Ernie Thayer

Many of us are stunned at recent events and the seeming madness of it all. And that’s the key – “madness”. We fail to recognize madness in our own lives and are often shocked to see it out there in the world.

But the world is us. It couldn’t be otherwise. The worldly conflicts are the gross reflection of our own inner conflicts en masse: wanting this, fearing that, chasing happiness while others block us, hoping for love, ease & joy but being disillusioned instead. As well we need be. Disillusionment is what we sorely need. Because we are blindly at war with ourselves, we live unsustainably, awaiting the next great conflagration and hoping it won’t touch us, all the while unconsciously contributing to it. Yet the world stage tells us exactly what we are doing and what it portends. We are living in illusion – which is madness. Should we miss it, the headlines remind us. We are wise to listen.

So what’s to be done? Wake up to the madness, especially our own. Let disillusionment take its full course and take us down as separate, wanting creatures wreaking havoc. Our weapon is ruthless curiosity. Un-judging curiosity. Curiosity about the madness, our madness. To wake up isn’t to get somewhere lovely, it’s to leave the craziness by seeing it for what it is and what it brings us. The source belief? I am a separate self, “Me”. I must make my way in this world. Everyone told us so and we bought it early on, innocently. But it’s not true. It causes madness. The world is our mirror.