(source)
The Path Ahead
As the Great Awakening accelerates, so too does the ‘matrix’ system through all of its power structures continue its desperate attempts to maintain and at the same time further increase its control over the entire planet and all of humanity. As the walls of the invisible prison enslaving much of humanity appear to be fast closing in on all of us with the rise of a global technocracy, there are so many people looking for practical solutions and increasingly feeling the need to take meaningful action to help steer our collective trajectory away from the crash course it currently seems set, and towards a better world based on the human values the vast majority of us share.
At the same time I know that many people feel trapped within and unable to opt out of the very system they are beginning to see, or have long seen, is responsible for causing and perpetuating most of the major problems facing us and our planet, and which is now actively working to build a tyrannical global control grid that would, if successful, greatly hinder human advancement and our ability to usher in a new golden age of peace, freedom and prosperity that is otherwise now already upon us. Only the system is preventing its full manifestation, but the system consists of fellow humans, and therefore is entirely powerless on its own without the support of the We The People.
And herein lies the key to our path forward out of these chaotic and confusing times brought to us in 2020, the key being that we hold all of the power to create the future we wish to see, if only we are willing to recognize that if we want to be a part of the solution, we must stop being part of the problem. Throwing stones at a giant won’t stop it, but starving it will. We all have power to withdraw our support from the system in various ways, and to cease giving our energy and power away to any institution or power structure that is working to prevent human advancement forward, and instead focus all of our energy on building a better world. People are quickly beginning to realize the system may never be able to be changed from within, at least not in time to avert imminent disaster that could easily undo decades of collective spiritual advancement and expansion of consciousness, sending humanity back into an even darker dark age than the one we are currently on the verge of breaking out.
Many of us are beginning to see that the only viable solution that appears to remain for those of us working for peace and freedom is to starve the beast and feed the light.
Then the beast system will simply starve to death, collapsing upon itself and destroying those remaining few who stubbornly refuse to stop desperately clinging to it for their salvation, while our collective light shining on the world, now greatly strengthened with all of the additional energy that had previously been siphoned away by the system, will transform any remnants of darkness on the earth, as our collective shadow is healed and integrated into our expanded collective consciousness, now rooted in love rather than fear.
It may seem like a far off utopian pipe dream to many, but this shift is already taking place, and most people just don’t see it yet.
What many fail to realize or tend to overlook is that the breakdown and eventual collapse of the old world order of rampant materialism, corporate greed and militaristic imperialism is a most necessary step towards the emergence of a new age of peace, freedom and equality. Sure, the powers that be will use such an opportunity to attempt to build a new and even more tyrannical system in its place, and that is indeed exactly what they are currently doing with their Great Reset project, but at the very same time humanity has its greatest opportunity in centuries to finally free itself from reliance upon this oppressive system and build a far better world in its place, a world in which all of us can thrive and where our own personal happiness doesn’t come at the expense of another man’s well being or even his life.
For a sneak preview of such a world, check out the song, “Perfect World” by K-Rino, and I think you will agree with me this is a future worth fighting for, worth making sacrifices to achieve.
2020 was indeed a most crazy year filled with much unanticipated suffering and chaos, but also filled with many wonderful opportunities and benefits hidden beneath the surface. And while it is easy to get caught up in all the negativity, especially with all of the visible suffering and increased hatred around us caused by the events of 2020 that continue to be felt into this year, particularly when we place our focus upon the global elite’s plan for the world and the prison being built up all around us, we would be wise to shift our focus and attention to the great opportunity that has been laid before us.
It is a fact of life on this earth that suffering is a great catalyst for change and awakening, and the mass suffering ushered in during 2020 has indeed served as just such a catalyst, with more people waking up to various suppressed realities now than ever before. The darkest times have a tendency to bring out the best (and worst) in people, and so it was that the dark ages of Roman Catholic imperial rule gave birth to some of the most powerful and enlightened Christian mystics and saints in all of church history, while some of the greatest and most daring acts of selfless love in recorded history are results of some of the greatest evils ever perpetrated against humanity, such as during the march of the Nazi war machine, and the Rwandan Genocide (see Hotel Rwanda) as just two examples. And looking at nature for examples, we can see that forest fires, as devastating as they can be, are necessary catalysts for new growth, clearing out much needless deadfall in the process and even unlocking the potential in certain seeds to sprout. For some pine trees and wildflowers can only sprout and grow following a wildfire, and in the same way a unique and amazing opportunity is hidden within these chaotic time of uncertainty and widespread suffering, which are capable of giving birth to an age of previously unimaginable peace and joy if only enough of us seize on the opportunity.
The only way to move forward into a better world based upon love and equality is to face our collective fears and divisions that are holding us back from such advancement, and that is exactly what is taking place in these times. The collective human consciousness is being forced to face its shadow, and is being given the opportunity to release all of the old fear-based societal thought patterns that have for centuries kept us in states of perpetual strife, war, division, greed, and poverty. Just as every individual must pass through a ‘dark night of the soul’ on their personal awakening journey before they can realize their highest potential, society as a whole is also now passing through such a time of darkness. And despite the negativity clearly seen everywhere we turn, already the good that has come out of these times is also visible all around us, if we are just willing to look for it.
