name of God? Or the Fatwahs and Jihad today?
Did slavery serve the light and the mobs who lynched real human beings?
Or what about the frenzied crowd that clammored: “Crucify him; crucify him!”
In these modern times did the mob mentality serve the light when the McMartins were falsely placed on trial for child molestation at their preschool based on an original accusation by a mentally ill woman? The trial was sensational, the media exploded and exploited it and it took ten years to clear the McMartin name because they were not guilty. But their lives were ruined. The McMartin case set the stage for the Michael Jackson hysteria over false accusations.
Did it serve the light when Richard Jewell was wrongly and publicly accused in 1996 of the Bicentennial Olympic Park Bombing?
Did it serve the light when Patsy Ramsey was villified in the press only to be cleared of all suspicions 12 years later?
Did it serve the light for the frenzied paparrazzi to chase the people’s princess and queen of hearts– Lady Diana Spencer into a dark tunnel on a dark Paris evening in 1997?
And did it serve the light in 2005 when paparrazi, tabloid and mainstream media (infected with tabloid hysteria) saw more than 2000 reporters descend on California to participate in a media frenzy designed solely to see profit, not justice?
So what are we to make of this crowd mentality? The hysteria? The mass hypnosis? It is healthy?
Read Barbara’s essay on journalism, inflammatory words and hysteria:
and her “Weapons of Mass Destruction” article:
http://www.voiceseducation.org/content/weapon-mass-destruction-new-violence-and-wmd
So besides boycotting tabloid media, what can be done to fix this problem?
So many Michael Jackson fans take the bait that tabloid media cynically dangles before them like a circus trainer dangles food to rile up the caged wild animal. The animal, seeing and smelling blood paces and lunges and works itself into a frenzy trying to get at what feeds it and sustains its existence. Worked up enough, the agitated animal will attack its trainer, its family or even its own offspring.
How does this relate to Inner Michael and Jackson fans? Unfortunately, fans take the bait most of the time. Instead of remaining the rational voice of reason, keeping cool and actually educating an uneducated public about the facts, fans often lash out in every direction. They flood Facebook and Twitter. They attack the media, other targets and each other.
And it all gets venomous. And it unfortunately makes Michael Jackson fans look rabid. Instead of gaining them public dignity and a coherent and respected voice. Does that serve the light? Does it serve Michael?
That too, is hysteria. That is mass hypnosis. That is the same frenzy brought to you by media and all the crazy self-righteous but uninformed consumers out there who continue to hold the darkness. And in the process. what is accomplished? Without meaning to, the media is fed and more uniformed people are driven away or into the dark.
People run from people acting crazy or in a frenzy or they completely dismiss them as delusional and unbalanced.
Unfortunately Twitter anti campaigns end up driving even more traffic to the dark media and more people to the side of opinion against Jackson and against listening to anything rational. If you are screaming it at the top of your lungs, nobody is going to listen. Jackson himself warned fans about this phenomenon. He asked that fans stay in the light, not knock down the lampost.
In the hurry to get to the lampost, the monk himself was crushed.
There are ways to do this better and smarter. It starts with coming at this from a different perspective.
Want to get started? Want an answer? Want to change the world?
I am the Answer
So are you.
What if we did something amazing to prove it?
13 Comments
I am a true fan of everything you’ve done/written and shared in regards to Michael’s power of healing (the world). It’s a blessing to have lived in the same age as him and it’s wonderful to have people like you pass on his teachings. THANK YOU. Monica/SWEDEN
I’m at work and unable to open the videos or your articles but I have read them before fortunately. While reading what I could, a steady something inside me said “I Am The Answer ” and it sure was joyful to read you take those words out of my mouth. For a long time I have been feeling we are all being baited very purposely, and the attention given from us to the felonious media putting it out there regarding Michael, has lined their pockets nicely with pale green paper. I keep wondering, if we ignored a lot of it, who would read it? The Haters seem to wait for us to say something so they can sting with their venom.
After Michael’s murder a lot of what was written about him was immensely ignorant and had to be responded to, but for a while now ignorance seems to have been replaced with something utterly vampiric and deliberate. When I subject myself to much of the inane trash purposely written about him, and the diseased offerings of hater comments, I feel sucked dry of life force, I feel that I am giving this element EXACTLY what it wants, I feel caught in a trap.
I’ve read that Tom Cruise sues everyone who prints slander about him, he wins all the time and he donates all the money to charity – hence, I suppose, very little of that nature is written about him. So there is definitely something to be said for fighting back – but ah, your words to me from quite a while back – “fight SMART gertrude” – are immediately in my head so again, I am wondering about the course we could best take. I do feel we are often feeding the beast when we give it our attention – it needs that to live?
