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ON HUMAN
IDENTITY
The most important change that is needed by humanity now
is to move beyond the boundaries of a limited group
identity to a larger sense of being human. When you open
self to a connection beyond the material world, beyond
the Earth to a larger firmament, to a larger
identification with all-that-is, a sense of the
sacredness of everything emerges. It opens one to a
sense of the divine, what people often call God.
And when that
occurs, everything you do, everything you see, every
material or non-material object, every person, whatever
or whomever you encounter becomes a part of that sacred
universe. Any trauma may carry with it the possibility
of personal transformation and growth. But the “alien
encounter” experience seems different to me because of
its specific capacity to shatter the boundaries of the
psyche and to open consciousness to a wider sense of
existence and connection in the universe.
The so-called
alien encounter phenomenon seems to belong to that
particular class of phenomena, not even generally
accepted as existing by mainstream Western science, that
seems not to be of this visible, known, material
universe and yet appears to manifest in it.
This engagement with an intelligence (“Source” is the
word most often used) through intermediaries (the
“aliens”), appears to be part of the evolution of
consciousness and the preservation of this planet.
What I find touching about the alien encounter
phenomenon is the subtle way that it coaxes us, opens
us, sometimes with tough love, sometimes by a seeming
indifference, to exceed our expectations. Its methods
are to invite, to coax, to show, to give opportunity,
but not to do it for us, which is, at its highest level,
the way that a person—a parent perhaps—tries to create
growth for a child.
Rilke put it perhaps more beautifully than anyone else
has. His definition of devotion was the unswerving
commitment to standing guard over the privacy of
another. He explained the value of this manner of
commitment in the following way:
Once the realization is accepted that even between the
closest human beings infinite distances continue to
exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if
they succeed in loving the distance between them which
makes it possible for each to see the other whole and
against a wide sky.
So, to people who ask why the aliens do not help us
overcome our ecological and social problems directly, I
would suggest that most of what goes on here is not
being done for us; it is showing a way, which is similar
to what occurs in the most profound spiritual
traditions.
Ultimate
responsibility for growth is left to each of us.
—JOHN E. MACK, M.D. |