The revolution is here in full force, but most don’t see it yet because the revolution will never be televised. And because it is predominantly a revolution in the hearts and minds of the people not accompanied by a violent uprising, it goes mostly unnoticed by all but those who are actively taking part. But it is here, and it is a revolution in consciousness, a spiritual revolution, a revolution of love, and it is revolutionizing the way we view the world and interact with everyone and everything around us. This revolution is simply stepping out of fear into love, and every day more and more people are taking that step and joining the revolution. And once enough of us do, the effects will become too widespread to miss anymore, as the remnants of old, dying system of fear-based control breathes its last breaths before dissolving completely.
Naturally people are increasingly feeling driven to unplug from the fear-based system in any way possible, with many thousands upon thousands finding ways to do so, while many more still feel helplessly trapped in the very system they can so clearly see does not serve them, their neighbors or the planet that sustains us all. People are hungry for change and desperate for practical solutions, and yet so many feel like they are at a complete loss to be able to do anything about it, feeling disillusioned, powerless and helpless in the face of a fast-growing all-powerful control grid, resigning themselves to their seemingly sealed fate - life in the very system they so desperately wish they could unplug and free themselves from entirely.
I personally know that this is the case because for the longest time I, too, felt desperately trapped in the system with no way out, and I have multiple friends in various places who feel more or less the same, wishing they could find independence and self sustainability outside the system while at the same time feeling entirely unable to do so, having no idea where they would even start.
Having personally come a long way towards withdrawing totally from the system and freeing myself from the mental patterns that were holding me back from taking meaningful steps forward, I thought I would share some of my thoughts and ideas on practical solutions to the problems currently facing humanity and critical steps I believe we must take if we are to fully utilize the great opportunity these interesting and chaotic times are offering us.
It seems to me and many others that the only practical path forward towards this desired outcome is the path of building and creating independent community at the local level, as community is both the natural antidote to the division currently plaguing our species, and also the only alternative to life in the system. If we are to withdraw from this system, we will have to create an alternative system to survive in, and the only way I can see getting to that point is through independent, largely self-sustainable communities. There are of course about as many ways of going about doing this as there are people out there with the drive and motivation to do so, and some different ideas of how such communities could form and function will be shared shortly.
But in order to discover the most practical solutions to the problems facing humanity, it is important to understand exactly what constitutes this system we are attempting to unplug ourselves from, and the Matrix film gives us the perfect analogy to do so. In the film, humanity had become enslaved by a race of machines, their minds plugged into the Matrix system which created an alternate world for their mind to see - “the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth” - the truth that we are powerful spiritual beings with amazing potential being enslaved by a system which is sucking all of our energy to sustain itself and keep us disempowered. And so it is in our current reality today. If you are already well acquainted with the trappings of the system as I know many people these days are, feel free to skip ahead to the far more relevant sections on solutions.
What is the Matrix and why we must unplug
Just as depicted in the film, the Matrix is all around us, and we can see it every where we turn. It is the prison that has been built for our minds, a prison made up of invisible bars and chains so the people think they are free, but a very real prison nonetheless. And it is intricately designed with one primary goal, to keep humanity plugged in, so that it can continue to feed off of our energy, for it is only through our energy that the system can sustain itself.
This system really just consists of the power structures and institutions that form modern western society - a seemingly all-powerful international western power structure - and it is simply the system that has been built up in the image of the human ego, built on fear, division, control, and corporate profit over human life. It can accurately be called a machine, and every part plays an intricate role in perpetuating fear, division, and the perpetual enslavement of the human mind.
The corporate Big Food industry poisons us with fake food and cancer-causing chemicals, the media poisons our mind with fear and hatred resulting in lowered immunity and additional sickness, while Big Pharma profits off of the widespread chronic disease that results, always treating the symptoms rather than the root problems, thus ensuring sick customers for life. Meanwhile millions of innocent animals are raised for the slaughter in the most despicable and wretched of conditions imaginable to the human mind, a modern day system of sacrifice fueling the corporate greed and satiating the rampant consumerism of a selfish carnist culture. Furthermore, diets high in red meat have also been shown to increase the rate of heart disease and premature death, while the cattle industry is also a highly inefficient and unsustainable food production means in a world of increasingly depleted resources where millions are starving.
For those who somehow think modern factory farming and the slaughterhouse industry is in any way humane and justifiable, see the gruesome documentary below, “Dominion”:
Instead of teaching us how to think for ourselves, government education (public schools) trains up the children into generations of obedient, materialistic worker debt slaves, indoctrinated into the consumerist religion where they are taught to spend their life working, buying, consuming, and then dying. The media programs our minds, inducing states of perpetual chronic fear and reinforcing the consumerist creeds we have been taught all of our lives.
Politics and organized religion divides us, keeping us from realizing our own inner power and oneness so that we do not unite against the system that preys on us all. Hollywood and the entertainment industry distracts us from the real problems facing humanity and keeps our minds focused on money, violence, sex and drugs. This reinforces a culture of rampant materialism, and so we become stuck endlessly chasing love and happiness through all things outside of ourselves - money, fame, nice cars, romantic relationships, etc. - never giving ourselves the time to realize that true happiness and power can only be found within.
