Beyond my way of work
WONDER
As a child I felt a strange puzzle that I really never have outgrown. It was about the schizophrenic character I experienced in adults and in the limiting world and culture they seemed to "support" us children into.
In the beginning I naturally didn’t have words for it. It was like a feeling, a hunch, a recognition - and a puzzle. To me as a child the adults seemed to abide to some structure of mind that really felt contradictory to other and deeper parts of them - and of me. The adults pushed certain rules of behaviour that seemed limiting and counterproductive to life. At the same time I felt a contradictory longing in them; As to be more free, playful and loving - as small children often are. Instead, they «voluntarily» pushed a culture of shame and limitations and hypocritical rules on themselves - and on us. My childlike wonder about such a dual and schizophrenic nature was something I never was able to let go of - and today I can see it has been essential for my life journey and for my work...: It has been feeding a curiosity for the human design and potential; Why are we here - what is the direction of evolution - how can we prevail into a better version of our selves?
SEARCH
At first I searched into empirical understandings, as the answers were to be found in mere linguistic thoughts and structures of understandings. Today I can see the trap and delusion of being too identified with the rational mind, with verbal constructions and analytic knowledge alone. These are great tools - but they do not prevail wisdom. If we make them our primary or only source of "truth" it really limits a deeper potential of consciousness; We are so much more than our mind and emotions and identifications with stories. For example; Words and descriptions can never be what they describe. The cognitive map can never be the terrain, even if our delusive thoughts might tend to believe so. Such maps creates a world of symbols. Such entrapment by the mind, such unilateral identification with thoughts and emotions and symbols alone, makes delusions. It makes constructed systems of beliefs that are perfect in order to make envelopment and conflicts, both within our selves and in the collective space between us: Such self righteous delusions (in sanskrit called maya) are the basis of most - if not all conflicts. Is there a way beyond such limiting envelopment and into a more sustainable development and a deeper wisdom and insight? I wholeheartedly believe so. But first it is helpful and maybe necessary to really recognise the actual root of conflicts and to SEE the game of illusions that makes us construct so different worlds, so different “truths” and "realities"...:
DIS-EASE OF MIND
The extreme identification with thought seems to have become a disease among humans - as a hegemonic exaggeration. And it seems it is preparing us into the next evolutionary step. Our thinking - which is always judgemental in its structural character, based on our personal and limited systems of beliefs - has become our mantras, our realities, our trust, our religion, our authority, our basis of identity. This mind-trap creates and controls our experienced worlds - and we face our selves and people full of it… No wonder there are conflicts almost everywhere - inside the human mind, in relationships between us and in the worlds that we co-create. It is to me not wrong; It is evolution. It is Nature. The pain and suffering it creates though, gives us reasons to eventually move and develop further, hopefully sooner than later...
THE IMPULSE of EVOLUTION
Today there are so much pain, so much suffering; Of course most of us DO want out of it, we DO want to evolve and grow beyond the reasons for the misery created in the world - and often enough in our own being. I guess this topic can be described as the essence of my work - the quest to SEE more of the math of the game, to open for a more prosperous change, to make the world a better place and to use my life in both a meaningful, helpful and joyful way - simultaneously. And it seems to me that we all are driven by this same impulse of evolution deep down, it is just expressed in different and quite often hidden ways in our limited minds, covered by constructed delusions and identifications of all kinds…
SHIFT OF PARADIGMA
I believe we are in the middle of a huge shift of paradigma - and that such a shift is even needed in order to change the world into a more sustainable direction - even to avoid distinction as a species. The words of self-annihilation as a species is not mine, it is according to the UN climate panel and most scientists on the theme of the climate. If we don’t change our ways drastically and soon we will face an irreversible situation in just a few years to come. According to these scientists we need to act NOW. But maybe the solution is not to be found in technology or in politics alone; Maybe we really need to change deeply ourselves; A deeper and more coherent understanding of the potential of consciousness might be necessary as a first step; When seeing it and our selves better - it might be easier to do something about it. First we need to SEE the potential doors in our system - in order to open them. Maybe we are finally ripe for such a next step; Maybe it is time to really dare to open into a more authentic and more holistic level of being, of wisdom - not only individually but also collectively. Maybe this is our next step in the journey of evolution. Maybe such a shift of paradigma is what is actually needed to resolve into a more sustainable future and world. Let`s simply start by exploring and embracing our innermost potential - and truly nourish it with deliberate intent - NOW.
