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| Image copyright: guardian.co.uk |
The metaphysical understanding is that every action is simply a thought, expressed. You cannot have a violent act without a violent thought that precedes it.
Ahimsa invites us to live in a way that doesn't harm other living beings. When we practice ahimsa we respect the preferences of others because we understand our essential oneness with all life, everywhere.
More than ever before, we all need to look more honestly at ourselves, and examine our personal, cultural, and societal beliefs.
Today, I was very disturbed to read that a woman MP, Stella Creasy, had to call in the police after receiving a series of vile rape threats from Twitter "trolls". One of those messages threatened to rape Ms Creasy and put the video "all over the internet".
And why had these hate-filled misogynists targeted Ms Creasy? Simply because she had defended a wonderful woman named Caroline Criado-Perez, who campaigned on Change.org for Jane Austen to be put on the new £10 note, the culmination of which was a victory for women everywhere. The Bank of England listened to the voices of 35,000 people - both women AND men - and thus changed its plans not to feature any women on banknotes.
The rape messages are partially the result of technology being used for harm instead of for good and we, as a responsible society, need to address this issue with the immediacy it requires.
There is a petition taking off on Change.org to protect women everywhere. You can help by signing it, and sharing it with everyone you know.
https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/twitter-add-a-report-abuse-button-to-tweets?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=29880&alert_id=cQARbqrLMO_EORfkeWhuB
I am sure that we can all agree that social media platforms like Twitter have at least a moral, if not a legal, responsibility to protect innocent people from such abuse. No woman (or man) should have to tolerate this.
However, what everyone is failing to address is the much wider issue of the negative conditioning that happens from a young age. What is the root cause of these negative messages appearing before us now, at this time? Could these violent messages be pointing to all of us? You may shout, "no!" but read on.
In this very moment, ask yourself: where did your ideas about being a man or woman come from? The majority will undoubtedly come from your parents and family, your teachers, your education system, the popular press and various media sources.
For the vast majority of men today, any show of emotion is seen as a terrible weakness, by all their male friends, but also by their female friends - after all, many women have been socialised to want a "strong" man to look after them! Weakness, or vulnerability, is generally a "turn-off"... but what happens to the emotions that are shoved down inside the self? Are they not the catalyst for a violent explosion?
Unexpressed emotion is dangerous - a ticking time bomb...
And let us not forget that the vast majority of women feel extraordinary pressure to constantly beautify themselves, putting on layers of makeup to hide their "ugliness". If women don't conform, they may suffer from rejection by both sexes.
These are just two examples of conditioned behaviours, stemming from false beliefs about Who We Are. These types of beliefs have been handed down, creating the dysfunctional society we have today. We are all responsible for this, and we need to heal it. We must give ourselves permission to break the damaging status quo.
It is abundantly clear, to those who will simply look, that a whole host of corrupt models of the world are still very much pervasive throughout the fabric of our society, and very much at odds with what we say we want the most - peaceful, dignified living.
By the time our children become teenagers, much of their programming is complete, whether positive or negative. As adults, they can wake up to a new reality, but it takes a lot of inner work once thousands of hours of negative beliefs are insidiously running in the background.
Are we all not brainwashed that "men are like this..." and "women are like that..."?
Stop the average Joe or Mary in the street, and they will agree that "Men are from Mars, and Women are from Venus." This belief is held in the morphogenetic field of consciousness; and so the sense of otherness goes on... and we unconsciously perpetuate the old energy. It becomes our truth!
The ancients knew that polarity (male and female) both exist in a dualistic world. One isn't better than the other. Both are necessary.
What is little known, and even less acknowledged, is that the archetypal patterns of male and female both exist within a man, and within a woman.
It may be shocking for some (perhaps many!) to learn that a man can be "caring", or "sensitive" or "nurturing". Many men will shake their head in disbelief. They may even run from the whole idea - the idea is anathema to them. They will feel like a "sissy" or a "fag" or, God forbid, a "woman"! An insult that is still commonly used today is: "don't be such a girl", or "don't be such a woman".
I have seen boys as young as 7 years old told to 'man up' and to stop wanting cuddles, just because the father is uncomfortable with his ability to give and receive affection. Many men are still laughed at by their peers for starting yoga. It is often seen as effeminate, and not something a 'real man' would do.
It may also be shocking for some to learn that a woman can be a "warrior" or "assertive" in some way. Many men and women will be very much opposed to this notion, as it will challenge their world view of how things "should be".
When we look carefully at our society's "default" programming, it is often clear that a man is supposed to behave a certain way, and a woman is supposed to behave a certain way... and those who go against the stereotypical model are often shunned, denounced and even attacked. This is at least a partial cause of the twitter rape threats.
We sorely need to get a higher perspective on Who We Really Are. This is long overdue! We need to root out all of the false, damaging beliefs that are ingrained from a young age.
We desperately need to remember that we are all human beings first; our differences that create the rich tapestry that we see before us. Without them, life would be very dull indeed!
Regrettably, we must acknowledge that we have co--created a fragmented, unsupportive society that fosters negative conditioning; we are afraid of any serious change towards more evolved living as we continue to buy into, and perpetuate, the same old BS! (Belief System, of course).
Let's wake up, for all our sakes'! It is time to stop living in the dark ages, pretending that we are an evolved society, when we are not even willing to look at basic beliefs that are damaging us.
Jaime Tanna
Founder and Director of Energy Therapy
