WHY ARE THE WORLD’S PROBLEMS SO DIFFICULT TO RESOLVE?

Why are ours? Is there a connection between the two?

Thought – being the source of our reality (including our problems and their solutions) – is the underlying premise of this article.

Thought – being the wellspring supplying the questions, the answers, and the concepts of Possibility and impossibility, is likewise.

Throughout human history, numerous people – via Thought – have experienced their transformation. Often appearing as mystics or sages, each has one thing in common: they see that, until we transform ourselves, we remain part of the problem (whatever guise the problem may take).

Likewise, once transformed, we become part of the solution (whatever guise the solution may take).

However, despite countless gurus sharing these transformative insights and attracting billions of followers, humanity is still not at peace with itself.

We, the people, continue to struggle to resolve the difficulties facing us individually and as a collective.

If that statement rings true, I ask you, why do you think that is so?

Under questioning, we each come up with answers. This essay presents one – seen within the Realm of Possibility.

As the subtitle asks: Is there a connection between resolving our personal problems; and solving the world’s problems?

WHY ARE WE DRAWN TO WISDOM? WHY IS IT WE MISS THE DEEPER POINT?

Drawn to wisdom, we create an ideology around it. In doing so, we forget the profound point first seen; we remain the problem – just a new expression of it.

Only when freed from our beliefs – our polarised and polarising thinking, do we see into The Realm of Possibility and become the solution.

Regrettably, even when we experience this state of Possibility (or whatever you may call your inner world of wonder and wisdom), we lose that connection.

Fortunately, if we understand what we have experienced, and keep looking to reconnect, we can find it again, and again, and again … each time with more measure.

When experiencing Possibility powerfully enough, we experience our psychological liberation: that is, the release from all belief, opinion, judgment and knowledge – the single cause of divisiveness and all antisocial behaviour.

We also see and experience freedom from what ails the world – depression, anxiety, anger, fanaticism, taking sides – you name it – we see those conditions for what they are.

We see to the heart of all human-made problems and their solutions. We recognise the cause – that we think and that what we think creates our reality – one of impossibility or Possibility.

WHERE DO SOLUTIONS EXIST?

They wait in the yet to be seen – just like Einstein’s Theory of Relativity remained in the unknown till he saw it – or the next fresh idea waiting for you to see within your inner Realm of Possibility.

We recognise on entering our inner world of Possibility that many current solutions to the problems we face aren’t working. We understand that what is required exists beyond the thinking that created those solutions.

When not anchored to existing beliefs, we see answers in our mind that are original – workable – sustainable and in service to the common good.

We understand in a state of Possibility that, as with any problem, the solution is us. It’s not others – circumstances, our leaders, etc. It’s not them, those, that or it. It’s you and me. Some call it ‘the power of one’.

In seeing Possibility, we experience an acute clarity of mind. Accompanying that state is a deep sense of kindness, understanding, wisdom and common sense. Those noble qualities come with the territory and transform our life.

We see that we have all been in the same boat, trying to solve problems from our conditioned mind To mention Einstein again: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

Seeing Possibility is what unleashes our inherent courage and personal power to step forward and make a difference.

Until our awakening, we habitually look at life through the confinement of our memories.

This prison of memories is the one each of us has built, brick by brick by our beliefs, opinions, judgements and knowledge. And that is the state we unconsciously live our life from, up to the point of seeing Possibility. And it’s the state we get lost in again when we fail to recognise moment to moment our state of being.

The good news is; at a certain level of awakening, we recognise our state of impossibility for what it is.

Regardless of the nature of our new conditioning, if we forget ‘it’s not the truth of the matter – any matter’, it is our new block to seeing further. It has merely become our new reality of impossibility thinking. An improvement no doubt but it’s become our new dead end.

I accept, that without context, these assertions may be puzzling, challenging, and may even sound delusional.

Please stay with me as I lay out before you a little more.

Our conditioning (called by many names – also known as conscious and unconscious memory) is, for everyone, a mixed bag of pluses and minuses, of the good, bad and indifferent.

