Look Into Your Eye

It's difficult to throw off the shackles of materialism.  Mankind lives in a material world whether you live on the African Continent or in North America.  We all need food, shelter and clothing.  Unfortunately for the West we've been indoctrinated and seduced into buying more and more trinkets and gadgets because we believe we just cannot do without them.  Pretty soon everything we've accumulated we're now trying to get rid of.  Sometimes I would like to just sell everything and head to the mountains,  someplace where there's peace and quiet.  No one seems to have respect for anything or anyone anymore, have you noticed?  In striving to attain a spiritual life we can understand why the Tibetan Monks and others opted for throwing off materialism in favor of a more simple and enlightened life.  It is very difficult for the average person to do this, however.  We just can't up and leave our family; we just can't up and call our boss and tell him we're quitting because we've decided we're leaving the country.  We have mortgages, insurance and bills to pay.  We're caught up in a cycle of dependency on a system that just hasn't provided the spiritual nourishment we need.   We're so busy nowadays we hardly have time to turn around let alone finding a few moments to ponder the things that are important in life.  But if you could find a few moments, think about how it is you are even here and why.  How is it possible you even got here?  Was it the luck of the draw?  We all know about the birds and the bees but really, think about this for a moment.  Where were you before you were even conceived?  Were you housed in a warehouse just waiting to sign your name on the dotted line?  Were you told beforehand what it was you would experience while down here?  Were you instructed, given a purpose or were you just a random act of conception with no clue, no idea and no plan?  Do you believe in Karma--reliving your life over and over until you make up for past mistakes, hurts you inflicted on others, the wrongs you were responsible for?  The fact that you are aware of your existence, your breathing, how is this possible?  What exactly is awareness?  How is it that you are able to perceive a small spider spinning her web as the rays of the sun sparkle and dance off the golden threads of her artwork?  How is it that you feel sadness or pain?  What is wonderment as you gaze into the brand new eyes of a newborn babe?  There is so much evil and anger and hatred and discontent and greed and ugliness in this world.  Do we have it within ourselves to change this?  Can we make a difference while we're here?  Do we have an obligation to do so?  For
the answers, just look within.