Mind, Drugs and Psychiatry

Find a quiet spot somewhere where you won't be disturbed, and clear your mind of most thoughts. Look at your hands - look at their shape, size and texture - and try to get a sense of being inside this body; this organic vehicle you mistake for yourself.

Look in the mirror as if you are looking at someone for the first time, and realise that this body and personality that you call 'yourself', is only one of the 6.5 billion human beings residing on this planet.

Now: who or what is doing this realization? Who or what is really looking through those eyes you call 'my eyes'? Where do these thoughts arise from? Do thoughts arise in the brain as most reductionist western scientist believe, or is there something more to it?

Karl Pribram - a neuroscientist - has always been puzzled by the am mount of memory a brain can store. It has also puzzled him as well as many others, why memory can't really be pinpointed in a specific area of the brain. A lot of research - especially by Pribram - has shown that the brain acts like a holographic vibratory entity. This makes sense if one takes M-Theory into account: the universe is one vastly complex arrangement of vibrations in a vibratory membrane or 'brane' in 11 dimensional space-time (of which the brain is undoubtedly part of). It also correlates with David Bohm's holographic principle of the universe.

Then, superimposing the DMT phenomenon - DMT, or Di methyl tryptamine being a serotonin-like substance manufactured by the brain with no apparent function other than that of natural occurring 'hallucinogenic' - poses more questions on the nature of brain, mind and the origin of thought. It makes one wonder what dreams really are. Brushed off again by main-stream science as rubbish, sorted through during sleep, doesn't explain precognitive or prophetic dreams, of which there are many cases reported.

Carl Jung thought of the dreamworld more in the lines of ancient tribal and mystical teachings - the dreamworld being just as real, or even more real than this limited dimension we call 'reality'. It is a dimension unlimited by 3-dimensional space-time; where thought is non-linear and saturated with archetypal metaphors, from therianthropes to demonic spirits; from bizarre sexual encounters to conversations with angels. It is interesting to note - see Supernatural by Graham Hancock - how dreams, psychosis and the psychedelic experience seamlessly coincide.

To elaborate on DMT: Dr. Rick Strassman - neuropsychiatrist, researcher and author of DMT; The Spirit Molecule - conducted research on numerous volunteers using larger amounts of DMT than usually present in the human body. These volunteers experienced profound altered states of consciousness, likening it to spiritual experiences. Some of them even confronted and overcame long buried and forgotten psychological trauma.
Now, it is interesting to note the following: DMT is produced by the body, has no other apparent function than that of being a natural occurring psychedelic, and is present in higher levels in the newborn, the dying and in individuals with acute schizophrenic episodes.

Schizophrenia is probably one of the most misunderstood issues of western medical protocols. Contrary to Freud, who labeled schizophrenia as an organic brain disorder with a poor prognosis; Carl Jung thought of schizophrenia as a state when 'the dream becomes real'; when the subconscious mind breaks through into the conscious mind due to necessity. Dogmatic 'Freudian' psychiatric management, involves the suppression of psychosis with drugs for the remainder of life, as the prognosis is poor. On the other hand: based on Jungian thought, Dr. John Weir Perry only managed these patients with emotional support (thus excluding drugs), which resulted in a near 100% remission rate after about 40 days; most patients having a much better quality of life than before their 'psychotic' episode.

This makes one wonder why drug suppression continues. It only favours the drug companies while destroying the lives of many young people and their families by almost deliberately misunderstanding schizophrenia; labeling it as a disease with a poor prognosis. This is also the case with 'depression', where billions are made by drug companies, but not curing depression. I highly recommend watching 'The Trap: What happened to our dreams of freedom?', as it takes a detailed look at the reality behind economy, money making and the lack of freedom as well as the depression-Prozac issue.

If one takes a few steps back, clear the head of all these western dogmatic and consumerist thoughts - perspective soon settles on the receptive mind. It is evident by looking at concepts ranging from M-Theory to Ancient Mysticism, that much more is going on with the human phenomenon. Because of western civilization's continuous 'noise' in our heads; we miss it.

