The other day a friend of mine posted a youtube video about Robert Anton Wilson talking about people’s perceptions of reality being it’s own reality tunnel:

I don’t know the context of the talk and I’m not familiar with the man although after a quick wiki search my interest is definitely peaked.

The message is very simple: We all see the world differently because we look at it through our own perceptions. But, it seemed so profound to me. I’m not sure if others see this as so obvious. We see the world through our own perception, then we interpret that perception based on an infinite number of factors and call that reality, which Wilson refers to as a Reality Tunnel. And we all have our own Reality Tunnels.

This is where I find compassion for the religious zealots, homophobes, republican/conservative extremists, people who run red lights, mean people, etc. It’s not that any one of them are “stupid” or deliberately trying to undermine your happiness. They just see things differently. They’re in their own Reality Tunnel. And so am I and so are you. What would it take to force me out of my Reality Tunnel and into one that matches someone else’s? Shame? Guilt? Not likely. It’ll just add shame and guilt to my tunnel.

Right at the end of this brief clip is the part that I find the most interesting.

“Every reality tunnel might tell us something interesting about our world, if we’re willing to listen.”

Stop and pay attention without judgment to a couple of different reality tunnels today. There are as many out there as there are people. But, don’t get overwhelmed, just make yourself aware of the different reality tunnels that around you, especially your own. And then just become curious about the world. What do these reality tunnels tell me about the world I live in. Sometimes it might be depressing and sometimes it might be joyful. But, I encourage you to look without judgment. It is what it is. Why not try looking at what-is with full awareness from your own reality tunnel and see if you can get a glimpse of another person’s tunnel.

(I’m trying to figure this all out for myself, as well, from my own tunnel and it’s all very complex and beautiful. Thanks for reading. I welcome comments and interpretations)

Last week on Grey’s Anatomy, the character Miranda Bailey said something that I loved. It was in reference to another character’s parents who were giving her a hard time for marrying a woman and having a baby “out of wedlock”. She said, “[The disapproving parents] just haven’t caught up to God, yet.”

I feel like as a whole we humans are slowly but surely catching up to God. Even to have a mainstream tv show that says, God is in you and in me and in between you and me, I think is revolutionary. But, not everyone feels this way about God and spirituality. There is still a lot of catching up to do. There are a lot of people who are behind.

Another interesting thing I heard last week was on an audio recording of Deepak Chopra’s “Book of Secrets”. He was talking about one’s spiritual growth and that the spiritual path (or “catching up to God”) doesn’t need to be a struggle. He says, you would never expect a 4 year old to struggle to turn 5.

Dr. Hawkins also says something this. He says we can only be that which we are. And he says that being more enlightened or having a higher level of consciousness isn’t “better than”. Everyone’s current level is appropriate because that’s where they are. And simply by working on oneself, a spiritual seeker can elevate the whole world.

Because we are always able to make choices on a moment to moment basis, people seem to think that other people should choose better. They think that they shouldn’t be so concerned about money, that they should respect the earth and support those less fortunate. I notice this a lot in the queer community. There’s a lot of righteousness. We’re fortunate to be outsiders. As outsiders we can see that people need help, need services and resources. As outsiders we gain a perspective that reveals the complexity of poverty and addiction and disability and a whole host of other social issues that affect many people. As women we are caring and feel compelled to help. But, as strong characters we get angry at the people in power who do nothing to help and even hinder those who work so hard to help “those less fortunate”.

But, you know what, the politicians and especially the system that they all work in just haven’t caught up to God, yet. And they deserve our compassion just as much as the drug addict who chooses to harm himself. Everybody needs compassion.

I was going for a walk the other day and I began to have a conversation in my head to someone who was angry about a social issue and I was imagining this conversation steering towards appropriate ways to be an activist. Personally, I don’t go to rallies or get angry about atrocities or yell and fight about issues that are important. I simply do my best to catch up to God and be a loving and good person. So, as I was walking and having this imaginary conversation I asked the universe, “what is the best way to affect change in the world?” Not long after an answer came to me. What would be a perfect world? What qualities does it have? Do you have those qualities? Can you? Do you try? Isn’t that the most important thing to focus on? That’s taken directly from the notebook that I stopped and wrote in when these thoughts came to me. Interesting how my “answer” was a bunch of questions.

I believe that compassion is the best way to fight in this world. And compassion needs to be for everyone – not just the down-trodden. Even the money-hungry disrespectful arrogant people who do their best to oppress us need compassion. They’re like 4 year-olds. Someday they’re going to turn 5. There’s no point in being angry about it or trying to shame them into being 5. They are 4.

Let’s focus on creating an environment that facilitates growth and evolution. Gandhi says, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” It’s so obvious and simple it’s easy to forget. Create your perfect world from within. If you want a compassionate world then see what happens when you extend that compassion to everyone and everything, rich and poor, the oppressed and the oppressors.