Societies

We're drawn not only to our physical environment, but also to the society that inhabits it. There are a number of complicated mixes of environments and societies available for us to choose from. At any given time, any combination imaginable is possible.

We not only choose the society we inhabit, we contribute to it as well. While we're living our 'focus' life, our psyche is helping with the development and construction of its societal mores. For example, if you live in a democratic society, you help maintain it physically by casting your votes and mentally by following your society's rules. By supporting and believing in your society, you enable your ka and those of your inner circle of family and friends to perform the specific functions they have decided upon, while at the same time holding together a societal structure for other core groups to work within as well.

While we may think that some societies other than our own are unfair, or wrong, or misguided, the fact is that they wouldn't exist if they weren't required by the people who live within them. Throughout mankind's history, our societal and phyiscal differences have often resulted in violence and bloodshed. We build models, try them on for a while and then leave them behind to try other experiments. This is how we learn and grow.

In each current life, we are passionate about our beliefs. So much so that we may strive to force them upon others, without understanding that those complex structures have been built by 'other' societies to fill their specific requirements. Yet it is also true that if we contribute to the destruction of another society, it is still within the realms of ending one experiment to move on to another.

The conundrum is that whether we participate in the building or destruction of a society - we're still working within the overall plan. Where this gets tricky, from an insructional point of view, is that it appears to be permission to be violent or destructive towards a different segment of society. This is not the case. Remember earlier postings that emphasized karma and the fact that any act performed in one lifetime will come back to you in another. We should always be working to end violence - especially violence committed in the name of a religion or societal belief system. There are many peaceful, loving ways to deal with our differences and that is where our focus should always be.