I am wondering if it is not only HOW we respond, but WHO we respond to that should also be considered. When I was a kid EVERYONE knew what yellow journalism was and far, far fewer people gave it any attention than do today – when almost everyone is buying it because that is pratically all there is. How do we get people to stop buying it? What campaign has been launched or can be launched to further this objective. Is this beast starvable?
I believe the beast is starvable; it will take commitment and work. Do fans have the stamina and the patience? That will be the largest factor and looming question. I believe that the answer lies in a multi-pronged approach. The recent series of postings are preparatory work for advancing on one front and later more. I also think that if fans would ignore some things because to allow oneself to get set off and to engage only adds to the bad rap. And yet answering some charges with cogent, intelligent answers, would see the reputation of not just Michael, but his fans, change enormously.
Instead of a storm of nastiness and attack on Twitter when someone says something foolish (Matt Fiddes) saying nothing would starve the beast because to address it publicly spreads the venom worldwide and falsely informs more people. It spreads garbage about Michael instead of goodness.
On a negative article itself, is the place to address the lie with proof and links in the comments that rebut the falsehoods. What should be happening on Twitter is that EVERY positive thing that is said about Michael (his artwork donated to a hospital, Pepsi and a commemorative can, The Bad 25 year anniversary, the Immortal show and things that add to his legacy instead of detract should be all over Twitter. The tabloids know that the dirt sells and gets attention. We too are falling into that same trap. And yes, we then are feeding the beast.
The media must be addressed. Sue Wilson had to take a leave of absence but she will be back and I look forward to resuming work with her.
We must also work with energy. But first we must understand what we are working with. We’ll get there.
It is wise to remember also that these are difficult times for lots of people. Global economics are a mess; in America we have a financial meltdown, high unemployment, housing markets are in terrible shape and racism has reared its ugly head again– with the first black president. Since Obama took office, a thousand new hate groups have formed. Young people don’t see a future they can live with and people weary of corporate greed and the abuses of power. (My own state is recalling its governor.) So we see an “Occupy” movement and now the “99%.”
People, I think, are really fatigued with corrouption, greed and the loss of values of the heart. And many places around the globe are fighting for democracy and freedom. This upheaval is necessary to build a new world. These are times of great change. The Dalai Lama has said “the Western woman will save the world.” My experience with the awakening caused by Michael’s death is that hundreds of mature women were cracked open and thrust into a spiritual emergency and headlong into a spiritual journey. That tells me something important and I have paid attention.
A well thought out and organized campaign works and can gain momentum. If you want to witness one that is currently very successful– look at “Miss Representation.” We should all be looking for things that are successful, campaigns that work, methods used to get attention, which videos go viral and why. That is where the strategies are that can be adopted. Now, can I get a witness? ~B
I agree with every word, and appreciate the reassurance and clarity of them. There is the upheaval and aftershocks of the global situation, and then there are our personal “falling-rocks” to dance around/not get crushed by – be they the loss of loved ones, major surgery, economic hardship, the agony & ecstacy of seeing a loved one through the perils and eventual triumph of chemo-therapy & remission – the lists are endless. Lordy! How many of us feel like we are hanging by a thread I wonder?
Many are hanging by a thread- in the micro world and also in the macro one. Many are unaware, unawakened. This is a paradoxical time– for suffering is a great teacher and sorrow cracks open the human heart. The bright side of the current depth and breadth of despair and escalating need on our planet is that we may come to discover we are all in this together, that humanity is an interconnected web of life and that all members of that web are important. We may learn that it is people, not profit that matters. I hold space for that.
At the same time that we discover our humanity, we must evolve to higher states of consciousness and learn to live in our hearts, not our heads. From our hearts, not from our heads. It’s a fine balancing act. It is going to take those with strongheart characteristics to pull it off. My burning question: MJ fans have the numbers to pull off a critical mass should they get past their differences and engage in the work; do they have the strongheart will? I know what power lies in repose and if harnassed, what it could do to change the world; it is the source of one of my deepest sorrows. I want us to please wake up to our mission.
Barbara
It is so difficult for me to respond this time. I am overwhelmed by your words in both its content and implications. Simultaneously, you bring me to tears and my heart leaps for joy. The Yin/Yang of existence is the key that unlocks our own human nature, the nature of our duality. On a cellular level I am certain that LOVE is all we need. However it is a specific type of LOVE that is required and this particular type of LOVE is huge, it is transpersonal, it is beyond ourselves.
