I am having many encounters with lizards lately. I remember that I loved playing with them as a child. I was not always kind to them in my curiosity. I vaguely recall placing one in alcohol to “put it to sleep”, then attempting to do surgery. I genuinely thought it would wake up after the surgery was over—of course, it didn’t. I meant no harm, but in my ignorance and naivety, I did great, irreparable harm.
This is why becoming conscious is so important.
I don’t know the harm I do out of my unconsciousness, at least not until it’s too late—if then. It is my duty as a spiritual person, as an American, as a citizen of this world, that I become conscious.
I remember the president of a seminary I attended decades ago. He was a seemingly stern man, proper, not quite approachable, and well respected. He stood in front of our class one day and told us that he had not consciously sinned in years. I sat there stunned and disturbed. He said he was in “good standing with the Lord” because he was free of conscious sin and implied that he was not responsible for unconscious sin. I’m disturbed even now as I remember his words. How convenient to not have to be responsible for the unconscious aspects of ourselves, and a compelling reason to stay unconscious. That kind of thinking baffles me. I suppose the idea could be that there is nothing that can be done about the unconscious, therefore one can’t possibly be responsible for it.
I believe the opposite to be true. I believe that I can do something about my unconsciousness and that I am fully responsible for my conscious “sin” and my unconscious “sin”. I am responsible to make conscious the unconscious, not stay stuck in my egoic mind where I am only free to act out of its limited beliefs.
No, I must endeavor to expand my consciousness in order to live responsibly and freely, and to thereby give energy to the freedom of those around me.
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