That accumulation creates and is our unique reality – the way we, and we alone, see our world. It is our reality – the only one we can know – until we see another.

Irrespective of the state of our accumulation – excellent, medium, poor or terrible – when looking at life through that prism, we don’t, we can’t ‘see what is’. We don’t – it’s impossible – to experience a fresh perspective when looking at life through the window to our past. We only see what our conditioned mind allows us to see. Can you see that is our state of impossibility?

And we mistakenly think we see what others see. We imagine that there is some form of ultimate reality we all share. Instead, what each of us sees is a projection of our already created personal reality – until we see into The Realm of Possibility – and then we see a different reality. And that, I regret to say, becomes our new state of impossibility; that is if we believe we have found ‘the truth’.

If we think (as we tend to) that we have found the ultimate answer or system, or way the world should be, or the ‘true reality’, we are mistaken – and as already said, even if billions of others hold similar beliefs.

WE CANNOT SEE WHAT IS THROUGH THE VEIL OF YESTERDAY – THROUGH ANY BELIEF SYSTEM

No matter how good we think our stored reality is, it’s the status quo at best, our latest rendition of all we have accumulated including any insights, awakenings or epiphanies.

At worst our reality manifests in arrogance, personal insults, harshness, bigotry, racism, evil and atrocities – often in the name of our guru.

On a global scale, our collective impossibility thinking is exemplified by the dire straits so much of the world is in right now.

As an uncomfortable view of how the world is fairing, let’s consider my home county.

AUSTRALIA – AN EXAMPLE OF A COUNTRY DROWNING IN IMPOSSIBILITY THINKING

Australia is exceptionally affluent, often referred to as ‘the lucky country’.

Due to our collective impossibility thinking – Australia is in turmoil.

Among our people, we witness the over-consumption of food, goods and services, with its many attendant problems. Over-indebtedness is endemic. Division and disgruntlement in our citizenry are apparent throughout society, at levels not previously witnessed. We live in silos of ignorance.

Greed and avarice afflict much of the corporate world. Capitalism has given way to corporatism and an unholy alliance between governments and powerful interests and influences that seem unconcerned with the common good.

We are experiencing extreme and extended droughts, unprecedented wildfires across the continent, the gross loss of flora and fauna, growing water shortages in cities and towns across the nation. We are, as much of the world is, in deep environmental trouble.

What makes our situation, so concerning is that insufficient numbers of Australians recognise we are facing a crisis of proportions previously unknown. (Whether the current wildfires are the catalyst for sustained change remains to be seen.)

This deterioration in the fabric of our society and our natural environment reflects our widespread lack of understanding of cause and effect.

The disparities between the super-rich, the rich, the comfortably-off, the okay and the poor are widening. This gap no longer bears any resemblance to the reasonable standards of decency and a ‘fair go for all’.

Our ignorance mirrors our elected politicians – of all persuasions – seemingly with few exceptions.

We have been told by consecutive governments that ‘we’ve never had it so good: That we are the economic envy of the world!’

For three decades, our political leaders repeat annually, with supporting statistics, that we have just completed another year of economic growth.

All the while, failing to address the fragility of our economy, our environment and the parlous state of our psyche.

The saying ‘Lies, damned lies, and statistics’ is a fitting response; or another is ‘The blind leading the blind’ captures another perspective.

To the less duped, it appears we have been heading toward a) economic, b) societal and c) environmental upheaval for decades – maybe a century – perhaps forever. For those individuals, it’s not a matter of if, but when ‘the chickens come home to roost’ in all three areas. They hear their wings flapping.

No one knows when, but many less-publicised indicators have been piling up – mounting – year after year – and eroding our economic, social and environmental foundations.

We may continue to bump, blunder and bash along, as we have been, for many years to come, with the rich getting richer, the poor getting poorer, and the in-betweens getting squeezed tighter.

If the previous observations are remotely accurate, then our abused, extraordinarily fragile environment might well become the ‘force of nature’ to bring us crashing to our senses. Time will tell.