Maybe it is time to shift our focus, get perspective and start 'knowing' again, in stead of guessing...

The Trap

My Site is Finally Done

Phew! After 2 months of designing, building and struggling with conflicting html, my site is finally up and running.

I took my time with it, as I wanted the site visitor to have a pleasant, almost Zen-like experience. Most websites these days are just geared to trawl in masses of fish with their marketing gimmickery, and it is hard to find a place on virtual space where one can just relax and feel refreshed after the visit.

This was my intention from the start: to create a virtual space filled with aesthetic visuals and peaceful sounds.

The first page has a short audio-visual introduction which takes about 10 seconds to load (if you are patient enough), otherwise just enter the site right away...

Hope you have a pleasant experience, and feel free to comment on it.



www.jeanerasmus.com

Jean

Something Important to Know

It saddens me to see how many writers of today use the 'new' concepts of spirituality - that is, the quantum potential and the notion of the mind creating reality or 'power of manifestation' - to make more money.

"Manifest more money, your dream house and car", they will say. A recent daily automated letter from one of these writers read, that we should stop fretting about the earth's resources as the universe will always present more if we manifest it with our minds. Not only is this delusional, it is a false promise by someone who uses the ancient secrets for gaining earthly wealth alone.

And people fall for it. How else? We are absolutely brain-washed to believe that life is just about money, the dream house and being famous and loved by all. This is how they trap all those fish out there in the ocean. It is bait. "Psst, hey you! Wanna make more money? Come over here..."

This is one of the reasons for writing my book The Sleeper Must Awaken - to help people avoid these traps. In the end, people are tricked using only half activated 'secrets' which fail miserably - making money for the shape shifting 'guru', and leading the poor little fish astray with half truths that could in effect save the little fish from doom.

Search deep in that soul of yours, and you will know that when I say "Time is of the essence here", that I'm right. No more time for cheap 'change your life in a jiffy' trickery. Life is never just plain sailing. It was never meant to be, and we cannot manifest more resources with our minds (just yet). Our celebrity-mad, supermarket civilization still has a LOT to learn and go through before that day arises.

Watch out for the cheap traps, and search for good and honest information.

Jean

M-Theory, Membranes and Consciousness

For those who watched the M-Theory video, there should still be a question lingering in our minds...what are those infinite membranes made of, and what caused their existence?

Here is a short blog I posted a few months ago that might answer this question...

Take a pond, and make it ‘infinite’. Throw a rock into the centre of the pond, and it will ripple outwards until the energy has seized due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

Just so, the God-Universe-Existence phenomenon can be explained.

Liken space-time to the infinite pond – a dimensional probability, susceptible to energy changes. Apply consciousness to this ‘fabric’, just like throwing a rock into the pond, and one will get vibratory ripples ever expanding from the centre of applied consciousness – the so called ‘Big Bang’. Thus ‘existence’ would be the ripple effect of consciousness applied to space-time; this ‘hand’ throwing the rock to experience its effect would then be the One Without End - the Super Consciousness we are struggling to understand with our empiricist, dogmatic and fundamentalist approach.

To put this parable in a more scientific way, let us say that space-time is perceived as an infinite membrane (p-brane in M-Theory). Consciousness is then the ‘sound’ washing through this brane from a yet unobservable or enfolded quantum state, causing it to reverberate at the same frequency perceived as 'matter' and 'energy'; much like the electrical field causing an audio speaker to reverberate and produce an almost infinite amount of sounds. The cause of this ‘sound’ or electrical field, yet again the super being we 'know' as God or the Source.

It is written in the Rig Veda, “In the beginning, there was Brahman, with whom was the Word. And the word is Brahman.” These same words are reflected in the Christian version of John 1:1, “In the beginning there was the Word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.” A remarkable similarity.

Thus, in the beginning God has spoken the Word, and there was existence rippling through our space-time (mem)brane; the Word or Vibration of God giving rise to the infinite wave properties we understand as matter and energy, and ultimately our 'reality'.

