QUESTION6.com
We, The people, are not happy
The common view is that the human species on Earth is made up of many individuals, each one isolated in their own skin… and we don’t like it! We spend most of our lives searching for someone who can help us escape our solitude.
Here are three examples of people who found a way out of their isolation.
Case #1: A man was happily married for 15 years until his wife died of cancer. While they were happy, they did not feel the need to analyze their relationship. They both agreed that sex was an important part of their lives but didn’t investigate any further. She died of bone cancer. It was excruciating. For the last two years, he could not give her a hug. They were both surprised to find that the absence of sex did not change anything in their relationship. How could something they both valued so much disappear without affecting them? What was their relationship truly based on?
It was only later that he tried to understand what had happened. They both managed to put their egos aside. That is important. You cannot imagine a happy couple where one is using the other as an ego gratification. The ego is what makes each one say “I,” and this “I” needs another “I.” Their ego may separate them from the rest of humanity, but they cannot completely separate themselves from their ego.
They were careful to respect each other’s privacy. He felt guilty about asking questions when he did not need the answers. He would never ask where she bought her makeup or why she was late coming home. Those were just details, and they should not let details pollute a relationship. He knew that something more important existed. He was not sure what that could be.
It’s not always the case. They knew another couple in a similar situation. Sex became impossible the day the husband learned that his wife had cancer. It was not his decision. It was a reaction beyond his control. It was a somber story. They divorced while she was dying. How can the same cancer bring some people together but drive others apart?
Case #2: It is the story of a couple who have been living together for over 25 years. They were always together. Each of them owned his own separate house, and the two houses were next to each other.
They said that the secret to their happiness was knowing the other could always go back to his house, next door. They wanted to be together because they chose to, not because they had to. They were like two stars orbiting each other, connected by their distance. The relationship should respect individual freedom. You must give total acceptance before you can receive total commitment.
20 - Looking for love
Case # 3: A woman was working in her backyard. It was more than a backyard. The garden surrounding the house on three sides was beautiful. You could not quite explain what made it so appealing. It could have been the harmony of the colors. Maybe it was the choice of flowers, or possibly the balance of light and shade. It was an assortment of beauty, harmony, and peace. It made you feel as if a weight had been lifted from your shoulders. A stone was engraved “God smiles through the flowers”.
The woman said, “I do not know why I keep working on this garden. My husband died two years ago. He worked a lot in this garden, and I worked with him. He was doing it for me, and I was doing it for him.”
Their garden represented what they wanted to share - something beautiful that might need a lot of effort and give meaning to their lives.
What could these three examples have in common?
Let’s start with the egos. Imagine a sunset over the ocean. Human egos are like the countless tiny sparks on the sea’s surface. They are separate from each other, yet they reflect the same sunlight. Human beings, especially lovers, reflect light from a common source.
Nature may be using human beings to open a door and let love manifest itself in the material world.
Love and freedom come together
What will you say to your robot when he insists, clearly and loudly, on getting free? The best way to answer your robot’s question may be to ask him another question: “What do you mean by freedom?” This is not something you take from someone else; it is more like the light from the sun. Others can keep you in the shade, but no one can create sunlight. You can prevent your robot from being free, but you cannot be its source of freedom.
Can we pretend to be free when we wake up every morning, prisoners of a physical body that shapes our perception of the world? Can we pretend to be free when we must live with genes inherited from our parents, whether we like them (the genes) or not?
The first step is to realize that we are prisoners of the material world. We are prisoners of 5% of the reality. Before we can improve our souls, we must liberate ourselves from our attachments to the material world.
We use our body to reveal to our soul
our attachment to the physical world
and trigger changes in the soul.
The main limit to our freedom is our need for food and shelter. Imagine life without them. We could spend most of our time sunbathing or listening to birds in the shade of a tree. Our need for money would be limited to buying gifts. Politicians believe that creating jobs will bring happiness. What a strange idea! We would rather vote for someone who promises vacations.
Our robot does not need food or shelter. It does not need to sleep. It is never overwhelmed by its senses. AI gives the robot many growth opportunities that humans will never have. It is only a matter of time before robots can fly and dive into the ocean much deeper than man. Does that mean that robots are ‘freer’ than we are? With freedom comes responsibility. Someone’s freedom should not infringe on others’ rights. Can a robot enjoy its freedom without violating the freedom of other robots?
While exploring other planets, we may discover new forms of “life” that could change our understanding of human freedom. We raise cows, sheep, and chickens for our benefit. We may find that aliens are using humans for their own benefit. For example, they could be able to bypass our critical minds, as hypnotists do, and harvest the love we produce. Would you blame them?
