In his book ‘A New Earth’, Eckhart Tolle wrote a paragraph under the title ‘Our Inherited Dysfunction’.
“If we look more deeply into humanity’s ancient religious and spiritual traditions, we will find underneath the many surface differences there are two core insights that most of them agree on, the words they use to describe those insights differ, yet they all point to a twofold fundamental truth. The first part of this truth is the realization that the “normal” state of mind of most human beings contains a strong element of what we might call dysfunction or even madness. Certain teachings at the heart of Hinduism perhaps come closest to seeing this dysfunction as a form of collective mental illness. They call it maya, the veil of delusion.”
I often think on that paragraph. At the core of our ancient and current religious and spiritual practices we are also seeking to understand and overcome the collective illness. Many live by faith, believing that there is something greater and better than our experiences in this world. It is that hope that carries them.
Perhaps many choose to be disconnected. To be fully engaged, constantly outraged or concerned would mean buckling under the weight of social injustices and the general wickedness that is rampant in our world. We watch those whose mental illness manifest in them roaming the streets and see that they are not burdened by the demands of the system. Some sleep where darkness steals their shadow, shower when it rains and eat where they can.
Here in Guyana, identifying the collective dysfunction is easy. It is exposed. I watched the protests this week, studied faces of the distressed and I thought of our collective dysfunction. Sugar workers protested for better wages and salaries, nurses protested calling for the removal of the CEO of the Linden Hospital Complex who accused them of abandoning their duties to have affairs, there was a protest in Bartica about selection of their leaders, and there was a protest in Georgetown about anti-Blackness and injustices.
There are agents of chaos who find joy in the dysfunction. Many Guyanese have died only knowing that the Guyanese life experience is one of struggle. Some of the same burdens our ancestors carried have taken on new forms or remain unchanged. Our collective dysfunction is largely based on our unwillingness to change.
I read about the ten-year-old boy who was shot and killed by thieves who often invade our private spaces and violate us. The dysfunction has made criminals out of many. The inequitable system we have created fuels it.
Thieves often violate our bodies by injuring and killing us. They also violate our peace of mind. They violate our trust. They violate our faith. They are agents of chaos. All are at risk when a society breeds chaos. Whether it is our elderly being raped and beaten or our children being killed.
I thought about the alleged serial rapist who a few weeks ago was arrested and charged with raping and torturing a woman. It was not his first arrest on rape allegations.
But our society watches many vessels of destruction spread their stain from woman to woman. They are bred and moulded in this society. From the time children are touched, and from time paedophiles are protected by their families and the society. Often, those who are preyed upon end up being more vilified than the predators. International Women’s Day was on March 8. How can we say we stand for women, but women are constantly violated in this country and it is often excused or ignored? And if the allegations of the assault in the National Assembly are true, what hope is there if our leaders are the epitome of the dysfunction here?
I thought about the young woman who put her life at risk by being a drug mule. Money which is made by man continues to drive our dysfunction. Greed is a major factor in our collective mental illness. We are three months into the year. Three months of the constant damage against each other publicly and privately. And what has been mentioned that made the news is just a snippet.
The COVID numbers keep rising. Over two hundred people have died here. Some believe that the solution is in the vaccines, but no vaccine can fix how broken, mentally exhausted and forever changed some of us are because of COVID-19.
Three people I knew, all from the same family and who lived in another country, died in two months because of COVID-19. The last death shook me to the core. She was a friend. I spent days battling the urge not to sink into the darkness. Though collectively we are grappling with dysfunction, the road is often lonely when one must struggle to make sense of it alone. The collective confusion, infection and dysfunction that is COVID-19 has in many ways crippled us. The mystery around its origin and its varied manifestations are causes for concern.
Our existence progressively becomes darker while simultaneously light also illuminates our world. How we hurt each other marks our dysfunction. Lies, betrayal and selfishness stifle us. How we fight each other. How we have enslaved each other. How we kill each other. How we discriminate based on the colour of skin and social status. How dis-eased we are. The infections of the body and of the mind are all killing us.
Some are fortunate to find the balance to make sense of this life; to acknowledge that we are inherently imperfect but can elevate. Whether they find this through religion or spirituality, it still often seems like the madness overshadows the sanity. Perhaps our task when we are born into this world is to find the way where the sanity overshadows the collective dysfunction. Perhaps when we find that even in death we will not die.
