Image by: Valerian Lenud
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness…”
- Mark Twain
Is it possible to end complicated conflicts, even those involving global leaders, by indulging in an activity that is, more often than not, thought of as frivolous and superficial - a want rather than a need? If we could end global conflict just by travelling, then this community of travel lovers has the ultimate excuse for booking yet another holiday. But how is it possible to end all wars simply by travelling?
Well, it’s not the act of travelling itself that will magically vanquish all “enemies” and eliminate all problems which can lead to conflict – it’s the individual transformation that can take place during travel that will ultimately achieve this. Like a pebble landing in a still pond, the effect of positive change radiates well beyond the initial impact zone (the individual), influencing many over time and space - whether the full extent is realised or not. The only catch is, the traveller must journey with purpose, gratitude, respect and humility – they must travel for reasons that go beyond the desires of their own ego. They must leave behind any pre-conditioned thoughts and travel with a desire to learn, through their own experience, about their destination and its people and from that, they will come closer to understanding the nature of being.
If we travel in this way, we will have profound individual transformations that benefit the collective and regular epiphanies that ensure petty, mindless, wasteful pursuits, including war, are never strived for – we simply will lose the desire to harm who we come to realise (due to the connection of all things) are our brothers and sisters.
In addition to remembering our shared humanity, travelling can affect an individual and the collective in these following ways:
Reveals the Truth
Travelling with purpose, gratitude, respect and humility can break the veil of systems and ideologies that were once left unquestioned, due in part to the fact that they have always been there – as if they were passed down from a divine source. Being exposed to different cultures and attitudes as well as different systems and ideologies to the ones that you’re familiar with, causes you to see that they were never divine but rather designed by those who consider themselves gods – they are man-made.
From this realisation, superficialities such as countries, borders, regulations and races drop away – they are no longer important. This then ensures that you live more in tune with the natural ideologies that align with universal truths, rather than the man-made and materialistic laws of individual states that serve the political agendas and personal ambitions of their leaders rather than their community.
These new concepts, truths and realisations that you have assessed with your mind through seeing different perspectives with your own eyes, are more powerful and transformative than any that come from a second-hand source such as mainstream or social media – you will have glimpsed the actual truth and the source is unfiltered (it’s you).
Travelling with purpose, gratitude, respect and humility can break the veil of systems and ideologies that were once left unquestioned.
Travel is key to the evolution of the soul – it’s the only way to see the same subject from multiple points of view and to determine what is truth and what is stereotype. It’s near impossible to sort the truth from the “fake news” these days. Even sources that were always considered reputable and reliable (negating the need for wide reading, research or travel) are being revealed to be nothing more than an instrument for big business, politicians and advertising agencies – it’s obvious in the way that only one hot topic is reported on for weeks or months (or years in the case of covid 19, a PB the media must be proud of) while other topics that may question a ruling party’s motives will be ignored. The only way to understand what is real any more is to remove yourself from the cause of your confusion – travel beyond your own backyard. Travelling allows you to go out and see what is real.
We're All the Same
Travel allows you to see that we’re a part of the same species the world over; fundamentally we are not that different. We just want love, peace and happiness. It makes you realise that we are all in this together.
Cultural wars between the Left and Right in our own countries seem as if they are as big and important as life itself – if you ask a politician, to choose one over the other could mean the difference between liberty and slavery. However, the reality, which an open, discerning mind gained through travelling will make obvious, is that their shallow arguments mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. No matter which side is in power, the same arguments ensue. There are just bigger things at play than politicians making promises to win an election and then inevitably not keeping them.
Travelling will allow you to find a sustainable common ground between different countries, people and ideologies through loving one another rather than finding a destructive common ground through having the same enemies - the latter is what symbolic Left and Right arguments are trying to enforce. After all, it’s from within that the most damage can be done – we tear ourselves apart, both on an individual and collective level, by not knowing, by not seeing the bigger picture.
It doesn’t matter what kind of traveller you are or what kind of journey you want to take. What matters is that you travel with purpose, gratitude and humility. If you do this, then wherever you go and whatever happens to you – good, bad or ugly – you will be the most receptive to transformative change.
Expand Your Horizons - Come Face to Face With Fear and Ignorance
Travel will not just expand your physical horizons but also the horizons of your mind; as far as your third eye can see. With a greater knowledge of what lies over your proverbial fence, previous illusions and assumptions you might have had about other countries and its inhabitants will naturally fall away. In their place will be a more accurate, or at least purer, overall picture of the world.
