written 3 November, 2024
published 10 November, 2024
Once upon a time, people believed the Earth was flat. It was obvious, just look around, especially when looking at the ocean. Some people feared if they sailed too far, they would fall off the edge. Eventually, as adventurous people sailed out and returned, the understanding of Earth as a sphere became common knowledge, even if not directly experienced.
Once upon a time, people believed the Earth was the center of the Universe, and everything rotated about it. It was obvious, just look around, and watch the Sun, Moon, and all the stars move across the sky. This perspective was enforced by the Church.
But astronomers noticed that planetary motion did not follow the perfect circles dictated by the Church. Copernicus was one of the first to suggest the Earth is a rotating sphere, and orbits the Sun. Although he was a canon of the Church, his heliocentric ideas were revolutionary. To avoid criticism and social turmoil, he remained relatively unpublished until his death in 1543,
A few decades later, Galileo, one of the first scientific astronomers, championed Copernican heliocentrism. By then, the growing scientific revolution threatened the Church, so an inquisition in 1615 found Galileo guilty of heresy, spreading "opinions contradicting Biblical interpretation", and held him in house arrest until his death in 1642.
Despite Church efforts, reality prevailed. Social evolution continued, and today most people know we live on a sphere, rotating over 800mph (in Ukiah), traveling around the Sun at 33,000mph. Since everything around us is moving at the same speed, and we only notice differences, we don't experience the motion. But one of the most widely reproduced photographs, shows the brilliant blue and white sphere of Earth against the deep black of space, viewed from the moon.
Once upon a time, people believed matter was solid, discrete, irreducible atomic chunks. It was obvious, just look around, every "thing" has a unique location in place and time, each clearly different. Thousands of years of culture supported this idea. But a little over a century ago, the inexorable scientific revolution demonstrated that atoms are made of even smaller parts. Additionally, all these material parts, when examined correctly, are just little waves on the surface of a vast energy ocean.
Like most human discoveries, the first application was to blow up our enemies, but the door had been opened, and the consequence of this new way of thinking now manifests as the powerful smart phone in your pocket, putting access to the entire world at your fingertips. We are fundamentally connected.
But even the idea of "connected" is misleading, as it starts from the perspective of individual pieces in relationship. Imagine going to the ocean, and thinking that all those waves are somehow "connected" to the ocean from which they arise. While superficially accurate, the deeper understanding is that the vast ocean IS, and the waves are only tiny expressions on the surface. While each wave is unique, it never exists apart from the oceanic unity.
At the sea shore, we can experience both the waves and the ocean, and grasp the relationship. With matter, we only experience the difference of surface waves, not the unity of the immense ocean of energy underlying everything. That is why we go around thinking one color of skin is "better" than another, deluded by the surface, without regarding the content. They say, "don't judge a book by its cover", but we are locked into the superficial differences, a naive consideration of reality. Gender, race, age: none of these determine the deeply human nature of an individual, yet, based on our culture or religion, we will hate, even kill, based on such limitations. As we begin to experience the common ocean, rather than being distracted by the surface waves, we will see that any attack on the "other", is an attack on ourselves. War is suicide. Hate is self-loathing, no matter what your religion teaches.
All through time, some individuals, and some cultures, have known this truth. However, the culture dominant on the planet today, ignores this truth, honoring instead selfish greed at the expense of everything else. Is it any wonder that people despair? Or that the climate is out of balance?
But an awakening is happening. Our unity reality is more clearly manifest all the time. There will be a time when we look back at how foolish humans were, and shake our head.