The entire system works to keep us separated from our inherent connection with Nature, with one another, and most importantly with our Creator. We in turn fuel the system with all of our energy, working our lives away just to make ends meet, most of us working 40-60 hour weeks, living paycheck to paycheck, 25-40% of our labor going to fund a government that spends over half of its cash flow on its imperial war machine to drop bombs on impoverished developing countries while much of the planet is starving. As the US spends triple the estimated cost to end global hunger on war alone and millions are starving, an entire third of our food supply is wasted, thrown away, and many big box stores even go so far as to lock their dumpsters to keep the poor and homeless from salvaging some of this massive edible food waste. They could literally save the planet, and yet they choose to starve it.
Such a reality can only be described as complete and total insanity.
The video below gives an esoteric look at how the system is literally the antichrist, waging a war against the Christ potential that lies within us all:
Meanwhile the corporations poisoning us and our planet are raking in millions. The bankers in turn profit off of the interest from our perpetual debt slavery (usery), and then turn around and profit again off of the wars waged for their own selfish interests, wars that our children and brothers and fathers fight and kill and die in for no purpose. We in turn are left with little or no time or energy left to focus on our own mental/emotional/spiritual health and the betterment of society as a whole, most turning instead to mindless entertainment or drugs and alcohol to numb the pain of an unfulfilling life lived in separation from our Source and from Nature that exists to sustain and teach us, also further enriching the corporations that profit off of our suffering and misery.
The planet is being rapidly destroyed and humanity totally enslaved for their profit, and anyone who remains plugged into this system is feeding the beast that is destroying us all. Practical solutions exist, such as free energy devices (1, 2) and financial alternatives to central banking, but these in turn are actively suppressed, discouraged and destroyed by the powers that be in as many ways as they are able to do so. And so it is that just like in the Matrix film, the only way to free ourselves from this system is to unplug ourselves from it, freeing our minds from the steady stream of programming that keeps us hooked to the system, and withdrawing all of our support, refusing to give the system any of our energy, instead using all of our energy to build the better world that we wish to see for ourselves, our children and our planet.
Two documentaries that do a great job of exposing the inner workings of the system and how it maintains control over humanity are “Zeitgeist” and “Thrive.”
“Zeitgeist” focuses more on exposing the system itself, which it does a pretty amazing job at:
Meanwhile “Thrive” does an excellent job of also focusing on solutions, and on illustrating in simple terms that everyone can understand that not only is the system designed to keep us from thriving as a species, but that humanity is ready to break free from this old paradigm and to reach our greatest potential and thrive as free and loving beings. Among many other things, it also looks at free energy devices, which will be key in building the new paradigm.
As humanity continues to wake up, more and more people are finding ways to free themselves from the chains that had been keeping them bound to the system, finding ways to withdraw their support, one step at a time. Many others are still plugged into the system and looking for a way out. But together we will be able to effectively build a better world, if we are willing to join hands and work together towards building alternative, sustainable community. And the only way this can be done is by starting at the local level where we have the power, and it all starts with each one of us and our willingness to take action.
Practical Means of Getting Out of the Rat Race and Off the Grid: Building a World of Peace & Freedom Through Sustainable Community and Independence
There are so many steps that just about anyone can begin taking immediately to begin withdrawing support from the system and start building a healthier, more independent and sustainable lifestyle, even without fully disconnecting from the system, and a number of such ideas will be shared at the end of the post. But here I will briefly share my vision of how independent community can work as a sustainable lifestyle, and a few practical ways I am aware of going about getting more or less completely free from the system.
When one first begins to look into simple, sustainable living, off grid lifestyles and overall independence, they will begin to see that all of the facets of society are intertwined in such a way that to free oneself from one aspect almost requires one to eventually free oneself from all aspects, and this is one reason why entirely independent, self sustainable communities are beginning to look like such an attractive option to so many people all across the planet these days. There can be no doubt that the primary material chain keeping people locked into the system and unable to take major steps towards independence is debt slavery. The rest of the chains are mainly in our minds.
Debt necessitates that we hold a full time job until it is paid off, thus keeping us in the rat race and for most of us also ties us down to a specific location, although there are an increasing number of companies allowing employees to work from home, which also allows an increasing number of people to stay at their jobs while shifting to the van life or moving to a cheaper, more desirable location. Those who are in debt cannot simply just sell their belongings and buy a van, camper or other camping setup and head for the hills as I did, nor can they just up and join a community if they desired. Therefore remaining or becoming debt-free is a most necessary fundamental step towards freeing ourselves from the system.
No matter what society tells us to the contrary, debt is not a requirement for our survival. Yes, they have made it nearly impossible to live in the system without going into debt, which is another reason why functional alternatives to the system are so desperately needed as more and more people seek to exit the system.
