The Imperative Call of the Times

“DENY THYSELF!” That “self” in the biblical pronouncement by Jesus Christ Himself to be outrightly “denied” is NEVER our true self as that “little me” is a fictitious one. Yet, such a narrative of one’s self, rooted in one’s ego, is the one that is being collectively followed without let-up that is intensely reigning in the mindset of humanity, now suffering from collective insanity. That egoic self has transformed the homo sapiens into the most flawed of all of God’s creation. It has been the opinion of great contemporaneous spiritual leaders that the species called the Homo Sapiens (human being) is the most flawed of all of God’s creation having killed its kind of about 200 million human beings in one century alone (19th hundred) out of two world wars, the cleansing of Hitler and Pol Pot, Stalinism, Maoism and the Vietnam War, among others. Humanity continues to suffer from collective insanity advancing unbridled materialism and consumerism amidst spiritual denigration where the instant pursuit of wealth, fame, and power is the priority based on a flawed dictum called “survival of the fittest.” Worse, the homo sapiens have put the earth in a cataclysmic state as the present development paradigm is sacrificing Mother Earth to the altar of greed and power.

That egoic self that is giving so much veneration to the profit motive, to the instant pursuit of wealth, fame, and power has already captured the mindset of all governments, all institutions, all religions, and all universities. That “little me” is so self-centered, focusing on brandishing narratives on how great the egoic leaders are, how great are their beliefs and ideologies and are willing to kill those whose beliefs are different from theirs. Don’t you know that historically, wars came about because of opposing religious beliefs, i.e.,” My religion is right and yours is false, so I have to kill you?”

That fictitious self is even killing Mother Earth. Even former US President Donald Trump was so egoic that he categorically is a climate change denier himself. Why is this so? Well, the US 19 fossil fuel corporations are profiting some 16 trillion dollars annually or 10 million dollars every minute out of the non-stop usage of coal and fossil fuels. Noam Chomsky, described by the New York Times as “the most important intellectual alive, described that the plight of human civilization as “racing towards the precipice.” The doomsday clock of Mother Earth was set to two and a half minutes before midnight. The cause: the disbelief in the scientific consensus over climate change by all governments, the mainstream media, and religious groups.” Indeed, the conscious refusal of the dominant players – governments, corporations, and the media – to act with purpose helps to answer the questions, “where is the human outcry for earth’s life-support?

Why have we failed to seize control of our survival?” That veneration of that self is not being denied, contrary to Christ’s teaching.

Pope Francis in his Encyclical Letter – which was backed by all the major faiths – referred to climate change as “a sin against God.” Recently, Queen Elizabeth was so furious blaming governments’ inaction against climate change stating that “there should be legal action against governments for the crime of omission to protect the right to life of their populations. Apparent is the ongoing political and media efforts to suppress climate change as a crisis: by denial, by under-reporting solutions to it.”

Indeed, it is an unprecedented crime against humanity as the contemporaneous development paradigm called neo-liberal capitalism being advanced by corporate globalization continuously sacrifices Mother Earth and humanity to the altar of greed and profit. We are now in the 24th year of the 21st century but we do not know whether we will reach the 22nd century which is only 76 years from now. Every day, a thousand hectares of 386-meter-high icebergs are melting in the Arctic and the Antarctic which is giving rise to the ocean level. The Philippines now has some 7,100 islands but according to environmentalists, there will just be 3,000 islands fifty years from now. Some 100 species of flora and fauna are becoming extinct every day due to climate change as billions have already become extinct. This is especially true in our country which has been considered by FAO as the richest on earth with regards to biodiversity but has been erased from the face of the earth as we have lost 17 million hectares of dipterocarp forest in just a century due to massive illegal logging. Don’t you know that the number of flora and fauna found in just 5,000 hectare-Mt. Kitanglad Range is far greater compared to those found in the one billion-hectare continent of North America.

Worse through the Anthropocene, with the Greek roots meaning “human-made” (anthropo) and “new” (cene), Gaia (Mother Earth) is now facing its 6th extinction, that is, if this species will continue its collective insanity through the egoic chattering mind. But the wind of change is now hovering through the looming of an awakening consciousness. Human BEING is more than form but an eternal formless Being that is pure consciousness that has been there before being a form (body). It is the teaching of all major religions that there is someone coming to liberate us and all the while, we have been waiting. The truth is, what we have been waiting for is that consciousness that is inherent in every one of us, our spiritual awakening – the Stillness that is our essential nature. Feel that stillness and oneness with all things and you become Spiritus Luminus (enlightened spirit) and be transformed into homo pacem (men and women for peace). Such can be done by following Jesus’ pronouncement to “DENY THYSELF.”

There is now an ongoing shift toward collective consciousness and spirituality of all people of the world that must now heal the wounds of GAIA and those of Her children, damaged all these years through false religions and Western development materialistic and consumerist paradigm that sacrificed the people and the ecosystems to the altar of greed and profit, controlled by the egoic mind. Free yourself from overthinking. Feel life deep within and connect with the Innermost Being called God! Indeed, time is just an illusion. What matters is the Now. Time doesn’t exist at all for life continues here and beyond. And when love is in one’s heart, time and space have no meaning for love transcends everything. Not even death can have power over that supreme force in the universe as the beloved is always carried in one’s heart, in one’s inner consciousness – forever!

In denying oneself, a human being will now know who truly he is, CONSCIOUSNESS who is rooted with the Unseen Formless Being. It will on by then that Jesus pronouncement will be understood, “That the kingdom of heaven is within us.” Feel the Stillness and Spaciousness deep within to know who truly you are. Then, you will know who truly you are being eternal and being life itself. Thus be rooted with the Unseen Being and feel that oneness with all of God’s creation which is true love. Debunk thyself and be liberated from suffering. As the Great Buddha Himself has said, self means DUKHA or suffering.