If you have been following the news lately, it can be a gut-wrenching experience. One could argue that the world has lost all sense, that people and things are out of control, that there is so much senseless killing, and that chaos is upon us.
I am reminded of a brilliant comment by Sri Maharaj in the seminal book I Am That, in which he observes the suffering in the world, and explains it as “what do you expect when humans are stupid, greedy and heartless.” That pretty much sums it up haha. His theory is based upon the “mirror effect,” in which reality becomes a reflection of one’s thoughts.
He interacts with this external reality by simply observing it as a witness in a neutral and non-judgmental way. The witness, the neutral observer, is often cited by prominent thinkers as the way to handle what would otherwise be upsetting, negative, or chaotic events playing out on the world stage. This mindset is almost the complete opposite of traditional conditioning, in which we are taught to take everything so personally, react emotionally to events we don’t like, and try and force the result we want.
Being the witness takes constant work because of the strength of this old conditioning, but it is worth every effort you make. When something occurs that begins to derail or imbalance your peace, place yourself in a movie theatre and those events on the screen: become the witness. To neutrally observe your world while taking appropriate action, by not reacting emotionally to every little “threat,” you drastically reduce your own stress levels while not provoking others in this world. That’s a result that is very hard to beat.