We invariably view all things from our own perspective, so absolute truth is a journey rather than a destination. However, just being aware of the many different perspectives, motivations, cultural idiosyncrasies and so on, discovered through travel, makes your mind more open to the fact that there is much you don’t know beyond surface value. And making assumptions based on the opinions of others, or your own limited understanding, without seeing beyond the surface is a very dangerous thing with far reaching consequences. The consequences of not becoming aware are: fear and ignorance. Both of these encourage us to behave and become something other than we were born to be on this planet. By becoming aware of this, you will be more discerning when faced with any claims made from any source in the future.
Just being aware of the many different perspectives, motivations, cultural idiosyncrasies...discovered through travel, makes your mind more open to the fact that there is much you don’t know beyond surface value.
Through an open mind and new understanding (especially of something that you thought you already knew because this also adds a bonus bit of humility) comes the shedding of ignorance and fear. Dropping the baggage of ignorance gives us room for humility and respect. From humility and respect of all things comes true knowledge and wisdom.
Fear and Ignorance
“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom”
- Bertrand Russell
The biggest culprits in any problem worldwide are fear and ignorance. It’s simply not possible to have conflict without them. The two go hand in hand because typically what we don’t know, we also fear; what we fear we typically do not understand.
It doesn’t matter the type or severity, fear is fear and it can only be perpetuated indefinitely if there is ignorance present. If they are present, they will permeate every particle of you and therefore, due to the connectedness of all things, the world itself.
The biggest culprits in any problem worldwide are fear and ignorance. It’s simply not possible to have conflict without them.
Fear and ignorance are incredibly effective in perpetuating self or collective myths, propaganda and falsehoods, and these do the dirty work for those who would use them for their own benefit.
News outlets, politicians and big businesses, in particular, are the grandmasters of using fear in order to sell their product and perpetuate their agendas. It doesn’t matter how outrageous a claim may be, fear and ignorance will ensure that, if it is repeated enough times within the public sphere, it sounds normal - an actual “fact”.
These outlets have an almost divine status bestowed upon them by society in part because they were created with the greatest of intentions – to inform, protect and serve the general population. However, most of us are unaware or unwilling (due to our conditioning since birth) to think too much about the fact that these sources are just brands in themselves, working for self-preservation and not for the good of the people. They must turn a profit and protect their own interests before anything else – that includes morals, ethics and facts. They rely on their position of authority and an ignorant, fearful public, to make questioning what they say seem absurd.
It doesn’t matter how outrageous a claim may be, fear and ignorance will ensure that, if it is repeated enough times within the public sphere, it sounds normal - an actual “fact”.
Through travel you will see that the same world events are reported differently around the globe. This difference in reporting shapes the way whole communities view other communities and not only this, the communities, because they think they’re getting facts (and these “facts” are charged with emotion) believe with every fibre of their being that this biased opinion is the whole truth. To put it very mildly, this is irresponsible of the news outlets.
Even if a news service by some miracle had the purest of intentions, information alone isn’t truth. Information is invariably warped through reporting from one perspective - its truth is relative rather than absolute. Add a seasoning of opinion to that reporting to make it palatable to the consumer and it is still one of the most dangerous weapons released because it destroys our humanity – we no longer view the people being reported on in far flung places as desirable members of our global community.
Particularly if they are involved in a conflict, the people from far-away places that appear on the news typically aren’t depicted as being the same as you (a fellow human), but rather as some kind of genetic mutation further shaped by its environment that, simply by being different, is a threat to you and your kind. The subliminal message sent with every explicit news announcement which is destroying our humanity is: we are all so different, with different ideals, morals, values, ideas, it’s not possible for us to all live harmoniously on this planet, so the only answer is to be at war with each other until one ideology wins out – ideally your own (because the news in your area says that’s the best one).
Information is invariably warped through reporting from one perspective - its truth is relative rather than absolute.
The news outlet, politician and big business conglomerate need the community to remain in this fear induced zombie-like state in order to push its agenda unimpeded, because its power and its very existence, is perpetuated through the public never questioning its reporting, never wondering if they should follow exactly what they’re being told to follow.
If the community ever wakes, due to the faith based existence of this conglomerate, it will mean the end of a powerful, influential, money-making machine for the few that sit at the control panels.
