You will never be a better citizen than when you are dreaming, creating, challenging, discussing, protesting, and adding your voice to the great, considerate, and humble conversation of life. Protest is an effective path to change. We have a responsibility to disobey and violate unjust rules and laws. Civil disobedience is a wonderful tool that has shown itself to be one of the most effective and powerful vehicles to speedy social evolution. Non-violent, but absolutely defiant non-cooperation, through acts of public civil disobedience are powerful and nearly uncontrollable tools of social reform. They are tools which throw a wrench into any systems's obtuse machinery, forcing even the most blind of organizations to crack open their eyes for a moment of self-reflection. This is of course because the survival of the organism is being threatened through challenges to its identity — that identity being primarily one of control. To challenge that identity shocks the system with a fear of loss of power and relevancy, which would prevent the organism from being able to continue to exercise its core competency of control. The way we keep these systems in check, is through speaking truth.
Non-violence is one of the highest master tools and paths of creating the dream we all know is the ultimate truth; the dream of a peaceful world. But non-violence needs to be applied inwardly to ourselves. It is not necessary to dignify tyranny with anger, which merely validates its false power. The ultimate defiance is to simply and gently be your own truth. The ultimate defiance is to simply BE. The ultimate protest is to simply do what is right and good. Lay down your worldly attachments and merely exist in total cooperation with your own unique inner truth. A person who wants nothing fears nothing. Your power is total and unstoppable. There is no single power on earth, nor any person, nor any institution, which has access to ANY power source beyond what you have direct access to right now, in this very moment. We are all fueled by the same free source of life and liberty.
There is something greater than any nation; it is the spirit which created the nation. As a citizen of any country you have a natural allegiance to something deeper than your citizenship. There is a deeply obscured level beyond citizen — it is the domain that gave birth to the space for the constructs of citizen and country to exist. This is your true domain as a free creator, and it is to this space your highest gratitude, loyalty, and belonging should ascend. Upon this earth we have no obligation whatsoever to uphold any institution, country, or idea that does not serve as a humble refuge for all of humanities tender frailties. When people of any country begin to capitalize on their weakest members and even their sick and dying, then their national dream is dead already, and has become a nightmare. Let us revolt against the nightmare, and work together for a kinder world.
The nature of oppression can be very tame, and often goes by the false name of civility. It is with a cold and inhumane civility that many great crimes are carried out against the warm hearts of good people. Inside of every good person there is also something very wild. Freedom is wild, and to be free we must at times live dangerously and wildly. We must at times deny the false world its identity within us, and reject its so-called civil order, and be fearless as individuals. There is no prison that can hold a free mind. Divest yourself from the machinery of society's most ignorant and cruel values, and rebuild them with your unique contribution of wisdom and love. Submission to the unnatural forces of societal coercion is a voluntary process; you can rescind your voluntary submission with a single thought. Your soul exists outside of the jurisdiction of any entity. Give no earthly master permission to subdue your unique truth, but allow your truth, to seduce their lust for control to a love of freedom. Freedom needs role-models.
It is your right to protest and be a component of social evolution and revolution, just as it is your right to breathe. There is no hurtful or violent spirit in true revolution, for if that dark spirit is present, then it is not true revolution, but is even a step backwards. You do not build an oracle of enlightenment and freedom on a foundation of brutality. True revolution advances consciousness. Revolution that does not advance us toward higher consciousness and compassion is devolution. The spirit of revolution should be rooted in the principle that eventually there will be an accounting for past injustices, not a punitive accounting which will create more conflict, but a reform in the state of consciousness that allowed the injustices occur in the first place. Those involved in revolution would be wise to heed what this implies. Revolution is simple. It is like breathing — out with the old, and in with the new. One thing revolution is not is timid, submissive, or obedient. Revolution is defiant. But, revolution also needs to know when to let go and move forward.
At all times, and especially during times of social change and protest, the public and police need to be as sensitive to one another as possible. We are all part of this global community and need to cooperate in order to bring about a safe and secure environment, for all of us to enjoy the beautiful opportunities of life. But there are no shortcuts or quick fixes to these problems. The prisons are full of society's "quick fixes"; they are brimming with our failures as a community of responsibility. It is in the prisons that we hide away our shame and thoughtless creations as a society. Shortcuts will never work. The path to healing and health involves deep and honest introspection and a resolute, clear intention to challenge our antiquated mindsets, and evolve into the heart-space of greater compassion, love and understanding. Progress and healing involves seeing every person as not so different from ourselves. This is the absolute truth.
Police work is a job that produces constant tension and inner conflict. A police officer is trained to approach all interactions with the public with extreme caution. On duty, every interaction must be handled according to defined procedures and with the commanding demeanor and presence of authority. But the public expects a certain level of respect, personability, and even sensitivity from its so-called civil servants. For the officer, maintaining a proper balance of comportment between affable personability and the required demeanor of authority can create a number of complicated problems with potential negative consequences. To the hardened criminal, kindness can be interpreted as a weakness to be exploited. But for innocent citizens inexperienced with the police, being treated too authoritatively can be offensive, frustrating, and even a source of real stress and anxiety. Knowing how to navigate this nearly unwinnable interaction puzzle can become a constant source of stress for the officer. One of the ways officers frequently cope with this type of stress is by inevitably leaning more on detachment and strict procedure following. While detachment and following procedure may be the easiest way possible for the officer to walk the line of personal safety, it can nonetheless be extremely alienating for the public. Even worse is that procedure following cannot solve many of the real world problems with which police are confronted. In these cases, the officer must use personal judgment. But deviating from standard policy and procedure can create real liabilities for the city, the police department, and the officers themselves. This never-ending circle of social dilemmas keeps many police officers in a constant state of discomfort and stress. It is tragic, but many police officers have been greatly desensitized to the suffering of others by their job, and of course through their own choices and priorities. Many police officers struggle with depression and feel their job is creating a literal battle within; that is, a battle for their soul and their own humanity.
We have all heard of the "Big Brother" police state; a so-called emerging totalitarian control grid that is seemingly becoming more restrictive with endless rules and regulations. Many people rightfully perceive the ever-encroaching government exercise of repressive controls, which are at times definite violations of constitutionally-guaranteed rights. As much as we are incensed when we see police brutality and abuse of power, and must absolutely fight against gross injustice when it occurs, we must also realize that the police need excessive and special compassion, at all levels, from evolved beings.
The police occupy a rare and important role in society, and we, as individuals, must be wise enough to see the complete picture of the human, and the office behind the uniform. There are many interests that must be accounted for: the interests of the citizen, the officer, the human in the role of the officer, the community, the government and the society. This understanding requires us to look at the police with suspicion, sympathy, compassion, and caution — but ultimately through the lens of human commonality and love.
In the future, all military needs to be voluntarily dissolved and disbanded by all nations. The sum of an organized military is greater than the parts, and as a whole, any military should be classified as a weapon of mass destruction. In a highly evolved future society, to the pride of its people, no military will exist. The most powerful weapon against our woes is a willful mind of defiance for good. Hold the dream of a world with no military passionately in your heart, and if you will not, or cannot, then the destroyer spirit has possessed you, and YOU are an important part of the great miseries of the world. If you really love the military you will deeply scrutinize the policies and influences leading them into battle, and if you don't care about those policies, then you don't care about the military. The most basic and meaningful way to respect the military is to never allow those men and women to be misused and abused.