Price of housing in modern society is high, as our society is not built upon small, sustainable, affordable housing development models. The rampant materialism so ingrained into western society is the antithesis to a simple, sustainable life lived in harmony with nature. Furthermore the overinflated price of basic necessities such as food, water, and energy are such that most of us must work our lives away just to survive. This is not natural and leads to much of the depression and other forms of declining mental and physical health in society, for humans are the only species on earth that must pay to eat and to drink what nature provides for free. Even the animals don’t pay for their shelter, and yet we have found a way to turn the housing industry into one of the most profitable and at the same time poverty-inducing industries in existence.
The solution is simple, and this solution is a radical, total exit from the system of insanity into small, sustainable communities not influenced by corporate greed and rampant materialism. It may seem unrealistic and impractical at first, but in reality it is a far more practical way of life than the life of the modern chaotic western society.
Comfortable tiny homes of many varieties can easily replace the commonly seen large stick-framed houses of society, and for a tiny fraction of the cost, and in some cases could be built almost entirely from resources on one’s own property. For those who care more about practicality than looks, the options really begin to open up. I could even envision a community comprised of campers, vans and tents, where those who are already living the camping lifestyle could settle right in without even needing to build first.
With the right gardening knowledge and skills, a relatively small plot of gardening space can feed a surprising number of people, and with community members spending just a few hours a day on gardening and food preparation, food sustainability can become a very real possibility. Goats can provide companionship, milk and a natural lawn care service, while chickens can help keep bugs in check, provide natural fertilizer and eggs as well. Greenhouses can further extend the growing season, and dumpster diving or other food rescue operations can add an additional source of food. Food waste can of course be composted and used to grow again.
We humans are extremely creative, and the practical ideas that arise when we work together can often be mind-blowing, that the major hurdle is not how to make an independent community function and thrive, but connecting the right people with each other and finding property to build or grow such a community.
All it would take to begin this shift on a larger scale is a few relatively wealthy homeowners to sell their homes and use the proceeds to buy larger chunks of land, combined with a few renters willing to downsize and go off-grid, and in short order a small community of cheap tiny homes built in harmony with nature could begin to replace the concrete jungles we have become so accustomed to surviving in. If even a number of people who owned nice campers that they only use once or twice a year for vacations were to give them away to the less fortunate to live in, homelessness and poverty could be eradicated overnight. Many societal problems will begin to naturally sort themselves out as more and more people begin to shift from mentalities of hoarding and accumulation of material excess to sharing.
As far as I can tell, there are several feasible ways one can go about getting out of the system. The first and often the easiest is to turn to van life or some other form of camping lifestyle, the path I first took. In the video below I give a video tour of my setup at the very first campsite where I initially began living this off-grid adventure in southwest Montana in October, 2019:
The number of fellow lifestyle campers I have met along my fairly short journey thus far has shown me that there are more people looking for and finding ways to escape from the system than I would have imagined. Most anyone has the ability to sell their home and buy a camper, or if they are a renter to sell their car and buy a van with it, or just purchase a tent and some camping equipment and go from there, as I did.
Camping can be a surprisingly comfortable and fulfilling lifestyle when done right, and it can be custom tailored to one’s own needs. A lot of campers are nicer than many apartments these days, and used campers can often be gotten fairly cheap, especially if one has handyman skills to do some basic repairs. Those who already own a truck can often find a truck camper for a good price, and if going this route, a Diesel engine can be easily converted to biodiesel making travel really cheap, as you can then run your vehicle on used vegetable oil. There are those who have traveled across the country pretty much for free in this way, fueled by used resturaunt oil. Canvass tents are relatively cheap, often built to be fitted with wood stoves, and vans can be customized to the needs of the owner quite easily. Wood stoves can be installed in campers and vans alike, giving one a free heat source and stovetop wherever firewood is available. When camping, firewood can be found most anywhere one goes. Many have also converted buses into elaborate living spaces, and the windows in a bus makes the addition of a small portable greenhouse possible.
The major downside to the camping lifestyle is that gardening becomes difficult, if not impossible, and in most cases one must constantly be traveling from place to place, as public lands generally have camping limits, usually 14-16 days here in America. This limits one’s ability to create food sustainability and make local connections to build community. At the same time there are some areas in which public land is so abundant that one could theoretically camp full time in one general area, simply moving from campsite to campsite between various national forests while being able to hold down a job in a particular town for part or possibly even the whole year. And those who are already setup and accustomed to the camping lifestyle have the advantage of being able to easily settle down in a community or camp on a friend’s land without needing to be provided additional housing.
There are also more remote places where one could set up a more permanent camp if they were willing and able to hike, bike or haul their stuff in by horseback (or sled in the wintertime). Building a small cabin in the remote backcountry of mountain forests is relatively easy, and I have seen several in the Montana backcountry, not used as permanent residences but nonetheless fitted with wood stoves and plenty solid and weatherproof to survive a winter. I also once met a man while out backcountry skiing who lived the entire winter in a wood-stove heated wall tent hidden away in the trees on a small hilltop not far from a trail. It was fall and he was busy stocking his food supply, hauling packs of cans and dry food from his car to camp, just a ten minute walk from the summer parking area along the forest road that would soon be closed for the winter. He would then ski the few miles in and out to the highway whenever he wished to go into town for a visit.