Thus, it seems to be that 'branes' are the 11 dimensions of possibility (Uncertainty Principle), and that their vibration, causing a universe, is due to applied consciousness (Observer Principle) - thus 'God'. In effect, then we are aspects of 'God', experiencing itself through endless manifestations due to the One Consciousness....

(Comments welcome)

Life and Reality as Vibratory Illusion...

Let's refresh on the idea of thought being vibratory energy by starting with what we (as humans) and our world are really made from. What are you made of?

Skin, bone, flesh a bit of blood...What are they made of? Cells...what are cells made of? Molecules, consisting of atoms.

Ah, the word atom derived from the Greek word meaning indivisible, as they once thought (yes, that was the thought of the day - that atoms were the smallest things in the universe). But we now know that atoms are made from smaller 'parts' as well. In the center we have the nucleus consisting of protons and neutrons, and on the very edge - the electrons. Protons and neutrons are made from quarks (up or down spin), and are like electrons what physicists call leptons. Leptons are all fermions - sub-atomic particles with asymmetric wave properties, unlike bosons (such as photons - the carriers of light), which have symmetric wave properties.

Phew! What a mouthful. Now, what are these bosons and fermions made of? And what do they mean by 'wave properties'?

This is where Super String Theory kicks in. Sub-atomic 'particles' (fermions and bosons) are the 'illusion' we perceive as reality due to strings or 'branes' vibrating at different frequencies. It is as Michio Kaku (quantum physicist) explained it: strings or branes are like the strings of a violin - different frequencies of the string will give rise to different notes, these 'notes' being the particular 'sub-atomic particles'. Chords will then be atoms and molecules, phrases the 'organs' and songs the organism or larger structures. Interestingly put.

Then in essence, we are all just vibration - the symphony of life. This vibration is seen in everything: oceanic waves, air currents, earth quakes, the sound of music, light colours and their frequencies, economic fluctuation, moods and thoughts - all vibrations.

But, as we'll see tomorrow - vibration can be harmonic; or disharmonic...

Here follows a documentary on Modern Cosmology and Super String Theory (45 min)

BBC Horizon's Super-String Theory M-Theory Origin of the Univers

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This thing called 'hurt': Emotions and Chakras, Part II

I must apologize for the 'tomorrow' becoming a Monday - the week-end seized it's toll...

Now, about this thing called 'hurt': as we've seen previously, emotions are attached to certain 'energy' points or chakras in the body. The one that concerns us most, is the feeling of 'hurt' when someone is nasty or critical of us. We often feel that 'nobody loves us', or that those that we love and trust 'doesn't love us any more', or 'hurt' us.

But we have to ask ourselves, how can a mere stare or word 'hurt' us. Words or stares don't cut our flesh and make us bleed; they don't crush our bones or give us diseases. They don't physically harm us, yet, we will say we are hurt or heart broken. Odd, isn't it? Where exactly lies this 'pain' then?

As mentioned in Part I; emotions are associated with certain chakras. We feel hurt in our chest area (thus the cardiac plexus or chakra). We also feel love in this same area. It then seems that a certain energy field is 'sensed' by this plexus, just as the eyes sense light energy and ears sense sound energy. Light and sound are vibratory energy. So is thought. If your head is hooked up to an EEG monitor (electro-encephalogram), the monitor will sense the electro-magnetic waves created by your brain, and scrible them on paper, much like the EKG for the heart. Your brain thus emits electro-magnetic waves or energy, and this can be sensed with the chakra area. If someone emits negative thoughts towards you, you will sense it as 'hurt' in your chest, while if it is positive, it will be a sense of warmth in the same area. Often noted how you can sense 'bad vibes' between two people, or between yourself and someone else? Interesting, isn't it?

Now, what is important, is to know that you only sense this vibration. How you act upon it is another story. If one sees or hears something, one only senses vibratory energy. It is up to the person per se, how he or she will react upon this sensation.