It was through removing myself from what I knew, from my native community and through shedding what I thought was absolute truth perpetuated by it layer by layer, that I started to see with increasing clarity the world beyond the lens of prejudice.
I never questioned the news or the politicians it provides a platform for, beyond the extremely superficial left and right political arguments and the one-sided reporting of whatever catastrophe had just struck. Before opening my heart and mind, and questioning everything that I thought to be unimpeachable, I didn’t know any better and so I remained blissfully ignorant. I, like most people, took everything at face value not realising there was an alternate reality.
It was through removing myself from what I knew, from my native community and through shedding what I thought was absolute truth perpetuated by it layer by layer, that I started to see with increasing clarity the world beyond the lens of prejudice.
As I’ve come to realise through travel, most of the things reported on the news are in fact the very least of our worries as a local and global community. It isn’t even absolute truth, but a re-enforcement of popular biases and the hidden agenda of the local government whose jurisdiction the news outlet is adherent to. Through open hearted travel, my consciousness had crossed the Rubicon and since then, I’ve not heard a word of pure truth come from anything connected to the news, politics or big business. I can see through the veil.
My consciousness had crossed the Rubicon and since then, I’ve not heard a word of pure truth come from anything connected to the news, politics or big business. I can see through the veil.
Fear, including the type generated by mainstream and social media, breeds ignorance because fear makes us naturally want to protect ourselves and what we have - even in otherwise intelligent, rational individuals, all common sense and reasoning disappears.
Ignorance then allows for the perpetuation of myths that are based on fear and stretches truth so far out of shape, it’s not fit to be used in public. Yet, without a suitable replacement made of environmentally friendly perspective and open mindedness, the public does wear it. No one wants to be naked.
But we forget that we’re all born naked. We come into this world naturally in this state. That is, void of judgement and filled with open minded curiosity. That is the real us. It’s only what’s going on around us and what we choose (and it is a choice) to consume that makes us want to wear something unflattering, making us appear to be something other than what we were born to be, something resembling a great big ball of ignorance, fear, selfishness, anger and greed.
We come into this world...void of judgement and filled with open minded curiosity. That is the real us.
When we act out of fear and ignorance the situation can only ever get worse for everyone, including ourselves. If we want just our own personal bubble to change for the better, we must first limit our fears and ignorance through allowing ourselves to be humbled through our human experience and to respect all things – all people, animals, plants, oceans, earth, thought - on our planet.
The good thing is that this emotional state of being, fearful and ignorant, is built on a foundation of sand - there is no real substance to it, it's not the marble pillars of universal truth or love. It needs your belief in order to stand. Fear and ignorance will crumble as soon as there is a breeze of change in thought – that is, the acquisition of perspective, knowledge and open mindedness.
Breaking the Spell of Fear and Ignorance
As the ignorance and fear of one another is broken down through personal discovery, by getting to know each other through our own experience and not through the opinion or agenda of others, it is naturally replaced by humility and respect.
Even when you inevitably come across characters that aren’t the most welcoming or even nice, understanding that they are acting from fear and ignorance, as you once did, eradicates any hate or other ill feelings towards them. They are you, you are them - we’re all just on different levels of understanding.
By realising we’re all the same, to hate another is to therefore hate yourself. To hurt, shame, victimise, discourage, undermine, fear another is to have all of these things brought unto you.
Even when you inevitably come across characters that aren’t the most welcoming or even nice, understanding that they are acting from fear and ignorance, as you once did, eradicates any hate or other ill feelings towards them.
The true knowledge and wisdom gained on our travels crosses all borders. On a personal level, you will discover strengths that you never knew you had. In addition to this, you will realise that all the strength and divine wisdom you will ever need is already within you. It can be strengthened and conditioned through pushing your personal boundaries and drawn upon at any time.
You will gain insights into the true nature of your fellow human beings and have another psychological perspective to their inner workings, not just the outer shell which is, after all, a manmade construct and not of any consequence in the ultimate scheme of things.
This type of knowledge is great for your confidence and humility - you will find that the more you get to know the psyche of a collective culture, the easier it is to understand and communicate with them, even if you don’t share a common language.
Through understanding one another on a deep, spiritual level, the temptation to hate, fight against or even speak using unfair stereotypes will dissipate.
It is the single most significant, life altering thing that I discovered through travel – on the level void of the ego and the material, we’re all the same.
