In 2007, the Filipino people staged what came to be known as the Text Revolution, so called because it was organized by texting on mobile phones. Today we are creating a Heart Revolution, spread by the opening hearts of people around the globe. And when something changes in the heart of human experience, it changes everyplace else.
The heart is a pivotal place in the human experience, and along with a change of heart comes a change of mind. And with a change of heart and mind, something can happen spiritually in a person’s life. And then everything changes. We are certainly about that. And why would such a change be needed? Why do we need a Heart Revolution?
We are living through an attempt to steal the planet for human consumption. That attempt is being consciously engineered by a relatively small number of the world’s population. But nonetheless, it has the unconscious participation of many more.
Stealing is taking something that doesn’t belong to you. The word has a legal definition, and there are laws about stealing. It has a moral definition, and it is one of the Ten Commandments: Thou shalt not steal.
Underlying the legal and moral definitions of theft, there is a spiritual reality. There are things created or stewarded by someone else that are not ours to possess. And if you try to take them in some arbitrary way when they’re not being offered, there’s something wrong about that. There’s something particularly wrong when you do it for your own personal benefit.
When we create, we have a natural authority over what we create and a natural ownership. Of course, we didn’t create anything all by ourselves. There’s always the inspiration to create it that came from someplace. There is the raw material that we made it out of, and we didn’t make those. So in that sense, there is nothing that is truly all ours as a human being. Our intellectual property law tries to govern such things, attempting to make some sense out of it all at that level. And personal property law attempts to define who owns physical things.
I was reflecting on the experiences I’ve had of people literally stealing. Have you? Once someone stole money from the donation box in the food line at Sunrise Ranch. For us here, it was astonishing. Somebody could really do that?!
When we contemplate our lives and the world in which we live, it’s so clear, when we think of it even for a little bit, that we, as human beings, didn’t create this world. We didn’t create this planet and the things on it, and they don’t belong to us. That is certainly the view of the indigenous people of the world.
It is true that we have the privilege and honor as human beings of taking the natural resources of this planet and making them into something of our own invention. That can be a beautiful thing that uplifts the materials that we’re working with and creates something beautiful that’s of service, and that enhances life. And yet, so often what happens in the human world is that we take possession of something that we didn’t create and then use it for ourselves in a way that is not honoring where it came from in the natural pattern of life itself. We are superseding the natural pattern with our own mental idea of how things ought to go. And in that sense, we are stealing, taking things out of the natural order.
The creative consciousness of the planet created the planet. The planet itself is alive, a living expression of the Sovereign Being who created it. Consciousness is not only a vast, undifferentiated sea—it constellates in specific ways. It is a reflection of Being itself, which constellates in higher and higher levels and patterns of relationship.
Human culture has attempted to reproduce this among people. Of course, we have to, in some way, because it is Reality, and there is no way to create other than through Reality. In more traditional cultures, there is a king or a queen, the idea being that the human king or queen is a representation, or an embodiment even, of an invisible sovereign Reality. In some cases that has been true to a certain degree, where there has been a noble king or a noble queen. Queen Elizabeth II is loved by her people. We could, if we wanted to, criticize her human flaws. But nonetheless, she has brought an invisible reality of sovereignty through her human expression. I think of the late King of Thailand, a remarkable person who gave over his earthly government to a democracy. And then, as that government went awry, he intervened and called upon the people and the government for peace in the land, and they listened, because of who he was and what he represented.
It is beautiful when our human sovereignty reflects what is true at the invisible levels of Being. In the corporate world, there are all the evils of international, global corporations. And yet, occasionally there is a corporate leader who acts transparently with respect to the larger sovereignty in which he or she is functioning.
So what shall we do? The issue we are facing as humanity is that there are people who are taking the resources of the planet, and even the lives of other people, and attempting to own them for themselves. They are insisting on taking something for personal gain and benefit that doesn’t belong to them, even if they can justify it legally. It all belongs to Sovereign Being, whose planet this is. And that kind of self-centered behavior becomes infectious, and in ways large and small the entire world culture tends toward the same attitude and behavior.
Whoever made off with the few dollars they got out of our donation box was, in some sense, successful. But in the long run they didn’t succeed. Something went terribly wrong for that person. And the same is true for any who attempt to own the resources of the planet for themselves without respect to the natural order of things. Or to those who attempt to own the lives of others.
If you thought of yourself as the great God of the planet who was behind the creation of all that we see, and who had invited humankind to share the wealth of this planet, only to find that there are elements in human culture that have sought to steal it for themselves, how would you feel about that? Would you be inclined to concede, saying in essence, “Okay, have it your way. You can make it work according to how you want it to work for your purposes, to make you happy,” knowing that it doesn’t make everybody happy, knowing that it doesn’t make the planet happy, knowing that it doesn’t ultimately create something beautiful and wonderful. Do you think you’d be inclined to just give it away? Here you go!
Another way to think of it is simply this: Reality isn’t going to change just because a human being wants to steal it and make it theirs. Reality is available for all of us as human beings to share in and be a part of, not to change.
There is a picture of Sovereign Being throughout the cultures of the world. Certainly, in our Judeo-Christian culture there are representations of it. The same is true around the world, whether it is a depiction of Buddha, Allah, Guanyin or Io. God, by whatever name, tends to be turned into beliefs and then patterns of dos and don’ts, not only in Judeo-Christian culture but around the world.
And then spirituality can be sensationalized, as if it is a spectacular show put on by the Invisible to awe and comfort us. And it does. But it is Reality, after all, and the experience of the Divine has very practical implications in the living of our life. Yes, it is awesome and it is beautiful, but it is also instructive, guiding and empowering. It allows the Sovereign Being who is the natural owner of our lives and of our world to own it through us in a natural way. The experience changes the emotional body and creates a Heart Revolution. It allows us to participate in the unfolding pattern of Creation, knowing the Creator—and Sovereign Being is the Creator. Knowing the Creator, we participate with the Creator, as the Creator, as a human being in the unfoldment of consciousness. And in the unfoldment of consciousness there is the unfoldment of the patterns of Creation all around us.
Stealing. Taking something which is not yours.
There are manners and questions to ask oneself.
Firstly, your attitude. Are you loving, respectful and kind, or angry and demanding?
What do you seek, and why? Do have have needs or wants. An intention or purpose?
Seek permission – from the owner. Ask. Be respectful, and say, thank you.
Stewardship. Take care of what you have.
Finally ask yourself, what is the reciprocal action or consequence attached. Will there be a return or reward, even benefit?
Start with the small things in life before thinking big.