2012 The Movie

The new Hollywood movie entitled 2012 is scheduled to come out Friday the 13th. From what I have seen of the trailer... it is a typical end of the world scenario with incredible special effects. Probably worth seeing on that account. But only on that account.

While it may reflect effects caused by earth changes due global warming, sun spots or electro-magnetic shifts, it is certainly not the whole story ... not the most important part of the story.

The ancient Maya said we were in the 4th world, the Aztecs, the fifth. Both wrote about 'ends of the world' in terms of cataclysm, flood, fire etc. This movie shows all of that.

Personally, I have always known that the world would end in my lifetime. As a child growing up in the 50s I was accustomed to those nuclear drills where you 'duck and cover' under your desk. Ask an extremely intelligent child (you might ask... what happened?), I knew this would not save me or anyone

When I got a little older I realized that the end of the world was more like the end of a type of consciousness. I knew we would not blow ourselves up, because the imminent possibility of doing so would usher in a change of mind as I called it then. I was right.

People have changed a lot since 1960. The whole planet has changed a lot since 1960.

The important part of the story, whether we see an apocalyptic end of the world or not is usually left out. Because it is the hardest part - self transformation. It is so hard for people to change. Do you actually think we can do what has to be done to stop the cascading effects already put in motion on this planet, in time to save the Earth? It took hundreds of years to do the damage, which some say began when we started growing our own food - tilling the soil, changing the natural order. Even if everyone you know (who is probably at least as enlightened as you are, right?) stopped all destructive activities right now... what about all the millions nay billions, who are just dying to start doing them? such driving cars, having the modern lifestyle. with all the gadgets and products. Just the magnitude of plastic floating on the surface of the planet is enough to kill us all. When I was in Morocco a couple of years ago, the landscape was so filled with black plastic bags, it looked like flocks of blackbirds. I heard on KPFA the other day that all the plastic that has ever been created since the 30s is still here.

Okay, so we are facing destruction due to environmental degradation. Maybe we can fix it, maybe we can't. But it seems to me that this is ultimately not the real point. it is about inner transformation

People who know nothing about Islam, throw the word jihad around like 'cool' or 'hot'. Many Muslims don't understand what it is. The Qur'an speaks of two types of jihad. The little jihad, where you struggle with external enemies - 'enemies on the outside' like having a war, for example. The Great Jihad, and the one almost everyone avoids.. is the one where you struggle against yourself in a process of purification and transformation. Trying to be a good human being. Working at being your best - which includes having compassion, forgiveness, love, acceptance - values all religions have at their core. This much harder and it must be done one moment to the next, over and over again; it must be sustained.

As we are distracted by movies such as 2012, end of the world, apocalyptic cataclysms, those who are on the 'little jihad,' fight the outer battles, blame others for their problems and seek to 'destroy' them, when the real work is on oneself. Movies such as this one entertain us, scare us, and maybe make us wonder, but... they do nothing to move us along our real journey, which is to transform into beings of light. We are distracted by the ephemera of appearances. not seeing what is real.

The world ends everyday. We die everyday. We are reborn everyday too. Do you know for sure that when you go to sleep you will wake up? Do you know for sure when you wake up you are the same person who went to sleep? How do you know? External clues, relationships etc. But what if all those contexts and referents were gone? How would you know that you even exist?

Scary huh? actually scarier than a movie like 2012. That's why we avoid the Great Jihad - the work of inner transformation, in favor of the little jihad externalizing things. Easier to watch death and destruction than to build a soul.

Here's the link for 2012 The Official Movie Site. See you at the movies. But will I see you on the pilgrimage? in the ashram? at the retreat? Are you willing to do the inner work? Do you want to?

These are the questions that movies like this fail to address and so for me they are 'eye candy' Interesting, but not useful

2012 Official Movie Site.