Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Resistance is Futile

If you watched Star Trek Next Generation or Star Trek Voyager, then you recognize this as the robotic announcement of the Borg just before assimilating a lucky new species into their own perfection. At least that was how they saw it. The new species was generally not too keen on being assimilated, which meant losing their own unique individuality in order to become Borg drones. Indeed, the prospect of assimilation was terrifying.

The Borg collective was the primary adversary of humanity in both series. The members of the collective came from many species, but once assimilated, they were all linked to a single hive consciousness. As the Borg queen said so chillingly, “Our thoughts are one.”

Oddly, the Borg view of life sounds a lot like enlightenment. I identified my “main thing” as oneness (It’s Oneness, Beloved). I stated my unequivocal belief that if we are separated from each other, we are separated from God (Zero Degrees of Separation). I end some posts with Namaste – I honor the place in you, where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.

So why is it that when I think about oneness, it seems warm and fuzzy, infinitely desirable, in fact the only thing worth desiring, while Borg oneness sends any human, any individual of any species for that matter, into Red Bull charged fight or flight?

I just reread the introduction to A Course in Miracles, which begins -- This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time.

For the record, this does not mean you have to read this exact book. It means that the essence of the course is the essence of all paths to God. If, ultimately, we all return to God, and I believe we do, then we all take this course in some form or fashion. Our lives are the course.

Even so, this introduction sounds a little Borg-like, except for one big difference. Borg assimilation is imposed in violent opposition to the will of the assimilated. The path to God, however, is a chosen path, impossible to describe, improper to dictate, and unique to each of us. Which is what makes it so darned interesting and fun. Enjoy.

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