For those looking for solitude and a more permanent camping or small cabin lifestyle, such possibilities exist if one is willing to live a rugged life free as an outlaw, though one would have to be careful to choose a location not likely to be found by any rangers. Self sustainability could even be possible in such a scenario if one hunted and fished for food, or chose a warmer climate to embark on such an adventure. I have often been tempted to give this option a try for a year or a season, in order to be able to settle down in one place for a while, and maybe someday I will. I’m sure there are ideal remote areas of wild land where an entire small sustainable community could be setup in the backwoods with the right people and enough ingenuity. Just having small cabins built in such places for emergency survival purposes could also come in handy some day...
For me, the camping lifestyle is not my end goal, but was the logical first step to get out of the rat race and off the grid, and I have learned many valuable lessons along the way that I would not have learned otherwise, and have had opportunities I probably would not have had or been open to had I not already been traveling as a lifestyle. I have seen how practical, simple and efficient off-grid life can be, and feel that I am much better equipped to help build, grow or contribute to an off grid community in the future.
Another popular route that many have gone is to buy a rural property and set up an off grid, sustainable homestead. The major downside to this option is cost, but the benefits are great, particularly the ability to grow one’s own food, build one’s own home, etc. Unfortunately even this is becoming increasingly difficult as most counties in the US at least have entire books worth of codes and ordinances designed to hinder, if not make cheap, off grid living impossible. Most places do not allow full time camping on one’s own property, showing that there really is no such thing as private property in this country anymore! Some counties even prohibit rainwater catchment, and there is hardly a place one can find where they will be able to legally build on their own property, even a tiny home or animal stable, without paying for expensive building permits, getting government approval, and following a host of local building codes. Going through this process also guarantees that one’s property tax will go up as well, and local governments encourage larger, more expensive houses as these will bring in more taxes.
There are some ways people have found to get around these kinds of restrictions, such as making a tiny home so tiny it does not qualify as a home or falls below certain size limits, with many areas allowing the building of structures 100 square feet or smaller (or some similar size) without a building permit. Some people have ingeniously built two story buildings on a footprint of 100 sq. ft., thus doubling their living space while staying within the legal limit to avoid building permits and the associated costs and rise in property taxes. Camping is the by far the easiest way to avoid building permits, and likely one of the main reasons full time camping has been banned in most locales, although many get away with it anyway, the same way they get away with setting up rainwater catchment systems in places where catching rainwater has been deemed illegal. In such scenarios, the smaller your living space, the less likely you are to attract unwanted attention, and wooded seclusion (or underground buildings) is ideal to stay below the government radar.
Nonviolent resistance really is the only option in such cases of far reaching oppression and tyranny in these times, and when enough people side with those engaging in such forms of harmless resistance, it becomes futile and even impossible for the state to enforce their tyranny.
Obviously living in rural areas greatly increasing one’s relative freedom, and the more impoverished areas are also the most likely areas one will be left alone, with such counties having a shortage of code enforcers, far less likely to be bothered to go around hassling off-grid country folk keeping to themselves. I believe that as such lifestyles increase in popularity, and homesteads begin to network amongst themselves and some even morph into small communities, it will become more and more unlikely that the state will bother them, so long as they are acting as forces of light and love in the world. This is another reason community is so important in these times, as the more united people are, and the bigger their numbers in any given area, the stronger they become, and not just physically but also spiritually, which I think will play a major role in the transformation of the world into a new age of light, and in fact already is.
Sustainable independent community is the ultimate goal, at least for me and many others I know, and both homesteading and the camping lifestyle are stepping stones towards this ultimate goal. Once people are more or less unplugged from the system, they are free to immediately begin building a community, or to join an existing community without hindrance unlike those still stuck in the trappings of modern society. Homesteaders can network and trade with neighbors and create community in this way, and also have the ability to grow their homestead into a small community if they feel so incline. Sometimes neighboring lots open up for sale and community can be grown in this way as well, if the funds are available to make the purchase. Those who are living the camping lifestyle can also begin banding together and find places to pitch community camps.
One such place already exists, Slab City in Southern California, known as the “the last free place in America,” where anyone can come and camp for as long as they like, and it has an off-grid infrastructure with a few small businesses and such. It is not without the problems of any city, and does have cases of crime, but so does every modern city. It is located on an abandoned marine base, and is surely left alone for the most part because it exists on such undesirable desolate desert land, and its numbers dwindle in the summer for that reason. But it serves to house a number of otherwise impoverished homeless people from various backgrounds for that same reason, and does serve as an example of how cheap, off-grid community life is possible, even for those whose only home is a camper, van, tent or makeshift shelter constructed from the debris that has been left behind.
There are also work/trade networks that can serve as another gateway out of the system. WWOOF and Workaway are two such networks I am familiar with, and they are designed to connect hosts looking for help, with volunteers willing to trade labor for room and board. A typical arrangement is working half days in exchange for living space and all meals provided, although there are obviously variations in agreements between various hosts and volunteers. WWOOF is dedicated to organic farming, and Workaway to all types of work situations. For those who are unable to afford a camping setup or property, such networks can serve as the perfect affordable means to exit the system and offers another more independent lifestyle alternative to the societal rat race.