In other words: Bach makes some of us cry with joy, and others with irritation. If someone emits negative thoughts toward us, it is not necessary to react in a negative way by feeling hurt. What is important, is not your blinding ego of 'poor me', but what primarily lies behind that negative thought or remark in the first place. Maybe that person emits negative emotion, because they find themselves in despair, and are secretly crying out for help.

Interesting food for thought for the day...ponder on that while you have a look at this video on chakras, their frequencies and colours: base (of spine)=red=C; sacral (sexual)=orange=D; solar (pit of stomach)=yellow=E; heart (chest)=green=F; throat=blue=G; third eye (brow) =violet=A; crown=white=B...

The Illuminated Chakras

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About Chakras and emotion (Part 1)

I was recently approached by a dear friend regarding the hurt she suffered due to the scrutiny of others. It always intrigues me how we are emotionally ‘hurt’ by others – from friends to family as well as strangers.

If we look at this ‘hurt’, where exactly, do we feel it? Most will put their hands on their chests: ‘in here’, they will say. I myself have suffered this ‘hurt in my chest’ when I was younger, mostly due to love gone wrong. This has led me into seeking the reason for this ‘hurt’ we feel, and how to resolve it.

It is strange how this feeling of hurt should be in the chest area. We often refer to a ‘broken heart’. Why particularly the chest area? Think about feeling excited; where does one feel that? If you think carefully, you will feel it in the pit of your stomach. When we see an emotionally laden film, and try to repress our expression of sadness – we feel pain in our throats. When we feel sexually excited, we feel warmth in our loins…

Why do we sense certain emotions in certain parts of the body? It is interesting to note how these areas of the body coincide with the ancient Eastern texts describing the so-called chakra or energy points of the body-mind union. According to ancient Tantric and Yogic texts, the body has about 72 000 energy lines or nadi, and where these superimpose; shape the chakras of the body: the sacral (sacral area), sexual (loins), solar (pit of stomach), cardiac (chest), throat, brow and crown chakras – each with their own colour, sound frequency and purpose (which strangely coincides with the Pythagorean Lambdoma: the study of correlation between sound and light frequencies).

Furthermore, it is interesting to note how for instance the cardiac or ‘chest’ chakra – associated with the giving and receiving of love and compassion energy – is exactly the area where we feel emotional hurt, or warmth when we feel love for someone. So does the hurting throat due to repression of expressive emotion coincide with the throat chakra, which is the chakra for expression. Maybe the most impressive coincidence is that of the brow or ‘third eye’ chakra, associated with ESP. In this same area lies the mysterious pineal gland, which is most likely responsible for the secretion of a substance called DMT (dimethyltryptamine), which in elevated levels, will cause one to ‘hallucinate’. No other function for this substance has been found so far. Research has shown (see Dr. Rick Strassman’s book: DMT – Spirit Molecule) that people experiencing elevated levels of DMT, experienced profound altered states of consciousness (stamped hallucinations by reductionist science), and caused them to have deep insight into their own subconscious minds. Some of them even conquered long-standing depression and other emotional problems. Why would the human body secrete a substance (higher in those with acute schizophrenic break disorder, birth and near death experience), that has no other cause than that of ‘hallucinations’, and also by a gland in the body with no clear understanding (also containing magnetite which is sensitive to the earth’s magnetic field) which coincides with the ancient texts’ Third Eye chakra? Doesn’t this just fumble with that critical thinking switch in your head, pushing you a bit further into questioning the typical western dogma we are force fed daily?

And speaking of schizophrenia – it is probably one of the most misunderstood phenomena in western civilization. It is seen by psychiatry as a mental ‘disorder’ with a poor prognosis that needs to be suppressed with drugs. But, Dr. John Weir Perry followed the advice of the great Carl Jung, who thought it to be a personal apocalypse: when the dream becomes real due to a severely suppressed subconscious mind. He followed a non-suppressive (drug) approach, where individuals were only given a safe haven and psychotherapy to guide them through their ‘psychosis’. In about 40 days, the ‘psychosis’ would seize, and the individual would be ‘cured’. This proved to be a far better approach to schizophrenia, with much better long term benefits to the ‘patients’ and their families. Not for the multi-million dollar Phramaceutical companies though…

Click on the Title, or follow this link to a blog written by someone who has personally experienced this.

