THE “UNCOLA” OF CONSCIOUSNESS

“Freaking out is a process whereby an individual casts off outmoded and restricting standards of thinking, dress, and social etiquette in order to express creatively his relationship to his immediate environment and the social structure as a whole.” Frank Zappa, Iconoclastic Musician

Unlearn, un-think, and undo.

In the course of life we learn new things. We are conditioned by the regularity of appropriate responses and establish our identities based on the seemingly solid ground of our paradigms. Do we ever see the need to possibly unlearn some seminal assumptions we have about ourselves? Consciousness is not so much learning new things as it is understanding old patterns and established behavior. It is the learning of and implications of habitual reactions based on ego/mind that have created the unnatural interference with who we really Are.

To understand, if we can call it that, that we have an inherent wisdom built-in from birth, is to acknowledge the ‘Being’ state in a less direct way. It’s kinda like guilt by association thing where if this permanent piece called ‘Being’ is really there, then the part of that, that also must coexist, is this perennial wisdom which is awakened as well.

So the learning of unlearning is essential in order to reveal the permanent substrate of the wisdom of un-acquired knowledge, in addition to the ’stops’ we put in our Way.

The process of thinking with the tool called the mind, has had a history of overriding it’s framework and natural limitation. The utility of the mind is essential for certain obvious processes we must address in this plane of action. However, it is overwrought in it’s use as a be-all and do-all device. This glaring over-clocking has contributed to anxiety disorders, depression, and our global affective functioning in society. It has been the first and last choice of our industrialized society. However, it is not nearly the best choice in our spiritual development.

When we get hit with cupid’s arrow should we get Mr. Spock-like in our response? We could, but it would not play well with most relationships. When we begin to meditate should we try hard and really think it through? No way Jay. The effort and cognition are both detriments to the process of letting go and seeing. Too many times in our lives we feel we have to over-think things to the demise of openness and spontaneity.

So the un-thinking of some of our patterns would provide utility to ourselves in the change in landscape that would occur. Our tireless assumptions and judgments can finally take a well-deserved break.

Un-do the doing. Have you ever felt that you’ve been treated like someone ‘did you’? Like you were an object with no feelings or warmth? The world does have some things that must get done. If we do things mindlessly, recklessly, and without conscience, how does it feel? There is an ethic, a universal human value that abides in the connection to Self. Giving some mandates to do, we understand, viscerally and deeply, the implication of no connection to our humanity. Our humanity is the constant reference to whom we all really are, always. That is, we are ‘Being’ effortlessly and always, in every Moment. Without this divine connection we are left to our lower instincts.

Ergo, un-do the unreferenced ‘doing’. When connected to the Eternal Absolute, the ‘doing’ is invigorated with the energy of fullness resulting in value added. ‘Doing’ becomes more effortless and informed along with the affirmation and timing of the Universe.

We strive for peace without having a viable sense of peace for ourselves. We dance with the stimulants of the external without the backdrop of viscerally knowing the limitations of the external when not tempered by the freedom to Be without it. We lose ourselves in the play of life making the temporary a priority and the permanent a luxury, that we can get to ‘whenever’. Our starting point is not the thinking, doing and learning that results. Our starting point is before these mechanistic choices. Can we ‘See’ that Now?

The Age of Aquarius occurred in the mid-sixties and early seventies. The time was smitten with revolution of self, independence from institutions and institutional thinking. Not selling out, being true to self, and directly challenging authority and the status quo of complacence, catapulted the baby boomers into a polarized society that saw a generational rift never seen before. This was the zeitgeist that advertisers had to address to sell their products. This new generation had enormous numbers that demanded attention.

Whoa! The “7UP Uncola” concept was born. It was radical. It was challenging to the established giant brands of Coke and Pepsi. It was different in that it did not want to fight directly but rather establish itself as ‘unlike’ the others and ‘unlike’ the previous generation’s tastes and preferences. This was an alternative that was kin to the alternative type of lifestyle that this cool generation espoused.

It was a campaign whose time had come. The “Uncola” was not a cola. And it fought for the market not as a 3rd brand, but as a drink that looked different, tasted different, and provided an identity that distinguished its buyers from the staid past. 7-Up’s challenging the status quo resulted in a successful marketing campaign that resulted in an unprecedented leap in sales, to the chagrin of the 2 Colas.

The “Uncola” of consciousness is much the same thing. We do not want to push and fight directly with the ‘overt’. It would be unskillful. We ‘see’ the giant competitors of Coke/Pepsi analogous to mind/ego. We ‘see’ that going head-to-head with these giants would be unproductive. Ergo, we open our consciousness to the window of Now and connect with the independence and ‘true to self’ qualities we all universally espouse. We know the ‘product’ will be different and good due to it’s connection to whom we already are Now. Our choice is an alternative to the brashness of over-marketing of thinking, doing, and learning dysfunctional patterns of being.

Drink from the pure Source of this Moment. Always.

This Iz Daddy’O.