These types of networks also offer the opportunity for volunteers to expand their knowledge, learn new skills and meet like-minded people, and could potentially even connect you to your dream community, as I know that a number of such hosts are running active communes or are in the process of building small sustainable communities, and many of these are looking for the right people to join their community, some actively seeking willing participants to even build on their property and settle down there for the long-term if they turn out to be a good fit.
I was personally blessed to be able to spend the entire month of January at a hippie style a commune, which was an amazing experience that showed me there are indeed many others out there looking for sustainable solutions and working towards such goals, and also opened my eyes to a number of unconventional ways of working towards self sustainability I hadn’t really thought of.
I have also heard stories of people who have had property rented to them for next to nothing, because there are in fact some property owners out there willing to use their excess property to advance certain causes, whether that be to furnish the building ground for a community, a spiritual retreat, a children’s orphanage, a small community garden for those in the area who don’t have garden space at their own homes, or even a large garden used to supply a local food bank.
They may seem few and far between, but some of the wealthier people in our society do have good hearts and are looking for such projects to fund. I believe that as things move forward, those of us who are actively working towards creating a better future will connect with those who have the resources to help make it happen. The key is to shift our focus, attention and energy towards these ways in which we can work towards creating sustainable lifestyles and community, and towards loving and sharing with our neighbors in any way possible in the process.
Of course property also becomes much more affordable when multiple people wishing to build community all go in on a purchase together. Such an endeavor would require a certain level of trust and likemindedness, but if we cannot begin to learn to trust and rely upon one another, community is already doomed to fail.
I believe we really just need to have the willingness to begin taking action towards achieving such goals and dreams, the willingness to step outside of our comfort zone and embrace the unknown, for this is the only way change can occur, and the opportunities will begin to unfold before us in ways we probably never could have imagined. If we understand the spiritual laws of the universe, the power of our thoughts in creating reality and how manifestation really works, and begin to tap into the true source of creative power that lies within us all, there will be nothing that will be able to stop us from succeeding.
And the very first step to take in this regard is to free one’s mind, because not only is the mind prison the primary means by which we are bound to the system, but freeing our mind is also the key to accessing the inner power and guidance that lies within us all, which alone can show us our own unique way out of our current situation and the path forward to our greatest potential.
Free your mind
March 1st marked the 17th month of my life of relative freedom from the system, mostly living a nomadic off-grid camping lifestyle. 17 months out of the rat race and somehow still free, 17 months since I sold my business, left my relatively comfortable life of security in society, and embarked upon a journey into the unknown, unplugging myself from the system as best as I was able to with the goal of never again plugging myself back in again if at all possible. But this post isn’t about my journey, it’s about how you, and everyone else reading this have the power to do the very same thing, everyone in their own unique way. I’ll save all the details of my own story for a post of its own, and here focus on sharing tips derived from all I have learned along my personal journey to freedom, along with simple, practical steps anyone can begin taking in their life to become a powerful instrument for positive change in this world, even while still fully plugged into the system.
So how did I get free, and what’s my secret? Well, it sure wasn’t any elaborate, well-planned escape from the system, and in fact my own plan to do so failed miserably. You see, I had a very well thought out plan, it seemed quite logical and reasonable to achieve, and this plan of mine entailed working hard, saving up enough money to purchase a cheap rural property with the goal of building a super cheap tiny home and setting up a self-sufficient off-grid homestead. But by the time I had saved up enough money for the cheap land I had been eyeing, lot prices in the area had doubled and in many cases even tripled or quadrupled, with the most difficult to access 10 acre lots now selling for more than some of the more accessible 20 acre lots had been going for just 4-5 years before!
It was at this point that I began to feel helplessly trapped in the very system I was so desperate to escape, as I realized that the price I was paying for staying debt-free was simply a different form of slavery to the system - now seemingly destined to remain a renter forever, tied to the power grid and stuck with the associated bills, necessitating that I remain in the rat race to survive, working my life away just to pay the bills.
I went through a lot between this point and my ultimate decision to get rid of all but a select few of my belongings that I could fit in my car, leave the business I had spent years building behind, purchase all of the camping gear I chose for my off-grid setup with the money from all the tools and equipment I sold, and then drove off into the wind with no real long-term plan at all but to live free, hoping that somehow, somewhere along the way I would find an opportunity that would lead me to realizing my ultimate dream of being able to join or create some type of sustainable off-grid community. In the end, what I realize now as I look back on it all, is that the only real change that mattered was a change in my mind, a shifting of my perspective. The only way I got from the point of feeling helplessly trapped inside the system to taking the necessary steps to free myself from the situation I felt trapped in, was by freeing my mind. And this is no easy task for a mind that has been heavily programmed with multiple layers of societal conditioning from the earliest years of childhood on up.