The notion is that we must be able to identify the shadow and then like the old monk walking with the lantern we shine a light wherever it is encountered. We have to be discerning, we must learn the language of LOVE and learn the signs of love’s shadow. Michael Jackson fans, as a whole, if they would only operate on this level would quite simply, “Change the World”. Of that I am quite certain. I think we are all looking for a more complex answer but it is right in front of us all the time. It is a simple statement but simple does not necessarily mean it is easily implemented.
LOVE. Replace all your preconceived notions with the greatest of all human energy, the power of love. LOVE one another and bring the energy of LOVE into your consciousness, into your daily routine so that your default would always be one of LOVE. Michael embodied LOVE in its purest form – we can be his light bearers. I like to think of all of us as “LOVERS of Michael Jackson” and to discard the use of the word “fan”.
We ARE the critical mass that can help move the planet so it can vibrate on a higher plane – on Michael’s plane. His energy is still a guiding force and we must understand that there is no place for infighting and ego especially for those whose faith has been placed in the awesome power of LOVE. I also agree that the Yin force will become the predominant energy and that women will be instrumental in birthing this new world. For too long the feminine face of the Creator has been vilified, rendered impotent and marginalized. Michael, using his incredible ability to channel both male and female energies has been a light to show us the way. The light bearer is still with us, but only up the road a piece and those of us who are “LOVERS of Michael” can feel his essence, guidance and gentleness nudging us towards enlightenment. He is still guiding the HOLON but we must make him proud. We must be gentle, persistent and ethical, never wavering, we must “SET THE EXAMPLE.” I AM READY.
OH Barbara, these words sent shivers over my whole body:
“The Dalai Lama has said “the Western woman will save the world.” My experience with the awakening caused by Michael’s death is that hundreds of mature women were cracked open and thrust into a spiritual emergency and headlong into a spiritual journey.”
I think you just made the penny drop, put the puzzle pieces together so that the picture finally emerged… I am in a state of awe because all along in this journey, I have been musing over the fact that the majority of Michael Jackson fans who were deeply affected by his death, awakened and thrust into a spiritual journey, are female, and quite often though not always, ‘mature’ in age. To see the words of the Dalai Lama ( which I have read before) placed next to the observation about MJ fans, quite literally has chills of revelation running up and down my spine. My mind is quite literally stilled by it, and so… the penny drops… and this spiritual journey is embraced once more with my whole heart, my whole being.
I have so much to learn but oh I am so willing to learn! Led by the light of a man I never met, and now surrounded in the journey by the many other lights that he lit, the fires deep in the spirits of those who felt the call , the pull, and the immense light of love shining through the hearts aching for a loss we did not yet understand. I’m ready to learn. I’m following my heart into the most incredible journey of my life. How many times I’ve read the words ” follow your heart”; now I know it’s not about following a passion, a whim, or even a love.. its about following the clearest whispering of your heart, that comes unbidden and flowers abundantly within you. This is the journey my heart and soul have been waiting to take, preparing for and waiting for. xoxox Thank you again and again. I’m ready.
I am not good with words right now, having had a long hard trying day. Nor do I normally post comments here, for much the same reason. But I always come to read here and look forward to each new blog post and the accompanying comments. In my simple, humble words, for I truly don’t feel as eloquent as everyone else here, please accept my gratitude for this uplifting and therefore very important writing that you engage in at this blog. I always come here because it soothes me greatly to read all these ideas and sentiments. Knowing there are others out there who care as much, who see as much, and who are committed as much, is such a source of hope and inspiration for me. Yes, LOVE is THE answer, I feel it. Thank you for the LOVE.
You’re welcome, Essa. Thank you. You said it eloquently, by the way; and these encouragements mean the world to me and it’s good to know there are many keepin’ the faith along with me. God Bless! ~B
I am fascinated that the Dalai Lama said that the Western woman will save the world–wow! Can you tell me when and where he said that? I would like to know the source. It is an amazing statement.
Thanks for the beautiful words here. I watched the video I am the Light. At the end there is a V sign in a circle. I have never seen that before–does anyone know where it comes from? Is it part of a religion?
Thanks again for the uplifting words.
I just saw a trailer for an amazing film that is being made. It is called Wakan Tanka (Great Spirit). It about how to connect the Elders and their wisdom with Youth and to help Youth to understand how to connect with Mother Earth. I will give you the website here and you can watch the trailer. The movie is still being edited.
http://www.wakantankafilm.com
I want to see this film made. ~B
Lots of people are interested in what the Dalai Lama said. So I will say more in the next post. Stay tuned. ~B