Can we admire the sun without feeling its heat? Or read a book without becoming it?
During my tenure at the European Medicines Agency I often heard of fascinating breakthroughs in modern medicine. The molecules my colleagues evaluated went on to be developed into blockbuster drugs by large pharmaceuticals, time after time.
Advances in technology bring advances in healthcare. Using genetic data and predictive analytics, personalised medicine known as precision medicine will bring tailored medicines to individuals as and when they need it. Since 2001, the cost of sequencing the genome of an individual person has fallen from $100 million to less than $1,000 today, making the goal of achieving precision medicine a possibility. Advances in healthcare have given us options and accessibility to medicines, but when medicines are ineffective or cause adverse effects, it's increasingly likely that different metaphysical systems of medicine will become more popular. Long roads into science will eventually lead the curious to an intersection that meets spirituality, and long roads into spirituality will eventually lead the curious to an intersection that meets with science. However, just as there are risks of being exposed to pseudo science, there are risks of conforming to pseudo spirituality.
“If plastic can manipulate the solar energy it absorbs, imagine what humans can do with it.”
Growing up in a household where food was seen as medicine, I'm aware there is a vegetable for many diseases, a herb for many infections, and a juice for many viruses. Our lifestyles are becoming more complex, therefore when our health suffers, the medical conditions around the issues become more complex. Naturally, the complexities and potencies of medicines follow suit. Today's humans are unknowingly building a resistance to traditional forms of medicines, with lifestyle choices being a major contributing factor. The continuous propulsion of thought distracts us from our daily activities, in particular our desire for personal development. We procrastinate, we doubt, we consume, we plan, we learn, we forget, we re-learn. The cycle of consumerism pervades our everyday lives taking us further away from the development of our souls desire, and overall wellbeing.
A biochemical process is how I would describe our physical organism. This process is altered at varying degrees each time we consume foods, drugs, and every breath that we take. Drugs, prescribed or illegal, add an extra chemical experience to our sober state, which one can argue can lead us to betterment, an approximation to the real, or simply an imbalance. In the end, the desire for satisfaction remains in man, the anarchy does not disappear. It is at this stage that dependence arises. In today’s world, willing or unwilling chemical experiences and material nature prevent what is truly required of humanity, a revolution of love. This requirement involves sensitivity, effort, and a sober heart. Our sensitivity has become compromised, so much so that we have lost the sense of being human. Instead, we have walked the path to mimicking robots and flowers. If we read a book, we become that book. When we feel the sun shine, we lean in its direction. Can we see the beauty of the words of a book without becoming them? Can we admire the sun without feeling its heat? If so, then you have found your human, patiently waiting between the robot and the flower.
We seek material and spiritual goals without fully understanding what comes next once the goals are achieved. Do we add more goals? or leave it to fate to decide what comes next? What do we seek after achieving these goals? Why do we seek at all? 5th century spiritual scripture The Upanishads tells us, 'All is known'. Knowing ourselves means we go against our conditioned state. What if the reasons, grounds and motives you act upon were abolished? Would our senses, which are contaminated with material nature act as an outlet for our soul to speak its desires? It is known that long roads into spirituality can often lead one into a low mood, as one can lose interest in material objects and advancements, and be left feeling with no purpose. A gradual process of purifying the senses should take place prior to diving deep into the path of spirituality. This creates an inner space for your soul to perform its dance, room for your light to begin helping others, and motive for your desire to attach to advanced levels of morality and compassion. It is with the purification of the senses that we can begin to un-program the unnecessary, and begin to lean towards all things, not just bright, firmly placing us between the robot and the flower.
“Going with the flow, a paradox unknown denies the opportunity to truly experience.”
Freeing ourselves from our thoughts means freeing ourselves from the past. If we look beyond the superficial layers of our conscious and our past, and apply dedication to understanding our motives and fears, we become closer to understanding the unconscious mind and its movements. The unconscious mind refers to a part of the mind that cannot be known by the conscious mind. Traditional psychiatry examines individuals through the lens of nature versus nurture, the effects of our biological genetics and our external environment. There is an aspect of our existence that this debate fails to consider: consciousness. Our level of consciousness determines our life path and beyond. The beauty of consciousness is that it is in your hands, to be exercised by your own volition. You are not what has happened to you, you are who you choose to become. We are all capable of individual inner transformation as we are not just the product of our genetics and environment. Honouring the interconnectedness of the mind, body and consciousness is the highest virtue. How we relate to our thoughts and emotions affects our mental state and personal power. Introspection creates purpose and improves our neural patterns, overwriting negative states of worthlessness or lack of motivation. When there is free cultivation of intelligence, and not mere conformity or techniques, we can begin to live playfully, sensitively and lovingly.
At the time of writing, 24th February 2022, A war has begun. I’m reminded of a snippet from a letter Einstein allegedly wrote to his daughter about love being the strongest form of energy. It reads, “If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer. Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy the hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet.”
I wish wellbeing to all of humanity. Let the seed of inner transformation be spread across the earth, as the rays of the sun are spread over the earth.
- Space Apricity
Robots and Flowers
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