IN YOUR THOUGHTS, WORDS AND DEEDS ARE YOU THE PROBLEM OR THE SOLUTION?

Let’s consider what’s at the heart of transforming ourselves and, as an outcome, transforming our world – experiencing our inner guru – not bowing to the picture on the wall nor the statue standing tall.

Do we – you and I, the person next door, on the next farm, in the next office – in the factory down the road – working behind the checkout – fixing our teeth – recognise and understand the problems and therefore become the solution? Or we don’t and remain the problem.

As stated, what we are thinking, feeling and doing represent actions based on our past conditioning – our state of impossibility; not based on ‘seeing what is’ – our state of Possibility. Where does that leave us?

 ‘SEEING WHAT IS’ – DISCOVERING POSSIBILITY AND A NEW WAY FORWARD.

Instead of seeing life through the prism of our past, once our mind opens and we awaken, we start to see from the Realm of Possibility. Instead of seeing the re-created illusion – our ‘ground-hog day’ experience – we ‘see what is’.

The term ‘seeing what is’ equates to a perspective (on anything) beyond the grip of our conditioning. We are seeing, in those moments of clarity, from a relative state of Possibility. (I’ll explain later what I mean by ‘relative’.)

Importantly, we recognise both creation and destruction with equal clarity. We don’t suddenly see the world through rose coloured glasses, or start singing Kumbaya, My Lord!

This essay isn’t about ‘positive thinking’ or, as some of you might be wondering, ‘negative thinking’. It’s about you and me seeing the world as it is, not as it looks through our conditioned mind. It isn’t about looking outside of ourselves for salvation either. It’s about looking to our inner guru.

In a state of Possibility, we see beyond what we thought was reality; what we are sure is the ‘truth of the matter’. We see into a state of original Thought. As the adage goes, ‘all bets are off’. We see anew and consequently get a fresh start. We have discovered where the answers we seek have been waiting.

HOW CAN YOU AND ME GETTING A FRESH START UNITE A POLARISED WORLD?

We don’t lose our skills and knowledge when we see our lifetime accumulation for the ball and chain it is. They remain available to us.

We see our beliefs, opinions and judgements for the falsities they are and their divisive nature when taken as ‘the truth’.

Those aspects of our conditioning that don’t serve us or the common good, blow away – some on a breeze, others in a gale. This process can take time, but our past loses its grip, and the less-than-useful disappears. The result is that our accumulation no longer dominates our world view, blocking our renewal.

An example (which I trust isn’t polarising for you) is the current schism between the political and societal ideologies of the ‘left’ and the ‘right’ and their respective adherents.

The divisiveness in this debate is beyond the extraordinary in the USA and is increasingly conflict-ridden in Australia, the UK and many other countries.

The polarised and polarising ‘right’ and ‘left’ media gives voice to and fans the white-hot ferment, both sides believing themselves to be purveyors of truth, wisdom and reason.

Social media takes this level of the ‘right-left’ discord into the stratosphere. There, we can find every bit of ‘solid, irrefutable evidence’ we search for to support our blind, conditioned view of how the world is and how it should be – according to us on the ‘left’, us on the ‘right’ and us ‘in-between’.

WHERE IS OUR DISCORD, DISHARMONY AND HATRED CREATED?

The causes and remedies of the existential threats’ humanity faces are headline news and hotly contested.

Topical ones are global warming/climate change/floods/droughts/fires, war-related suffering, societal upheavals on countless fronts, economic breakdown, displacement of people by artificial intelligence, the mayhem of people versus their government occurring in so many cities across the globe, the degradation of our air, land, seas and waterways, and the extreme losses of flora and fauna. Whew!

The problems appear overwhelming and ever-growing.

What isn’t understood is this: any human-made problem, is a symptom with a single universal cause.

The division that exists over whether a problem is human-made or not also has the same causality.

The myriad problems and the countless solutions applied to the human-made or naturally occurring – those that succeed and equally those that fail – each has the same causality.

