Soul is not Filters, Blinders and Dark Sunglasses

I recently watched a Disney animated movie called Soul. During one scene in particular, the soul travellers traverse a desolate landscape where large moaning, groaning, mumbling, weeping creatures sluff across the endless expanse heading no-where in particular, but are clearly each in a state of deep remorse. These, one of our hosts explains, are souls from Earth who become trapped in the illusions, delusions and obsessions they have become transfixed upon in life: addiction, objects and subjects that, when we attach greed to them, become all-consuming in their demands upon our awareness, our consciousness and, eventually, our spirit. When these unchecked eventualities infuse our consciousness and sense of self, we lose sight of what was once a pure and unaffected nature and state of mind.

As it is, we are literally cultured from day one to exist in the brand of reality we have built by tacit consent over time, by forces largely outside our immediate influence. The questions, What else is possible? And, Have we done our best with what we have to work with?, given human nature to strive and build, should be paramount, always and in all things.

Cultural norms, ways and means should not be dictated by monetary ideals in any form. Money, as it is, should serve as a tool to strive for and effect the best possible result for the wider spectrum, not the entirely limited purview presently employed.

The simple fact is that action, no matter how big or small, creates effect (cause and effect), and, in the Buddhist Vajryana theology, it is nature of choice and action that creates the emotional residue, which builds up over time and hardens, such that we can no longer see what we are doing or where we are going, and are drawn into an experiential void, an emotional vacuum, like the lost souls wandering the endless expanse, chasing an insatiable, unfeedable, and unsustainable notion of intent and purpose. Our minds, our ego, or sense of self, when oriented in this fashion, and without effective tools to activate and engage self-awareness, by its very nature seeks validation, belonging, acceptance; it seeks to be stimulated, and entertained – this, for lack of awareness of and possession of the tools for strong, focused, self-disciplined and hopefully enlightened awareness – which is entirely possible.

An expanded mind and wider awareness is a thing that is achievable by anyone who applies themselves to meaningful and profound personal growth. The ideal, I think, is not to drift through life, navigating with overcharged emotion, but to literally and figuratively engage and embrace life, to see what is possible and what we are capable of, to the best possible result.