Tomorrow, we will continue on how to avoid that ‘heart ache’.

Until tomorrow,
Jean

Alex Grey - Artistic Mysticism (Hi Qual) - Like Escher? Luv this

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The Difference between Rulers and Leaders

Last week I wrote an extensive essay on the political blindfold most of us wear, and touched on the notion of Rulers and Leaders. To refresh your memory: rulers are the ones enforcing their vision (visible or not visible), and leaders share their vision. At the moment, the planet is ruled, and we have lost our sense of what a leader really is. We are trapped in the primate mindset where we look for an alpha-male to rule us, in stead of a spiritual being (not religious) leading us to the light.

Here are the differences between Rulers and Leaders:

Rulers__________________________ Leaders

Loud_____________________________Soft spoken
Bad listeners_______________________Good listeners
Swings fist while speaks_______________ Touches lovingly
Talks of 'victory'____________________Talks of harmony
Competitive________________________Collaborative
Actions lead to destruction_____________ Actions lead to harmonic construction
Actions lead to despair_________________Actions lead to happiness and healing
Warmonger________________________Peacemaker
Discriminative_______________________Incorporate
Vengeful __________________________Forgiving
Xenophobic_________________________Non-xenophobic
Racist____________________________Non-racist
Gives speeches from 'above' _____________Talks to his/ her people on same level
Talks from teleprompter _______________Talks from the heart
Keeps secrets________________________Shares secrets
Abuses religion______________________ Uses spirituality
Deceives____________________________Enlightens
Fundamental________________________ Integrative
Arrogant____________________________Modest

Look past the rulers, ans search for your leaders...

Buddha Bar - Nature

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Follow up on today's blog:

If you have time, please read the blog posted just before this video; thank you...

From Politics to Spirituality

Kid yourselves not. Governments and their politicians are not there to help the masses. The evidence is clear: from the more than 40 wars and proxy wars fought from South America to Asia in the so called 'Post War Era' - involving more than 10 million deaths (including the poor US and British soldiers who were fooled and forced into it) - to the current war on 'terrorism' (with more and more evidence showing this to be a fabricated notion as an excuse to make war) - to the Hurricane Katrina dilemma (scandal) - to issues such a Mr's Blair and Brown refusal of a referendum on EU membership after it was promised to their people, and the very atrocious veto by Mr Bush yesterday, denying $35 billion to children's health care (while the war machine is fed up to the point of bursting from it's seems).

It is time to wake up to the real agenda behind this long war of the West. The real agenda of 'unified nations' and currencies (such as the new North American Union and it's proposed 'amero' as currency). Look deeper, and you will see: the regions of the wars (with it's more than 60% of total oil and gas reserves compared to the West's combined 6%), the history of war revealing time after time, that the causes were fabricated and people fooled - from Pearl Harbour to the Polish invasion by the Nazi's to the careful 15 year plan to invade and maintain the war in Vietnam, causing more than 58 000 American deaths, and more than 3 million Vietnamese deaths (most civilian). How could the American military (and government) escape conviction of war crimes and crimes against humanity, after dropping two atomic bombs (1945) on civilian cities - Hiroshima and Nagasaki - killing more than 190 000 civilians and in the process, demonizing the American people who does not deserve it?

Look at governments all over the course of time and space - from the East to the West, from the North to the South - they have never been there for the people. In stead, they have always either blatantly robbed people of their freedoms and wealth, or in stealth mode (as the Western governments do), by using Plato's Cave Analogy: a slave convinced that he/ she is free, will never have to rebel.

We have 'freedom of choice': a choice between supermarkets, television channels, perfumes and the political puppet on the left, or the one on the right. But can we choose our children's schools, hospitals, or if we should be part of an illegal war (by paying for it with our taxes), slowly becoming part of a globalized tyranny? Do we have the freedom to demand another independent inquiry into 9/11 and 7/7? Is there freedom in being allowed 'freedom of speech' only in 'freedom of speech zones'? Doesn't the so called new 'Patriot Act' violate the very freedoms of the people stipulated in the U.S constitution 4th amendment? (Let me remind you that I am not even an American, and I know this - how could the American people allow this to happen to them?)

