Sovereign
What it means to be you
The Western system of thought, beginning with the Enlightenment, has sought to give rights to the individual, to make each of us more important than society as a whole. In the EU and the UK this thought has found its ultimate expression in the Human Rights Act of 1998, while the US refuses to entertain anything more elaborate than the constitutional statement that "All men are created equal".
What is an 'individual'?
If you think about it, each of us is far more than one of something. At a base level we're made of trillions of atoms, which are arranged into billions of cells. Some cells carry out a unique function, while others are more utilitarian. We each have many miles of capillaries, a huge surface area of lung capacity and several unique organs that carry out specialist activities. Our bodily plumbing and waste disposal systems are reminiscent of our largest cities. In fact, when you look at what we are at a lower level, we're all walking cities. We're not individuals at all, we're a vast collection of cells living together in harmony.
Each of us is a city state.
In the same way that some insects have a "hive mind" that controls the many, so your conscious mind is the collective expression of billions of cells. You are the elected monarch of a living city state, trusted to look after the wellbeing of all the cells that constitute your body. Your ultimate responsibility is to protect and nurture these cells. They depend on you to act in their best interests. Although you are elected monarch, you are expected to govern using sound principles. This means negotiation and delegation. If you're seeking to improve the lot of the living city, then sometimes sacrifices must be made and this puts the city into a state of stress. The moment you push things too far you risk becoming a dictator and when this happens disharmony can occur. From disharmony grows discord, and from discord comes imbalance. Push it too far and a rebellion occurs. Systems cease to function and do their job properly. You become ill. You may develop cancer or a broken organ. All because you stopped listening to the rhythm of your heart and meeting the needs of your many constituents.
As a monarch you are sovereign.
When you act in your own interests, you're acting in the interests of the city state of you. Billions and billions of cells rely on you. When another city state tells you you're being selfish for not thinking of the welfare of other city states, this is of course wrong thinking and not your primary responsibility. As a monarch your job is to look out for your own citizens first. Only once they're safe should you agree to help other city states. Your role involves resisting any external forces that try to make you do something that's detrimental to your citizens.
Collective consciousness has many levels.
In the same way that you are the collective conscious of billions of cells living together in harmony, so Gaia is the collective conscious of the billions of city states that inhabit this world. The collective conscious of the billions of worlds that make up this universe is effectively God.
You answer to God, just as God answers to you. Provided you and those around you are living in harmony with each other and the environment. However, at present, there is a lot of disharmony in the world and this has fractured our connections to the planet and our connections to God. In my next blog entry I'll look at what we might do about it, at a fundamental level. Until then: stay sovereign.