THOUGHTS BEFORE THE ELECTION
by Gary Rosenberg

“If you look at the world today, lies are main stream – truth is a fringe phenomenon.”

“Belief leads people to accept the most ridiculous things as the absolute truth.”

-Sadhguru

In the past I’ve written about the power we have as human beings to create our own realities with our thoughts.  And, that these realities can extend to whole families, communities and societies.  Our thoughts are our power and controlled by fear, ego or illusions they create realities we may not exactly want and often lead to the proverbial question, “How did I/we get here?”   In order to create realities we want, we need to have a clear vision of what they look like and focus our thoughts accordingly detaching ourselves from negative or disruptive thoughts we encounter daily.  This is not an easy task.

With this as the underlying premise for our discussion let’s look at the 2016 election.  Please keep in mind that what I am proposing is my opinion based on certain knowledge and personal experience.  It should not be considered as reporting or in any way an attempt to influence your thinking.  It is an effort to allow you to consider a different view of today’s political events as a manifestation of our thoughts individually and as a society.

The American political process and especially the presidential election is a huge distraction from taking control over our own lives, governing ourselves and manifesting the kind of society we want because through our political process we have essentially given up our power to the visions and actions of those we elect. Our representative government as we know it allows us to, every two and four years, elect people who will make governing decisions for us and go on with our daily lives.

Is this working for us?  Do we like the decisions our leaders make?  Have we created a society we wanted?  Have we even been clear on the kind of society we want?

Most people would cite the Constitution as the framework for the kind of society we want.  It is at best a guide to how we want to govern ourselves, but this does not present a detailed vision of a society which is ever changing in its physical realities.  What is shaping our society are the leaders we elect, the media we listen to every day, the groups we tend to gravitate to, the work we choose and all the ideas we accept as ‘truth’ from these experiences.

At the time of this writing, November 1, 2016 our presidential election has been shaken by the announcement of James Comey, FBI Director to re-open the Hillary Clinton email investigation due to the finding of 650 thousand emails which as of this time may or may not be relevant to the investigation.  Earlier in the year Mr. Comey announced that no charges would be made against Clinton based on findings at that time.  Hillary was cruising to victory.  For Democrats all was good.

Our reaction to and view of the recent Comey announcement will vary depending on which political party we belong to, which media outlets we listen to, who our family, friends and associates are and myriad other influences in our lives prior and up to this moment.  It is likely that the search for truth and any effort to seek this through a logical questioning process will not happen.  Each of us has been ‘programmed’ to react the way we do.

This is the time to detach ourselves from all the noise and hysteria and try to understand what is taking place from a deeper human perspective.  Regardless of the election outcome we will all survive the next four years and have endless opportunities to create realities in our personal lives, family and communities.

Let’s begin with James Comey.  It is likely that he made the announcement as he did for personal reasons.  Not simply because he has a history of reacting this way, but also because he is conditioned to act either in fear, by ego or in most cases both.  We know the FBI had a mutiny developing by local FBI agents as well as a Republican controlled Congress which has been pressuring him.  He also has most likely been pressured by President Obama, Justice and Democrats to frame past outcomes based on what evidence he had on the earlier email investigation.  We do not know exactly what that (email) evidence was and again depending on where you stand on party lines you will assume what you like. 

In the world of politics Mr. Comey is a survivor like many politicians.  This is his life.  What his vision of the world is depends on influences over his lifetime.  What thoughts he may have based on his fears and ego will create realities which in this case may affect a presidential election and the lives of millions of people. 

This power which seems to rest with Mr. Comey is an illusion. While he is the actor who has rocked the election with his decision he simply plays a role in a human drama with other players who also have incredible influence over outcomes based on their position and thoughts established by their fears and egos.

We all have this power.  At this time we need to dig deep and remember how powerful we are and not let the events caused by others derail the opportunities and realities we can create by detaching ourselves from our fears and egos. 

If we consider the two presidential candidates we know they are both ego driven and both not necessarily searchers of Truth.  These two candidates are the most disliked presidential candidates in our history.  Myriad information on both these candidates can be tapped showing disregard for truth, lack of integrity, opportunism, egotism, fear and questionable spiritual guidance.  I say this because there are others involved in politics we can all think of and hold in high regard.  Our two presidential candidates have chosen the paths they have based on their thoughts and visions for themselves.

These two candidates have been nominated as prospective President Elect based on the thoughts, fears and vision (or lack thereof) of major portions of our electorate.  If we look at this situation objectively without judgement we can begin to understand the role we have all played to create this situation based on our collective thoughts, fears, actions or inaction.  Yes, we in our own way have all helped to create this reality.  This is how we got here.

How do we go forward?   First, if you are worried about the election, stop.  If you haven’t voted yet then you have a responsibility and obligation as part of our democracy to vote – do so.  If you have voted, then it is time to move on.  This can be in immediate participation for a candidate of your choice and/or refocusing your attention to daily activities.  However, whatever you do at this point you need to detach yourself from any fears you may have about the ‘what if’ possibilities of the election.   Quite frankly, an obsession with your fears on the election will have some impact on its outcome.

It is time to start focusing our thoughts on the Good:  What can we do locally to affect the kind of change politically and socially we want for ourselves and our families?  How can we make our political process more inclusive of all political persuasions and refocus our attention on solving problems, rather than simply advancing our political affiliations?  What visions do we have for our families, workplace and communities?  Do we see ourselves as powerful change agents and if not, let’s start building these visions.

How we solve our problems defines who we are on a deeper spiritual basis.  Politics is a process of exchanging ideas on social matters.  It is a method of influencing people in society based on beliefs, platforms, laws, media and systems.  While it is a necessary part of any democracy it can easily be corrupted.  As such it is not necessarily the best way to solve social problems as it is a chasm away from being non-judgmental, logical and expeditious in addressing social needs.  If we want to protect ourselves from a corrupt political process we need to first start within ourselves and then take our positive energies to our local communities.  All our national political and social manifestations including our problems begin at the local level.  Whatever changes we want to make will need to start here first and begin with each of us.

We will all survive the Presidential Election of 2016. What we choose to do after the election matters.  For many of us this election reminds us of who we are not.   As human beings we create whole realities and can capture the energy exerted in this campaign season to create positive realities for ourselves and our communities. 

Let’s consider starting with the children and focus on developing creative, confident, compassionate and thinking individuals who can become the kind of future leaders we want.  Our schools need strong civics training, a love for imagination and creativity and focus on logic, reasoning and expression.  We leave ourselves susceptible to demagogues and tyrants if we have a fearful population which accepts half-truths and lies because they do not have the skills to think and take our leaders to task.

We need to bring back solid unbiased investigative reporting as the minimal requirement for any mainstream professional news organization if we are to support them.  News organizations need to find a business model which will support this.  If the media is not asking the hard questions of all our local and national leaders and pursuing truth instead of innuendo and spectacular headlines we all run the risk of losing our democracy.  For now each of us has the opportunity to seek out better news reporting online.  However, the reach and influence of major media is too great for us not to demand better of them.

We could prepare a huge list of things we would like to see changed in our society.  In fact, if we were to place any number of people from any section or sections of our country in a room with enough time to engage in thoughtful discussion without judgement I would expect most if not all would agree on very similar visions of the kind of society we want.  This is because Truth is within all of us.  We simply need to remember it and trust ourselves and others that together we can manifest it and create the beauty we have been placed here to do.

Know you are powerful. Know you are Love.