Governments - no matter where they are, and by whom they were 'democratically elected' - are not there for you, dear citizen. You are there for them. You are the milking cow, kept passive in your consumerist zombie state; your television and Playstation subduing and distracting you while they rob you blind of your hard earned money. Tax is supposed to be for state of the art health care, education and transport, not for killing 40 000 women and children in a foreign land for their resources. Ask yourselves: why, if you pay so much tax, do you still have to pay for private health care (because public health is neglected), for expensive 'privatized trains', private education, privatised water, privatized electricity and gas and privatized telecoms? Don't we then pay double in the process? Where is all that tax money going then? Why does the United States of America, Britain and any other country for that matter, owe the World Bank more than trillions of dollars?

Dear reader, Morpheus is right: The Matrix has you...Look at the word GOVERNMENT. Govern = control. Ment = mind (mentis, Latin for mind). Mind control...

But what should we do? Without government, it will be anarchy!

Anarchy is derived from the Greek word, anarchia, meaning 'without ruler'. It does not mean 'chaos'. And yes, we do need a leader or leaders (for now), but not a ruler or rulers. A ruler is something that controls the masses by force (open or concealed); a leader is someone that guides his or her people by teachings of peace and example, such as Osiris, Viracocha, Krishna, Jesus the Christ, the Buddha and many other world teachers.

We need to wake up to our concealed slavery, dispel of our rulers, and look for our leaders. Leaders are not the mighty and powerful alpha males, flexing their muscles of nuclear threats and commit war 'in the name of peace'.

War does not equal peace. War equals death and destruction. War, is the real evil, and those who promote it, the real slaves to evil.

Real leaders, are the kind and gentle ones. When they speak to their people, it is not from a high platform with teleprompters - it is amongst the people, on the same level, with words coming from the heart. They don't shake their fists in the air shouting victory; they lovingly touch their people, healing them.

I beg you please; stop fooling yourselves with these alpha-male rulers of ours. Turn your back on them, and start looking for your leaders - the kind and gentle ones.

Who knows, that leader might just as well be inside of you...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=5564

A Time to Worry, and Pray...

This is probably one of the most worrisome articles I have read in a long time. Read it through (particularly the part about nuclear strikes on Iran), and you will understand when I say: WW III?


After last week's visit by Iranian president on US soil (UN and Colombia university) especially listening to his speech and his Q & A session, I cannot fathom why the West still wants to push for a war on Iran. Is the threat real? Or is it just another WMD scam to monger another war to make more money for the World Bank? So far, there have been NO evidence showing a real threat from these countries; only more and more evidence showing that certain powerful key players in Western countries are scheming to make war with false accusations and careful evil plans.


Burma, Darfur and Zimbabwe needs help; but oh, I forgot - no oil there...


Read the full article:(click on title for link), or copy/ paste below
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article3018375.ece

My Helium.com article of today

On being asked what he thought of Jesus Christ, Gandhi replied: "I like your Christ. It is the Christians I don't like. They are so unlike their Christ".

Gandhi often used Christ's teachings in his own, and his above mentioned attitude came from his personal experiences in apartheid era South Africa where he was refused entrance to a church due to his ethnicity.

Religious hypocrisy is everywhere and in every religious teaching - from Christianity and Islam to Judaism and Buddhism. It is not the teaching itself that is corrupt; but the way the adopter of this teaching bends the truth in order to gain money and power from the fearful obedience of the masses to this rendered teaching. It is usually realized when looking at the original teaching of the great prophets, the Christ and the Buddha, how these modern dogmas differ from those original teachings. All 'divine' teachers gave the message of love and peace, not money making schemes and war mongering. Yet, the most influential religions of today - Christianity, Islam and Judaism - cause the most heartache and destruction in the world with an escalating war in the Middle East. Those attached to the Christian dogma, thus the Western countries, cause planetary destruction with their capitalist monster - destroying natural resources (especially in Third World countries) in order to make more money. On a more personal level: there are so many different branches of evangelical churches, always wanting more and more money from their obedient sheep. But it must be remembered how these 'churches' have a lot of tax benefits, thus rendering them incredible businesses. It makes me sad to see so many hopeful souls being abused for money. This happens in the so called 'New Age' movements as well, and it sickens me to see how the possible new and non-segregated belief systems are abused by a cunning few into promising hopefuls the power to manifest their desires by thought, especially that of money (but of course, you first have to put some money into their pockets).

