A Glimpse by Paramita
The Radio 4 Thought For The Day caught my attention the other morning. It was that sort of early morning, contemplative type material, that probably wouldn’t really have registered so well if I’d heard it in the midst of a normal busy day. The theme was Conspiracy Theory – I can’t remember the exact title.
The narrator offered perspectives on society’s increasingly erratic response to the seemingly cloak and dagger antics of the geo-political corruption culprits. How a growing percentage of the population think that the global elite seem to be covertly closing down our freedoms and our ability to create happy and prosperous lives for ourselves. And some of the dangerous ideas and schemes that are and have been streaming out of the Conspiracy melting pot.
The tone of the piece was definitely tilted negatively towards Conspiracy Theory, and highlighted all of the more erratic aspects without really giving credence or fair representation to any of the events or the facts that provide the basis for it. In short, it was biased! While I tend to agree that the work of the growing Conspiracy Theory Network seems to spiral wildly into and out from its own neurotic fear complex, it’s also difficult for me to turn away from it without acknowledging that there is more and more evidence to suggest that we are being gradually hypnotized into some nightmare world, where our potential and vulnerability is being weaponized against us – in the name of profit and control.
But what to do?
In a previous episode of my life I spent some years losing myself in a confusing melange of elaborate, radical and sometimes downright hysterical ideas about all sorts of plots to control, suppress and dumb down the Human masses. In the end there were just too many. No Global Cabal, I reasoned, could ever possibly keep track of that many evil schemes with any degree of coherence or effectiveness. And so I dropped it all, even more suddenly than I had gotten my troubled little head enmeshed into it in the first place. I realised that the only way for me to make any kind of change in this world was to start with myself, heal, grow, and then take care of my own little corner, tend to my own metaphorical garden, insignificant as it might seem against the bigger picture.
As I think about it, I can remember this being one of the many threads that eventually led me out of a very harmful lifestyle and into a more engaged and sensible attitude and approach to the world, and life in general.
I became more and more involved in various recovery and religious communities, that aspired to the harnessing of collective power. The way forward was in a co-ordinated climb towards self-understanding, shared values and progressive attitudes.
‘’The word conspire means to breathe together’’
This was the line that really peaked my interest in this particular radio offering.
Etymologically, the Latin con -’together with’ and spirare – ‘breathe’ – gives us con-spire, and now conjures up images of darkened figures huddled in windowless rooms, formulating emboldened schemes to snatch back control from some hidden hand that wields ultimate power.
It also reminds me of our communal practice here in the Buddhist Temple where I live. Apart from the day to day functioning of the place, which requires concerted efforts continually, we also share meditation practice, in which we, quite literally, ‘breathe together’. We sit quietly, allowing peace and tranquillity to infiltrate our busy minds. We contemplate enlightenment and look towards a higher reality, inhabited by wiser and more loving beings, and we attempt to emulate and manifest that reality in our very Human lives.
This is the kind of conspiracy that moves me today. A kind of collective counterbalancing effort, that sends out subtle and powerful ripples into the ever deepening darkness.
Namo Amida Bu.
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