The stories in the news just get more bizarre and entertaining lately… and in trying to make sense of it all, I find meditation to be a sure cure.
On December 18, 2024, a popular YouTuber and ‘Flat Earther’, Jeran Campanella, travelled from California to Antartica and saw the sun does not rise in the Antartica during the summer in the southern hemisphere.
He said “Sometimes you are wrong in life. I thought there was no 24-hour sun…“
At the end of the interview, he was very humble to say “I realise that I’ll be called a shill for just saying that and you know what, if you’re a shill for being honest so be it – I honestly believed there was no 24-hour sun.”
This could be earth shattering news for some Flat Earthers, but it does not mean it’s the end of the Flat Earth society. Deep in the human psyche there are belief systems that are so hard to root out, because it’s embedded in the heart. Would it be easier to believe the earth is flat than to deny the love in our hearts?
I’ve experienced despair and deep sadness. Who hasn’t? I pause and introspect if sometimes I am projecting my feelings and belief out there, and not really seeing reality for what it is. What makes me hang on to a belief system that I willfully blind myself to the truth? Is it that it’s easier to hang on than it is harder to let go?
There was a recent Tik Tok video, made by Sarah Roberts, that had gone viral. Before the exclusive she gave to TMZ on February 26, the storyline in the media was Sarah Roberts called for the assassination of Elon Musk and confessed that she had not filed taxes for the past eight years. In the video I witnessed a lot of pain her eyes. There are some things that makes the expression “the bell cannot be unrung” to ring poignantly. “Unring the bell”, is an analogy used in law that suggests the difficulty of forgetting information once it is known (Wikipedia). In my imagination, Sarah Roberts had tattooed “psychopath” on her forehead.
The TMZ headline read “TikToker I WAS NEVER GOING TO KILL ELON MUSK… And My Taxes are Paid!!!” and the gist of the article is her confession of regret for “trying to make stupid jokes on the Internet,” adding, “I thought it was protected under free speech but I certainly learned my lesson.”
Comparing the thought process behind Jeran Campanella and Sarah Roberts on their belief systems is a stretch, but the common thread is a transformation of consciousness. There is humility in Jeran’s words and the essence is palpable in its expression. Either Sarah Roberts is a really good actor or she truly believed and felt what she expressed in that TikTok video. Having FAFO’ed, she tried to salvage a joke that went too far and now it’s hard to take seriously anything she says.
13 He replied, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14 Leave them; they are blind guides.[d] If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
15 Peter said, “Explain the parable to us.”
16 “Are you still so dull?” Jesus asked them. 17 “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? 18 But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. 20 These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
So I’m trying to make sense of the whirl wind of events, and I had the aha moment that the mind will go into an infinite loop to try to make sense of it… like asking “Deep Thought” for the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything and the answer is 42. (The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy).
The mind does not have the answer to make sense of it all. It’s so much deeper than that. Consciousness is not limited to the mind. We are all consciousness, and we’re on different planes of consciousness moment to moment. When we pause and notice who is the thinker, we get a glimpse of the Seer watching the unfolding of dance and play of light and shadows.
Below is an excerpt from Swami Muktananda’s Life is a play of Light and Shadows
What was real yesterday is unreal today, and what is real now will be unreal tomorrow, because tomorrow it will no longer exist. Life is the extraordinary play of the actor of the universe, the Self. It is mystery, a story told by a grandmother, real, yet without foundation. In this world, day becomes night and night becomes day. Joy turns into grief and grief turns into joy.
Virtue turns into sin and sin turns into virtue. Birth becomes death and death becomes birth. Success become failure and failure becomes success. One person’s victory is another defeat. One person’s interest is another’s indifference. One person’s religion is another’s irreligion. The world constantly changes.
The 24 hour sun is akin to the ever-seeing Self. The Self is always there, concealed only by ever changing weather patterns. Recognize that weather is caused by the sun, originated in the Self.