Thus, the hypocrites - of any religion or spiritual group - are those who deviate from the original teachings of the Masters. They are those who shout the loudest, make the most promises (and money) and conceal their agendas of hate and destruction with the mask of God, Allah, Brahman and the new spiritual teachings.

The truth and 'salvation' lies not in others; it lies within.

Understand the cause and find the cure: A Solution to Racism

Racism is defined as being a subjective belief system or informal doctrine in any ethnic group, where it is believed that a certain ethnic group is superior or inferior to another.

Racism is a fancy word that was invented by western mind, to try and ‘classify’ a behavioural pattern by man, thus Homo sapiens for millennia. This ‘behaviour’ is nothing less than ethnic groups hating each other, and committing heinous acts of violence to one another. It has been an ongoing event since ancient times between all racial groups of the world, and probably the single most common cause for conflict ranging from a simple slap on the cheek to raging World Wars where millions have died. It is a human behavioural pattern that is filled with negativity and destruction, and needs to be solved – and solved it can be, for it has a simple cause.

It is my belief that ‘racism’ - like xenophobia (loathing and discrimination against foreigners which I experienced living in a foreign country) and religious intolerance – thus a form of separatism, has its roots in a simple cause; this cause itself having two pillars. But before we delve into the cause, I would like to share something with the reader; something very important.

All humans on this planet earth - whether male or female, black or white, Indian, Japanese or African – differ less than 1% in their genetic make-up on cellular level. In other words, all humans on earth are essentially more than 99% the same^. For the average human living the average life; less than 1% does not matter. Then why should it matter what the colour of one’s skin is, or what shape one’s hair is? It’s like waging a war on the differences between a blue car made in country A, and a red car made in country B. Both of these cars, are vehicles with exactly the same function – to take one from point A to B. These seemingly ‘big’ differences in different ‘races’, are there only because the human body has adapted to its particular environment over the ages. Darker skinned people will originally be found in sunnier countries, as dark skin contains more melanin to protect them against the sun (thus being the reason why ‘white’ people become brown after sunburn). To the average human being, the difference between a blue car and a red car of the same make is potentially enormous. Take for instance how long some people will spend contemplating the colour of the car before they buy; in essence, being exactly the same car. We are prone to subjectively ‘classify’ things as hugely different only on colour or shape alone, while not contemplating the essence of the thing itself. This being the reason why most people will see vast differences between different races, which essentially are more than 99% the same. Just think about it for a moment: All human beings have one head (with two eyes and ears, a nose and a mouth), a body, two arms and two legs, with a pair of hands and feet, each having five digits. All humans are born from their mothers, drink from their mothers and cry when they are hungry as babies. All humans take 18 years to grow up, laugh when they are happy and cry when they are sad. We are all the same, with slight changes here and there, which some groups make a big fuss about; this silly little ‘fuss’ leading to hatred and violence, which is completely unnecessary, and solvable. Let us take a look at the cause, and then the solution.