Fears, doubts, attachments, and above all a victim mentality had been responsible for blocking me from walking the path towards realizing my own dreams. Despite feeling strongly within myself that my present situation was no longer making me happy or fulfilling my deepest desires, my mind always found logical excuses to remain in the situation, and would then turn around and beat me up for not finding a way out of a situation that was increasingly making me miserable inside. Such is the way of the ego. Of course the ways out were there all along, and it was only the machinations of my mind convincing me not to take them, in order to perpetuate the victim mentality that is one means of reinforcing ego identity.
As long as our mind is in a state of victim consciousness, it will continue to find evidence to support our victimization, and by doing so we will remain victims forever, no matter our circumstances. Only by rising above fear and victim consciousness, by taking full responsibility for our lives, do we begin to see that we were only ever victims in our minds.
When we begin to stop seeing ourselves as victims of circumstances and rather the ultimate creators of our reality, then we immediately begin to see opportunities that were hidden to us before, and we also become empowered in the present moment even before such opportunities arise. After all, if we are somehow responsible for getting ourselves into this mess, than we also have the power to get ourselves out.
The greatest means of taking back our power is to shift our focus and awareness from the past and future into the present moment, for the the present moment is the only place in which we have any power. The past is gone and cannot be changed or undone, and the future only ever exists in our mind, for the future never truly arrives, but rather the present moment simply continues to unfold before us. A great deal of energy and human potential is wasted on living in the past or worrying about the future, when the only life we are truly ever living is right now. Regrets and guilt will get us nowhere that we haven’t already been, and if we have regrets and guilt and pain from our past, it is definitely not a place we wish to return to! At the same time, when we are focused on planning or worrying about our future we tend to miss a great many opportunities arising in the present moment that would have in fact led us straight to that very future dream or goal that, ironically, we were too busy planning for and worrying about to notice.
Most people’s lives consist of a mix of constant references to past memories, and worries and doubts about the future, thus robbing themselves of the fullness of life unfolding before their eyes and their true power in the present moment to change their life trajectory. I know, because this used to be me, and it is the primary source of mental suffering. Most of us simply repeat our pasts over and over and over again, and we feel trapped because we think the future is destined to remain like the past, failing to realize it is only so because we refuse to step out of our mind and into the present moment. We have gotten so used to constantly listening to the voice in our head that never stops talking, that we think we actually are these thoughts. In this case our mind has become the tyrant that has enslaved us, and it has done so by convincing us that we are that which in reality doesn’t even exist - our false self, the ego, nothing but a mental program that identifies with all that is not real, primarily the body.
Dr. Wayne Dyer on the 6 lies of the false self and our true nature:
In reality we are not our thoughts at all, nor are we are body, and we have the power to choose our thoughts, and to thus create the future we actually want for ourselves, rather than being destined to continue living the past over and over again, being run by thoughts that don’t serve us rather than consciously running the thoughts that do.
Forgiveness is the key to releasing the past, and overcoming fear the key to releasing doubt and worries keeping our awareness in the future. And we can only overcome our fears about the future by facing them in the present. The present moment is also the only time and place we can connect with the divine presence within, it is the only time we can access the kingdom of heaven that lies within us all, it is the only time we can attune to our own inner guidance and listen to our hearts and our intuition. And what I discovered when I began to live more and more in the present moment is that the Universe is always leaving us signs and God is constantly speaking to us, but most of us are just too busy living our busy lives to see these signs, too busy worrying about the future to hear the answers to our own most important life questions.
But such signs are always present to help guide us towards our most fulfilling life if we just begin to look for them, just waiting for us to notice them, because the Universe is always conspiring to help guide us to our highest potential, and it is actually us in our pride and our egoic minds that keep us from seeing answers to our problems that are always right there in front of us. Like Jesus says in the Gospel of Thomas, “Recognize what is in front of your face, and what is hidden will be revealed to you.” Once we step fully into the present moment and begin living out of love rather than fear, all things suddenly become clear to us.
Such signs and guidance along our journeys can appear in dreams, during meditation, as synchronicities, even as feathers appearing in front of us out of nowhere. Many people report seeing and being guided by 11:11, sometimes a stranger tells you just what you need to hear in that moment, and I have had times where seemingly random YouTube videos appear in my ‘next playing’ list that relay a message that I really needed to hear at the time, or plant an idea in my mind that I never would have come up with on my own, at least not in my present state of consciousness at the time. But if we aren’t fully engaged in the present moment, we are likely to miss all such divine guidance on our journey, we will miss so many unimaginable opportunities, and the present moment is also the only place we can consciously choose which thoughts to give our attention to and thus what future we will attract.
A great book on living in the present is Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now,” which I recently had the opportunity to read, and would highly recommend to anyone wishing to free their mind and take control of their life, and find the ultimate happiness in life no matter their present life situation.
The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master, and so we must learn to follow our hearts and use our minds only as tools along our journey. Our hearts will always lead in the right direction. When I finally just let go and followed my heart, casting aside the subconscious fears that had been holding me back all this time, a way out of my situation immediately opened up in front of me, and a plan of action just seemed to form all of itself, it was truly amazing. But I first had to be willing to take a leap of faith into the unknown, and I would have never been able to do so had I not begun to go within myself and find a connection to the divine presence within me.
