There Is More Than One Way To Conquer A Toothache

 

Dear Reader,

Well, it seems like such a huge challenge doesn't it? This COVID-thing I mean. I accept that challenge, but for me it's one that has a solution. The problem lies - as I see it - in mankind coming to finally accepting that we're not going in the right direction in respect of our expectations. 

We have allowed ourselves to follow one way of thinking for too long: the attitude that says that economics (as we have been taught and brought up with) is the basis for success - both personally and for the nation and for the world. We have somehow developed the notion that how we get to achieve that success does not really matter. Worse, that the economic end is the only tangible thing we're supposed to achieve in our lives.

An example is how gambling has become an accepted legitimate industry of its own, and on a big scale. Well, they say, it provides jobs, doesn't it? Of course, there is not just the everyday gambling we see clearly but also the way that gambling goes on in the stock markets.

Further still, the alarming situation that people are still peddling the idea that even if we will not be able to get back to the 'normal' we knew not long ago (which was far from perfect), that. the new 'normal' will resemble its former self. This.notion is being talked of regardless of Climate Change and species extinction raising its head in the background. 

Surely mankind has gone mad if it is to follow that train of thought.

Let's take a look at a common life situation by asking for how long do we have to put up with a toothache? The conventional answer would most likely be: "Until it's been seen to by the dentist". The answer to any problem is generally that someone else will sort out an issue, whether it's dental treatment issue or something else. What's happened to the idea of self-sufficiency?

On the topic of toothache, I started developing quite severe toothache a couple of weeks ago,  not just in one tooth but the whole of one side of the mouth. Interestingly, I discovered that by modifying my thinking, the pain would reduce, but still not go away. I then thought and realised that there had been quite a few severe stresses that I'd been experiencing over the past few years, and they had seemed to catch up with me. Was it that stress that was causing the dental discomfort?

The matter came to a head. After a day or two of no toothache (after altering my state of thinking even further), I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night with quite a severe ache. For a few minutes there was no change, but then I started directing my thoughts to a technical problem that I had to sort out. I put my total concentration on the issue, and after two minutes I noticed that the toothache had completely gone. It's not been back since - and that was 2 or 3 days ago.

For me that is total proof that mind does work over matter. But the concept is not new to me - I've found that to be the case in dealing with serious issues over the years, whether it be defeating the pain barrier while on a long run (I took up running for fitness nearly 60 years ago), or in personal crises. I've never been one to talk out my problems with others (as people say you should) - I've always found that, with patience, answers can come from within. In fact, I say it's necessary to seek out that approach in preference to anything else.

So this brings us back to the matter of what is the direction for mankind? Do we continue to meekly follow what we're effectively told to do by our upbringing and educational system, or do we seek to use our own radar that lies within to bring us home? The 'radar' I'm getting at is the fact that the universe is really made up of total energy, and if we were to use our 'radar' to tune into that energy, we can find the route 'home'.

It is now coming to be known more widely that the answers to life were known of many millennia ago, but the principles were hidden from the masses to keep them safe, while the stewards of that knowledge quietly disseminated that knowledge to those that had the capability of understanding. Just as Jesus did.

Just one (not the only one) of the strains of thought of that nature that has evolved over the last 1500 years is the Sufi way. I will not go into the thinking here except to say that to be able to follow it well one must have the ability to double-think: rational deduction is not a valid way in that system. How - if you were to think about it - is rational thought suitable when trying to communicate with the energy of the universe? i.e. with God.

Anyhow, putting that insight aside, over that long period of time several great masters of Sufism appeared, and one of the greatest of those was Jalal-u-din Rumi. Rumi it was who provided the key to understanding the notion of 'I'. Jesus used the term 'I' very often in statements such as "I am the way", and people have commonly taken this to mean that Jesus was referring to himself, personally. On reflection, it will be seen that this is not quite so.

The teachings of Rumi have been encapsulated in a song which has the following lyrics:

Didn't I tell you
Do not leave me for I am your only Friend,
I am the spring of life.
Even if you leave in anger for thousands of years
You will come back to me for I am your goal and your end.

Didn't I tell you
not to be seduced by this colorful world
for I am the Ultimate Painter.

Didn't I tell you
you are a fish do not go to dry land
for I am the deep Sea.

Didn't I tell you
not to fall in the net like birds
for I am your wings and the power of light.

Didn't I tell you
not to let them change your mind and turn you to ice
for I am your fire and warmth.

Didn't I tell you
they will corrupt you and make you forget
that I am the Spring of all virtues.

Didn't I tell you
not to question my actions
for everything falls into order, I am the Creator.

Didn't I tell you
your heart can guide you home
because it knows that I am your Master.

Here, the words are written as though God himself (the Creator) is taking to the hearer.

These words contain the eternal message to mankind. The 'heart' is the key instrument in the ultimate solution to the world's problems. And our personal problems: even toothache.

Thank you for reading this.