This silly little fuss we call ‘racism’, has its one root in the very same thing where we differ so little – our genetic make-up. As we ourselves only differ less than 1% from each other, the human race as a whole – thus ALL human beings on the earth – differ less than 5% from the chimpanzee!** We as humans or the Homo sapiens species, are in essence a close cousin to the primate family of apes, of which the chimpanzee is the closest. The resemblances are clear, especially looking at our hands with their opposing thumbs, and our social primate-mammalian behaviour. It is this very social behaviour of chimpanzees that I want to concentrate on. It was discovered by scientists and recently shown by documentary film makers, that chimpanzees divide themselves into different groups, and will often (instigated by the male leaders of the pack) attack and kill each other; this even in the abundance of food. This very act can be seen in the various groups of humans living in the world led by a male leader, to attack and kill each other for territory, even if their own territory is good enough. It is seen in both developing as well as developed worlds. This very behaviour is actually seen in nature as a whole, where different groups of animals and plants will fight each other for survival. It is thus a genetic ‘program’ running on automatic in order to survive. Thus, the one root of racism lies in the primitive survival instinct of the species; the survival programming of the primate body running on automatic – find your ‘group’, and attack the others in order to survive.

This brings us to the second root: The Ego and collective ego. To simplify things, the ego can be explained as that part of you that helps you interact with your surroundings; in other words with the people around you. Some people will call it your ‘identity’ or ‘personality’, and this is shaped since birth by various factors. As you are born into a certain family (themselves living in a certain society), with certain cultural values (from language to religion), you will naturally incorporate it into your ego; thus you will speak the same language, and in most cases, follow the same religious path and behavioural patterns as your parents and peers, shaping the collective ego. Thus you ‘fit in’ so to speak; and this is where the ‘group’ thing, programmed into your genes, kicks in. It leads to the concept of ‘us’ and ‘them’. This is made worse by our competitive nature, and soon enough, hatred will evolve, leading to atrocious acts.

And now, the solution: we as humans possess something that profoundly sets us apart from our primate chimp cousins. Humans can do things that other animals cannot. We can communicate not only with structured verbal language, but also with symbols, using complex metaphors interwoven by mythical tales. We do not only experience different emotions (as I’m sure most animals do), but externalize them through our complex languages and art forms; creating the most vibrant paintings, music and prose. We can solve complex problems in the most creative ways; building skyscrapers and machines that can fly at supersonic speeds while carrying a few hundred humans as they enjoy these very same art forms created by others on miniature screens and devices in their ears. We can perform acts of extreme selflessness, helping strangers in need, and even rise to a state where we protect animals which are potentially lethal to us as a species, but knowing that it contributes to the greater good. We are, as some might remark, ‘angels trapped in animal bodies’. We are almost - as stated in Abrahamic religions - created in God’s image; thus spiritual beings. It is interesting to know that more than 90% of humans - regardless of their religious backgrounds – believe in a Force higher than themselves, and that some part of their consciousness as human beings linger and return to the world of this Force after death. *

It is in this very element of being different from our primate cousins, that the solution to racism (and so many other social problems) lies. We do not have to bow to the automatic survival instinct within us. We have the power to understand the reason behind it, rise above it and collaborate instead of compete like animals. We need to see that we are more than 99% the same (being grateful and respect the minute differences between us), that our survival instinct no longer serves us, but destroys us, and to recognize our spiritual natures in order to embrace each other in collaboration. We can after all, learn from certain groups of animals (from bees to dolphins) how to collaborate instead of compete and destroy.

It is time for the brothers and sisters to stop their rivalry, and recognize the hungry wolf of demise staring at them from the woods. It is time for the rainbow nation to stop fighting each other with foaming mouths because of silly misconceptions, and recognize this truth of Oneness; a Oneness that can create a Utopia in an already paradise-like world.

Behind every ‘black’, ‘coloured’ and ‘white’ mask, hides a spiritual human being with his or her own fears, desires, dreams and hardships. The clothes maketh NOT the man; the mask maketh not the human being. The time has come to let go of our ignorance on this matter of primate instinct and ego, rise above it, take hands and walk out of the dark cave of our history into the sunshine of tomorrow. As one cannot drive while looking in the mirror; so we cannot build on our future focusing on our past. We have to learn from the past, change, live and enjoy today; and plan for the future. If we can do this, our future will be bright and prosperous.

Jean Erasmus


* The World's Religions, Christopher Partridge
^ Marcus W. Feldman et al (Stanford)
** Robert Waterson et al.