As we travel along, we naturally compare our lives with those of others on our path. Then one day we realise that they are not so different from us. Take away the outer layers, the skin that was determined by “accident” of birth, the clothes, the behaviour determined by culture, and we’re all the same.
It is the single most significant, life altering thing that I discovered through travel – on the level void of the ego and the material, we’re all the same. Even on this earthly plane, where ego identifies us and the material is almost unavoidable, we all want and need the same basic things – food, shelter and love.
Attaining Wisdom Through Humility and Respect and Losing Your Appetite for War
If you are humble, you will rejoice at all that comes your way. Being humble no matter what happens to you will allow you to see the lesson that is being graciously handed down to you. You will be thankful for all that comes your way, even the bad stuff.
If you are wise (or on the path to becoming wise) you will learn the lesson and see it as good fortune to have it in your experience bank. You will realise that it’s how we react to the unknown that is important because it is the only thing within our control – what is handed to you from an external source is pot luck (or the exact challenge that you need to further your personal evolution).
The more lessons we learn through our human experience from the otherworldly source it's connected to, the greater our knowledge and wisdom becomes.
The concept of ownership (which is often a justification to start a war) is an illusion - we are custodians not owners of this planet.
Travelling with Gratitude, Humility and Respect
Most of the time, especially when travelling internationally, we enter an airplane and a few hours later, as if emerging from a time machine, we exit the airplane and we have been transported to a completely different place, culture and perhaps ideology.
Apart from the abstract view from the plane window, we do not have the benefit of seeing the gradual change in landscape, people and cultures and therefore the connection between all things, even those that seem to be polar opposites.
Without seeing the subtle connections, other places automatically seem alien, which is obviously not the actual case given that you didn’t leave the Earth’s atmosphere. Yet, because they may be so different to what you’re used to seeing in your homeland, the alien feeling is still there. Then, on top of that, upon exit, we just expect to be let in and set loose. It’s actually an outrage if this doesn’t happen.
Travelling this way, without the knowledge of connection and with the expectation that you will be afforded all that you desire, you lose sight of the fact that it’s an honour to be entering the home of another. Just because you have a passport (another manmade construct made up to benefit some and restrict most) doesn’t mean you have the keys to another’s home. You’re not owed anything by anyone else. The concept of ownership (which is often a justification to start a war) is an illusion - we are custodians not owners of this planet. It is your birthright to wonder your own planet if you so choose, however, your payment for this great honour is gratitude, humility and respect.
Although we should all be able to roam freely on our planet, we should take special care not invade with the intention to take indiscriminately because we do not understand what is at risk of being lost forever.
Connecting this notion of humility and respect to our fellow humans and the planet we share, mutual respect for those who have taken special care of and have a special connection to a particular part of our planet is always required.
From their patch of the planet, groups of people have attained wisdom and through the ages have passed it on by weaving it into the fabric of their culture through their traditions and stories – Native Americans, Aboriginals, Inuts, the Zulu, all are examples of ancient tribes or groups that have a deep understanding of the land and our place on it and who are living within more recently developed, shallow societies. It is through this ancient connection with a specific land that deep roots were formed and are still being formed. From these roots all of us, no matter where we’re from, can learn and can grow spiritually. It is sacred.
Although we should all be able to roam freely on our planet, we should take special care not invade with the intention to take indiscriminately because we do not understand what is at risk of being lost forever. With the acquisition of respect and humility, our ego allows us to accept the sacred teachings of others and to understand the need for its protection. We are no longer hungry for war but rather knowledge and understanding.
Project Goals Recommends:
Don’t believe everything in the mainstream news or on social media without question.
Do not believe that the entire planet is a tinder box and any stranger with different opinions to you is a match. Planet Earth is beautiful and so are its inhabitants.
Not only this, we all have a lot more in common than we have differences. The reality is, the news, along with others, are the ones that are secretly pouring petrol on our planet just to watch it burn and to write a report about it. Go out and discover for yourself. Go and discover what the other communities and the other people within them are really like. Come back to your community and live according to the new perspective and values your discovery has gifted you.
Failing either the want or the means to do this, keep an open heart and mind while conducting your own research through reading a number of different sources on a certain topic.
Ask yourself who stands to profit from the situation that is being reported on. From this you will be able to filter most of what you read, hear and see. Do this and you will find that about 1% of news is quality information – the other 99% is sensationalism, propaganda, truth stretching, biased opinion and advertisements.
Do this and you will keep your humanity and not turn against it. There will be no need or desire for war.