Certain sermons stick. One in particular resonates with me to this day. It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving many, many years ago. In his message, the good reverend drew a parallel between the new frontier the pilgrims faced several hundred years earlier and the one we were just beginning to face with the dawn of the world wide web. He spoke of the possibilities, the choices and the awesome responsibility the early settlers faced with the prospect of geographical expansion and compared that to the ones we faced with the prospect of digital expansion. New frontier, indeed. 

At the time, we had only begun to experience and understand the implications of online connectivity and we certainly had no clue about the pending explosion of social media. So, here we are over twenty+ years later—a planet in peril, a nation mired in extreme division, misinformation (false information) and disinformation (manipulated information) at every turn. I think the term the kids are using these days for this kind of debacle is dumpster fire. Sounds (and feels) about right to me.

I’ve been thinking about the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text that I have studied across many yoga years. In this epic tale, there’s an impending battle and both sides have massive armies. However, the core group of noble men fighting the good fight is made up of 5 key players while the core group of bad actors is made up of 100. My teachers have been consistent in their interpretations of the Gita’s beautiful allegorical insights: There is an internal battle between head (aka “ego” or the “100”) and heart (aka “soul” or the “5”) being played out all day, every day in each and every human life. As you can see, the playing field is quite uneven.

Let’s understand the 100:5, or in simplified terms, the 20:1 ratio in a couple of practical ways.

1. The cookie. I know that I’ve had more than enough and that the third one is going to make me feel like crap and that I can always have more tomorrow but the pull is strong and I dive right in anyway. 

2. The intersection. You want to let them go but, dammit, you are sure you were there first and you have total disdain for entitled people inching their way ahead of you and it’s high time they learned their lesson, so you floor it anyway.

3. FaceBook. I know that this article is not going to change one single mind and, although it has some elements that aren’t true, kind or necessary (and is sort of mean), I post it anyway.

Why do we do these things when we know it would be best if we didn’t?

20:1. That's why.

Gravity’s pull is strong on you, on me and on our world at large. Consider FaceBook on a larger scale. There is benefit to connecting, celebrating and uplifting but can you see how easy it is for humans to take something with such potential and use it destructively? Like Russian nesting dolls, the uneven ratio of 20:1 plays out in every aspect of creation.

According to the Gita, by design, yes, there is an inherent and mismatched worldly amount of pushback to the part of me (and you) that knows and wants to be better. In a lot of my challenges, it often gets the best of me. (As an aside, I always let the driver go. Road rage is never my thing.) But, Lord, I’ve eaten more cookies than I intended to, posted more ineffective articles/memes than I can count and have said and done more hurtful stuff that I wish I hadn’t.

I’ve learned to expect and forgive the powerful and unrelenting pull of gravity within me. I celebrate my successes when they miraculously play out: No, thank you, I've had enough or By all means, after you or Eh, I think I'll skip my perfectly worded FaceBook zing today. And when I'm tripped up by the 100, I insert compassion and begin again. I’m not afraid of the “do-over”. I will keep fighting (yes, it is a battle) for the levity and the light and do what I can to bolster it in me.

And so, as you consider our connectivity through the internet, FaceBook or whatever new frontier you traverse, please remember that you cannot tug on one thing without tugging on every other. Like the world wide web, every thing is connected and, so, it is always wise to pause (the key!) and consider if the choice you are about to make will help or hurt matters, if it will unite more or divide further. 

In the end, there is good news! The Gita’s outcome is the same outcome as that of every other spiritual battle ensconced in every other faith tradition’s sacred texts. Love, liberation, deliverance, enlightenment, resurrection—they all win...eventually.

Friends, find the 5 good guys and in whatever way makes sense to you, endeavor to “be the solution” rather than a contributor to the problem(s) at hand. More people doing the good work will tip the scales in favor of the highest and best order. I am 108% certain of this. We can do this. I really, really believe we can do this.

May dharma be restored and may the thoughts, words and actions of each of our lives make it so. 

I’ll meet you at the next new frontier.

Crystal

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