This universal cause is our thinking – yours and mine, the quality – good, bad and indifferent – of our individual and collective thinking.

This claim of a single underlying cause to all human-made problems and their solutions seems simplistic, even Pollyanna-ish.

I can’t blame you for thinking that: it seems impossible.

Is understanding what follows the way to the solutions we are seeking?

WE THINK INTO BEING OUR REALITY, AND THEREFORE ALL PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS

The basis of this piece is that our reality is created by what we think. Given that each of us – all seven-plus billion of us – sees life in our unique way, can our reality be created otherwise?

So, what is the source of our thinking?

Why does our thinking range from unbelievably amazing to incredibly diabolical?

Thought (with a capital T) is the unknown energy that gives birth to our thinking (with a small t).

Our thinking is a product of Thought.

This Thought energy manifests as our thinking, feelings and actions in each living moment.

Can what I’ve just claimed, be proven? To quote Alfred, Lord Tennyson: ‘Nothing worth proving can be proven, nor yet disproven …’

It’s stating the bleeding obvious though, to say that we use that energy (whatever it is) for or against ourselves; for or against our relationships with everyone and everything; for or against the world.

We use it in its unformed state to create an original idea – from what I call, The Realm of Possibility.

The form, it takes is our thinking – our creations, knowledge, beliefs, opinions and judgements; even our profound epiphanies.  In totality, this is our accumulation – and when unrecognised by us as the past and not the here and now – our state of impossibility.

Most of the time (maybe close to 100%), we use Thought energy to re-experience our life from our accumulation.

This leads to what I mean by a relative state of Possibility, mentioned earlier.

A STATE OF UNITY OR DISUNITY

On experiencing The Realm of Possibility and original Thought, it’s as though we re-condition /revise/overhaul our accumulation (our state of impossibility) to some degree each time.

In that process, we raise our level of understanding. We come to see how our mind is working, and consequently, come to understand ourselves and our fellow humans.

Each time we experience a state of Possibility; our awareness is raised to whatever degree it is – depending on the depth (the power) of each experience.

Inspired by our experience/s of seeing Possibility, we become more awake, we begin to shed some of our earlier conditioning (earlier versions of our impossibility thinking), and we move closer and closer to ‘seeing what is’.

Seeing Possibility is a fleeting state. It doesn’t last, for anyone – including, it seems, the greatest of our gurus.

How we experience life from impossibility (i.e. through our conditioned mind) represents how aware we are of our conditioned mind, or not.

Our conditioned mind represents the degree to which our thinking is in service to ourselves and the common good, or not.

Our conditioned state is our ‘normal’ state, day-in, day-out, and it fluctuates from mildly to wildly, depending on our level of awareness in each moment.

That is both the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’ news. Our conditioned state (our state of impossibility) determines how we show up in the world each day – each second.

THE BOTTOM LINE: TO TRANSFORM OUR WORLD, WE MUST FIRST TRANSFORM OURSELVES

We, you and I resolve our problems by seeing Possibility and by understanding our beliefs, opinions, judgements and knowledge – our state of impossibility – for what it is – our best take on any aspect of life at that moment in time.

Once having experienced Possibility, we live on standby to see anew and to see the problems and solutions as if for the first time and with new answers. We become unstuck from the past.

Therefore to transform the world, we must first glimpse within The Realm of Possibility for ourselves and as a result, become a kinder, more understanding, wiser and live our life from common sense.

See that, and your world – our world – the world, finds peace.

In summary, as an agnostic, I quote something attributed to Jesus. It says in 6 words what I’ve taken just over 3000: “The kingdom of heaven is within.”

Warmly… John

The Realm of Possibility Foundation

P.S. – If you think this article might be helpful to a family member, friend or colleague, please forward it to them. For more information – including about our workshops and other essays on Possibility – or to register to receive a monthly article or to purchase or download a copy of the book Possibility … a state of mind, please explore our website: https://www.therealmofpossibility.org.au