Surviving, Thriving and Contributing in the Age of Mass Information and Confusion

In the age of information, where censorship, propaganda and disinformation are upon us, the time of confusion has arrived.

The Internet seems to be one of the final battlegrounds between the truth and lies, between empathy and psychopathy, between those that seek power for the sake of themselves and those that want freedom for the sake of us all.

We are citizens of the digital age and we are already participating in a world war. The war is digital and it is, as has been said many times, quite literally a war on people’s minds. Information and awareness are crucial and nowadays, whoever holds the key to the flow of information will become the new wielder of power and will shape the narrative of the future.

The Internet is the first literal manifestation of a more mind based reality, it is a physical manifestation of pure information. It is also a manifestation of a deeper connectedness between all of us, as living beings, that we are only slowly starting to realize, as we drop the anger and fear and instead cooperate, respect each other and garner compassion for all life.

But as with all wars, this is not one to be taken lightly. The Internet is now chock full of propaganda from all sides – and its spread is constantly influencing all of our thought processes and our subsequent emotions and action, thus directly influencing how our collective future will be shaped. Besides the misinformation, censorship is also ever-present, as ideas deemed too “controversial” or “fringe” (even when they are completely non-hateful, which are always the type of ideas we should spread) are often scrubbed from social media and popular platforms.

What we need right now are the qualities of wisdom, intuition and compassion as well as the fundamental quality of awareness, which is the space behind the others, the organizing principle and the spark that helps ignite them.

In the age where we are bombarded with information, we first and foremost need to have awareness. We need to be aware of ourselves, our own mind, our intuition and our responses in order to not be brainwashed by whatever we encounter. Awareness is the first aspect that we must nurture. Awareness of ourselves, of others, of the world around us. Meditation in itself is an act of awareness, of presence, of being aware of our internal dialogues. Awareness of others is also related to compassion, as we are witnessing, experiencing and thus helping to integrate their suffering. Awareness of knowledge and feeling is the key to wisdom, critical thinking and intuition. Awareness is the light that we shine into the darkness, that dissolves our suffering and confusion. Ultimately in the deepest sense, I would even propose that awareness is a part of the very core of what we are.

We need the combination of wisdom, logic and intuition, the ability to both think critically and intuitively (critically with the mind, intuitively through our feelings as well as the deeper sense that is beyond them – which appear as we let go of everything we are holding on to) in order to discern good and correct information from that which is incorrect, to not take everything at face value, to be skeptical when needed, to test things out in our own experience whenever possible, to not trust authority simply because it is an authority and to have the ability to take correct, positive and constructive action.

We also need to fuel our compassion, our sense of love and camaraderie, of brotherhood and sisterhood, as well as our connection to all beings on this planet. Whenever we see that all beings suffer in their various forms and through their various challenges, our compassion will immediately grow and our desire to serve will increase. Through this desire to serve, as well as our intuition and wisdom, correct action can be born, action that will serve the world at large. No truly positive action can come from a total lack of awareness, compassion, wisdom or intuition.

In the age of information, we are tasked to not remain merely as peaceful bystanders, but active participants in the sharing, spreading and maintaining of the truth. To the best of our ability, we must ensure that we are sharing what we know, both from our own wisdom, knowledge and experience.

It is optimal to first meditate on a topic and/or to share from a point of stillness, not simply regurgitating information blindly, but contemplating it, processing it and then sharing our creation with the world, thus contributing something positive and new.

If you allow yourself to take in endless information without sharing or internally processing it, you will go mad.

If you allow yourself to simply share it, you may be doing good, but you also may be spreading misinformation, or in the extreme you may have become a useful idiot for anyone wishing to spread an agenda.

Obviously enough, it is important to research your thoroughly and check the veracity of the sources of said information. The source itself is however less important than the validity and strength of arguments being expressed. Do not assume sources that are based simply on authority positions are correct.

It is always prudent that you first contemplate and sit with what you have heard or read, take a walk, allow it to sit in stillness and silence, allow yourself to become aware of and embrace (and thus dissolve) any feelings and emotions that have come up in relation to the information…. and only then share it. Once any inner baggage and confusion around the information and knowledge is let go of, greater clarity will emerge, as well as the ability to present the information from a point of clarity, creativity and through your own unique, fresh and extremely valuable perspective (every unique perspective, when truly authentic and not regurgitated, is valuable).

It is also now more important than ever to be able to see both sides of every coin, to be open to many explanations and not be afraid of new information that may challenge your existing set of beliefs. When we close our minds and we strongly become identified (and especially emotionally invested) in a particular position, we will soon find ourselves completely ignorant or even hostile to any opposing thought.

This sort of thinking leads to disaster as we are often completely unable to even hear the other side of the story or an alternative view-point without becoming reactive or in the extreme case actually aggressive to the person expressing the different perspective.

The ability to look at all sides of a debate without strongly identifying with any position, to think critically, to embrace and dissolve any emotions that may come up when our position is challenged and to sit in silence and allow a deeper intuitive knowing to arise are all very crucial in the era of mass confusion.

Doing all of this and abiding by these rules can of course be difficult and/or time consuming. These are simply guidelines, so engage in them as best you can and as you feel is intuitively correct to do.

In the end, I would also like to implore you to spend some time in silence.

In the age of mass information, of confusion, and thus constant anxiety, we are bombarded by ever-new thought forms. But the truth is, the secrets of life, the clarity, the peace and freedom, the experiential understanding of love and unity, as well as happiness…are all hidden beyond the realm of thought and information.

Allow yourself to become aware of your thinking, of your emotions, of your sensations, to embrace and welcome whatever you may be experiencing. Allow it to be and thus it will gradually dissolve into silence, into stillness. Then allow yourself to embrace the silence and stillness, as best possible. It is just on the edge of your usual thought based consciousness, but ultimately it is everywhere, including in the spaces between every word of this document and beyond, as well as within every thought, emotion and sensation.

Allow yourself to be free of all information, of all thought forms, if just for a while. You will then see that in doing so you will not become stupid, less intelligent or ignorant.

Quite the opposite. You will move beyond the thinking mind and into a deeper dimension of peace and stillness. This will be subtle at first but will slowly deepen, the peace may even turn into a subtle joy or freedom. Become open to this and you will see how true intelligence and creativity are found beyond the maze, within the no-thingness, where true infinity lies.

Plenty of love.

Some potentially useful links:

–Processing and Dissolving Inner Pain and Suffering (on all levels of thought, emotion, sensation, belief)

–The Triple Welcoming Process, a short 4 minute meditation that can help you dissolve plenty of inner pain (you can just listen to it on repeat)

-The Work by Byron Katie – a self psychotherapuetic process created to help question your thoughts, beliefs and underlying emotions and come to a deeper freedom, peace and clarity (available on her site and in her book Loving What Is)