My Current Opinion by Guy Spiro.

In a recent conversation with a friend we explored the subject of what to do about the poor in the world. She was of the opinion that we should make it impossible for anyone to be hungry, cold, unclothed, homeless or sick without medical care. Who can argue against such an ideal but several thoughts have occurred to me.

If we were to eliminate the bad in the world, how much of the good would we lose as well? If we take away the lessons of karma then how will people learn? If we make every person in the world the same, then how will we have diversity? These are all interesting questions, but we need not worry about the answers because these things are never going to happen.

Certainly we should be taking steps to improve the lot of the less fortunate. Those in the most desperate straits need their emergencies met. More than anything, the poor need the opportunities and the learning necessary to improve their lives. Clearly, this is part of our job. But these things are more of a raising of consciousness than giving of material. I'm reminded of the saying that "those who know have everything, those who know not are in poverty." This is regardless of their material wealth or lack of it.

There will always be what we think of as positive and negative in the world, because without those opposite poles there would be no world. What we need to remember is that if we are going to have the illusion of separation from the One, there has to be duality. In the state of being of the One there is no I and you, there is no up or down, rich or poor, healthy or sick -- there is only the One. The possibility of experiencing ourselves as separate from the One is dependant on duality. In all of what we think of as creation there is duality, positive and negative poles.

When Jesus said, "The poor will always be among us," he was speaking to the truth of duality. What we are left with is the fact that the plight of humanity, and indeed all beings, is our collective responsibility and it falls on us to do what we can to alleviate suffering. But we need to know that as long as we exist as what we think of as separate entities, duality will be with us.

It is our mission to discover for ourselves the way back to the One.


		Our Mission Back to the One by Guy Spiro In a recent conversation with a friend we explored the subject of what to do about the poor in the world. She was of the opinion that we should make it impossible for anyone to be hungry, cold, unclothed, homeless or sick without medical care. Who can argue against such an ideal but several thoughts have occurred to me. If we were to eliminate the bad in the world, how much of the good would we lose as well? If we take away the lessons of karma then how will people learn? If we make every person in the world the same, then how will we have diversity? These are all interesting questions, but we need not worry about the answers because these things are never going to happen. Certainly we should be taking steps to improve the lot of the less fortunate. Those in the most desperate straits need their emergencies met. More than anything, the poor need the opportunities and the learning necessary to improve their lives. Clearly, this is part of our job. But these things are more of a raising of consciousness than giving of material. I'm reminded of the saying that "those who know have everything, those who know not are in poverty." This is regardless of their material wealth or lack of it. There will always be what we think of as positive and negative in the world, because without those opposite poles there would be no world. What we need to remember is that if we are going to have the illusion of separation from the One, there has to be duality. In the state of being of the One there is no I and you, there is no up or down, rich or poor, healthy or sick -- there is only the One. The possibility of experiencing ourselves as separate from the One is dependant on duality. In all of what we think of as creation there is duality, positive and negative poles. When Jesus said, "The poor will always be among us," he was speaking to the truth of duality. What we are left with is the fact that the plight of humanity, and indeed all beings, is our collective responsibility and it falls on us to do what we can to alleviate suffering. But we need to know that as long as we exist as what we think of as separate entities, duality will be with us. It is our mission to discover for ourselves the way back to the One.