DOORWAYS
Understanding «thinking» is an example; It can be an important doorway into profound change. In order to truly understand our own thinking and our own minds we need to be in some kind of distance to them; A subject cannot see itself, it needs an object to be able to see. When you and I are truly identified with our thoughts and wor(l)ds - we cannot see the thought-wor(l)d-pattern-habits game - because we are it. We cannot really see what we are blindly identified with. Platon described this stage of being as an entrapment deep inside the cave, where we are only able to see the delusions on the shadow-wall, representing our constructed "realities" within our manipulated and moulded minds... Platon also described a way out, not only as a potential, but as natural evolution. We are entrapped in order to free our selves, in order to evolve. Its in our nature to finally move on…
WHAT NEXT?
How can we expand our awareness and develop beyond the stage of delusions - and move out of Platons cave? Our experience appears through many phenomena, like our sensing, thinking, judging, rationality and intuition. Our whole system as human beings seems to be a vehicle for awareness to evolve by. When we solely identify with our thought/emotions - they control us. We cannot really see them because we are so identified with them. But we are certainly more than our thoughts and emotions. We do have the potential to move our identifications and to go beyond limiting systems of beliefs and actually observe them. Such a transition will naturally affect our experience of everything - and thereby our actions in the world. Our being is the driver of our doing. When WE change as human beings - the world will change by our accordance of doing. We are all co-creators. We all matters in this play.
MODELS
As I moved into adulthood myself - it was hard to swallow that the schizophrenia I experienced in adults as a child also became evident in me, in my persona…
It seemed to me to be a certain math or grammar in how we develop as humans. It seemed to me to be a certain math and grammar in all of existence. So I started out to map it. It became almost an obsession to map the math and grammar of the human design and potential. I even found myself experimenting with it in day to day life, not always deliberately but like there was something invisible putting me into situations to make me see better. It felt like life was here as a theatre to help awareness into being - through me - and through every body. The meeting with "strange" situations and judgemental people - mee included - helped to provide material for such mapping. It helped me see that there must be more beyond this theatre of false identifications and judgemental constructions; I started out on the quest to develop my ability to SEE it more clearly, then to somehow transcend it and maybe even to transmute into wider aspects of consciousness. At least, this became evident to me as a potential.
Throughout history there has been created loads of models and maps on the human design and the human potential. The most interesting is that all the models seems to be so similar in their core descriptions, just putting on different coatings and frameworks. I found similarities and a red line across the board that could be merged into an overall map. I tried to make a map of recognition in order to make it more easy to SEE the math and to navigate - without getting trapped into a limiting dogma, religion or ideology. So as mentioned; I went on the journey of mapping and searching for a more clear picture of the potential of the human being and to try to understand evolution in better and deeper ways. Fine art photography became one of the tools. As with architecture. As with travelling. As with nature. As with relations. As with writing. As with my workshops. As with art in general. As with all of life.
SIMPLE BUT CHALLENGING
I finally found that it need not to be difficult at all, depending on how we relate to the search. In fact, it doesn't have to involve the way of the intellectual mind that much at all. Cognition and recognition is essential - but it need not to be difficult and intellectually specialised. The intellect might very well be just the problem - hindering the movement beyond it. It became more and more clear that the potential of expanding consciousness is already here, the grammar of a more evolved consciousness already is - and by simple maps and models something in us will simply recognise it. We are already the terrain, searching for ways to navigate. Recognition of the terrain by maps can be very helping - and awakening. By studying maps we can dis-cover our more "true" and prosperous and authentic nature - and then be more able to develop and move into it. The hard part is to actually want to make that move, to really be open to the yet unknown potential of our deeper terrain. Most of us feel more comfortable with what is already known to us and established as our fixed identity, ideas and system of beliefs. We refuse to really look into the mirror of truth about our own illusionary narratives. Our limitations and devastating delusions - as religions, ideologies, doctrines, cultural believes has become our comfort zone. And the world is simply a reflection; we dont see the world as it is - we see it as we are. What we see is always a mirror of our own level of being. This can and will change. The world can and will change. Evolution happens. But if we are not willing to really face our own delusions - we will simply stay stuck in the delusive hamster wheel...
