Human Being? What's That

" Interviewer : Do you think of yourself as Chinese or North American"

Bruce Lee    : " I think of myself as a human being because under the sky we are one family, it just so happens that we look different"

The bell rang for morning tea break at the Primary School  adjacent to our Pre- School programme. We were also outside playing games when the soccer ball from the other  side came flying into the yard. As I walked towards the ball to pick it up and throw it over, a little girl staring at me caught my eye. Hello, I shouted and waved. She remained silent.

I picked the ball up and approaching the fence to get ready to throw the ball over, I could hear her say ask her friend: What is she? I threw the ball over and she bold shouted - Are you black or white? I responded to her asking her what is her name. She answered very quickly and said one again- Are you black or white? I responded asking  her age, and she abruptly answered that she is six years old. Once again she growing rather impatient said- are you black or white? So I said that she shouldn't so easily volunteer her information to a stranger and she should get back to the playground. So I wished her well. 

About a minute later the ball came flying back over the fence and there she was shouting- Are you black or white? I turned around and said I'm a human being. She looked quite annoyed and said "What is that? 

A six year old learns through modelling: modeling behaviour, speech, actions.  Sadly our society, parents, friends, guardians are creating a world for our children that will not serve the highest good of humanity. If we want humanity to return to the light we have to be aware of our own actions in creating the shadow effect.

What does that mean? We project our fears on our children by creating separation. We have reached that point of feeling that the world is divided into us and them : white  or black, citizen or foreigner etc This little girl only knew that I can either be one of the two- You are either with us or with them, whoever the us is or the them because there was absolutely no difference in our skin tone at all. 

According to my favourite psychologist, Jung- the shadow tells us to ignore our own weaknesses and project them on others. There are many forms that projection can take according to Deepak Chopra : injustice, superiority, arrogance, blame, idealising others, jealousy, paranoia and prejudice.

At this point she had gathered some other friends to answer the mystery- "What is she?", she looked at them and asked. "She said something about being but is she black or white?" The little boy said I think she is white but lets hear how she speaks" " I am a human being children,  a human being" I said. " "I told she is white" said the little boy and took his ball as I threw it over. " "Ahhhh no", she said to another friend. I thought she would be good, like a good person like us" and she walked off disappointed. 

I reflected on this and sadly as Deepak Chopra describes Prejudice as a form or projection, the mind says "she is one of them, and you know what they are like. Their kind is........" and so that little mind already made up her mind about who I  am.

This is an individual form of the shadow but there are many children like Zanele who have been taught this and it becomes a collective or group shadow. It is the collective energy of a group created by fear. This fear is magnified. When two or more minds thinking the same way is not just the sum of two but it increases intensely.  As Marianne Williamson said "Once large enough numbers of people think the same way, the destructive thought forms become ideology. We can see how the attacks against each other across the world start. How can we be having wars upon wars for as long as we understand the history of humanity? This is because the war lives within us.

As human beings, we all fall prey to the shadow. Yes we will falter but for the sake of our children and the progression of humanity, let us atone. Let us make peace inside ourselves.  Let's own these mistakes, own the inner wars and what we have created.Let us teach our children about love first, being human and the essence of humanity. Yes they will find out about race as they navigate through life but the first seven years of their lives are the most profound. They need to have a positive belief system about themselves to enhance their self esteem and place in the world. 

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure" Marianne Williamson.