SCHIZOPHRENIA & THE NEXT STEP
Now, back to the schizophrenia that puzzled me from childhood to the present: What is it? Put in simple terms it can be described as the mind on one hand and the witness of it all on the other hand. The witness part is usually invisible to us - as long as we are occupied and identified with the narratives of our mind and thoughts. When identified with thought - we «are» what we think. The thoughts represents our «truth». It controls us. It is our authority. We can fight for it, die for it, work for it, behave in accordance with it. We can call it religion or science or ethics or ideology. It still is constructions of the mind. It still is based within an illusionary state of consciousness. Yes, I believe consciousness has different states - and the movement between them is indeed part of evolution: This means we can and will develop our consciousness. It is a question of time. And will. The state of consciousness today is not the same as yesterday or for tomorrow. The witness stage is yet to be opened for - for most of us. It is a state that do NOT identify with thoughts and ideas and judgements - it simply witnesses from a pure, non-judgemental experience of existence. Then the thoughts do not any longer control us - we control them. Such a transition from being identified with our constructed stories - to being able to witness the whole game of it - is huge. It will impact all of our experiences and our actions - thereby it will affect our ability to respond in the world - it will affect our respons-ability. It will deeply affect our co-creation of the world. The world will literally change. We can call it the potential of the non-judgemental witness in us. It is here already, but more often than not it is hidden and covered by identification of thought, waiting to be dis-covered. It is also called the stage of consciousness that will bring us closer to the NON-DUAL stage, to the experience of oneness with being, beyond the separations of mind. ALL models of wisdom and philosophy I have gotten acquainted with describes in one way or another this potential and this leap in the human evolution - yet to be developed for most of us.
NOT NEW
In other words - these recognitions are not something new. It has been described by Platon, Socrates, Nietzsche, Hegel, Jung and in most models of the human potential throughout history, as in the Vedas, the Maya-calendar, the Toltec system, the Chakra system, the Kabbalah, by the Sufis - and so on. The new is that the last couple of decades has provided scientific results that largely supports these recognitions and ideas. And it seems like the potential of opening into the next levels of consciousness has become more ripe within mainstream movements than ever. And it is more natural than ever to welcome such a shift - as the need is more evident than ever before. It all accumulates. It is a fantastic but challenging time to be in. And it still requires some effort and will and openness on behalf of the human race if we are to develop in a more coherent direction. You and I do matter. Our actions are part of the evolutionary process. What each one of us choose to do always works as a permission for others to do as well. Everything interacts with everything. Life is contagious - in good and bad. We are respons-able whether we like it or not.
RECOGNITION & WILL
So lets at least welcome the idea of such journey and the potential of evolution - at least before denying it. Evolution always brings us into something that was previously unknown. If we are not willing to open into the unknown - we are stuck. Many people are so afraid of the unknown. It is natural. We feel safe with what we know, not so much with what we dont know. So we tend to cling to the thought-model of our cult, of what is already cultivated and programmed in us as the norm, normality and culture. We more often than not try to stay normal, to keep to the fixed norm, to stay unchanged… But now is really the time for change. And if you feel the call - you probably are...
NECESSITY
As I see it, any "program of mind" will in time create so much suffering that we eventually will not only be willing to change but needing to change. Eventually. It might take some time in the circus of everyday life and habits and identifications but sooner or later we will have to move further, to the next step. Sometimes a crisis in life helps to get the job done. Evolution cannot be stopped nor would it be wise to make an effort to stop it. Actually, it seems absolute necessary to change on deep levels if we are to avoid extermination of our own species in the near future - according to science on the climate situation. Now; We can choose to take deliberate part in the changing process in our selves - or not; We can choose to consciously work to expand our own consciousness - or we can choose to stay put in our autopilot of habits and being - continuing as short-sighted lemens towards the cliff. Our actions matters. It is our choice. It is our future. It is our now. We are in the hour.
SHARING
In my life I have often chosen to put one of my legs out of the box. The other one has been safely grounded in the surrounding culture. It has been a ride of balance, with pros and cons and not without frustrations and challenges. But it has given me a journey of very rich experiences and ways of freedom, relatively cut off from the limiting frames of wage-slavery and with space for reflection and creative playfulness. I am sharing the material from this journey through my work of art, photography, writing, workshops, tuition, web-platforms and other interactive ways. I am simply following the calling that feels right in the co-creation of being, using the widest range of abilities that I can apprehend in the moment. It has included the quest of getting to know remote cultures as to widen my perspectives, it has included to nourish the ability to listen beyond the already established ideas and narratives, to move in nature with the widest receptivity I can open for, to move into the wisdom of stillness, to explore as many aspects of being as possible. The richness of such exploration gives me grace and humbleness towards life, even though there are many hills to climb and challenges to move through on the way. I can only hope that my work and efforts will be of some kind of help or inspiration for others, that you or the next find some value in it. That would be my reward. Behind our delusions - we are never separated.
Thank you,
Robert