What I discovered is that once we let go of all of our preconceptions of how things have to work and allow the Universe to work for us, rather than seeing the world as an enemy force conspiring against us, signs and guidance began to appear everywhere. When I was able to let go and trust that God had a better plan than I could ever come up with, a plan began to unfold before me. And when we begin to see ourselves as intimately connected to that Source, then letting go becomes natural and easy. When I began to take full responsibility for my life, particularly for my thoughts and beliefs, I began to see the world more and more in this way, as working for me instead of against me, and as all ‘bad’ situations as serving a higher ultimate purpose.
A great inspiration to me in this regard was John St. Julien, who has the most remarkable story of how letting go, following 11:11, and his willingness to take a huge leap of faith into the unknown to follow his heart led to him selling all of his possessions to leave his homeland of the UK to travel to Africa, where he was ultimately led to build an orphanage and dog rescue in Tanzania, all without any plan or financial means to do so! And it all started when a TV documentary about some widespread child suffering in Africa caused him to really get angry that there weren’t more people doing anything to help, and so he cried out, “Why doesn’t someone do something?” At which point a voice in his mind answered, “You are someone,” prompting his move to Tanzania to volunteer at a charity that just so happened to be struggling to get off the ground, and the next thing he knew the property and registered nonprofit organization attached to it was left to him as the founders had given up and returned to wherever they had come from. And that was the beginning of what turned into a project that continues to grow and expand to this day. You can hear him tell his inspiring story in the video below:
Until we are willing to let go (of our ego identity and all of our fears and doubts), and take such a leap of faith to follow our hearts, such possibilities cannot unfold for us.
Furthermore, if we do not understand the power of our thoughts and beliefs, and how manifestions works, and then begin to apply them in our lives, then we are at a great disadvantage and no action we take will will be as productive or powerful as it could possibly be once we align ourselves vibrationally in the present moment with the future life we seek to become. My use of the word ‘become’ was intentional, because it’s not about creating a particular future we desire, but about changing ourselves, and then the future best suited to fulfill our highest ideals will arise to match our state of being. Some call this universal law the law of attraction, or the law of reaping and sowing, or karma, but it is all the same. Everything in our world has a cause, even if we don’t know or understand what that cause is, and as quantum physics is beginning to show, that cause ultimately lies in a divine mind, or consciousness, and that consciousness is also within us and is in fact our true identity. We are all points of awareness in the vast consciousness that gives rise to all that exists, and we are all connected to each other and to all possibilities that exist.
Everything in our world is but a reflection of our own thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs. Our inner state of being creates our external experiences. Everything we think, feel, believe, do and say has an effect on the world around us, because it all plays a role in creating the world we see and experience, even if we don’t immediately see it or never know what the full extent of that effect is.
This is because, as quantum physics is now showing us and ancient spiritual traditions have long known, that our entire reality arises out of consciousness, rather than our consciousness arising from our brain. The entire world is simply a projection of consciousness, a reflection of our inner state of being and awareness, and we are a form of that consciousness, meaning our mind is responsible for both projecting and witnessing the world that we see and experience.
What this means is that our mind is directly responsible for creating the projection we see and experience as the world around us. Our thoughts literally create our reality. This realization is the ultimate step to self-empowerment. This may sound like New Age woo-woo crap, but it is in fact supported by many modern scientific and medical discoveries, near death experiences, all major esoteric spiritual traditions, and numerous real life examples by those who have put this realization into practice.
For when we change the way we look at the world, the world around us begins to change. At first it sounds nonsensical to the materialist oriented mind, but if one actually perseveres just long enough to actually begin making a real shift in the way they see the world, they will in fact begin to see for themselves that this reality is undeniable. Problems turn into opportunities, suffering suddenly has purpose, and things in the world around us suddenly begin to shift in response to how we look at them, because the outer world is simply a reflection of our inner world.
And the easiest way to change the way we look at the world is to first change the way we look at ourselves to align with who we really are - infinite, unconditional love. Then we begin to naturally see the entire world as but a reflection of love, for how could it be anything else. Only love is real, and when we see the world through the eyes of love, we see it as it really is, we see only love and beauty. All else is but a distortion of that love, a reflection of all that remains within us that has not yet been healed, all remnants of fear and darkness that must yet be transformed into light.
See Gregg Braden’s video on the 7 Essene Mirrors for a better understanding of the world as a mirror:
I also personally found Gregg Braden’s book, “The Divine Matrix - Bridging Time, Space, Miracles and Belief,” to be particularly insightful, and recommend it to anyone wishing to gain a better understanding of this concept, particularly how the modern scientific discoveries of quantum physics support these spiritual principles.
Everything in this 3D projected reality is a form of energy, vibrating at different frequencies, and energy always affects what it comes into contact with in some way. Our thoughts and beliefs are forms of energy with immense creative power, and this is why those who are stuck in negative thought patterns continue to manifest negative life situations, while those with positive outlooks eventually manifest positive outcomes in life. Believing in ourselves in and of itself is no guarantee we will succeed, but a refusal to believe in ourselves is a sure path to our inevitable failure. The power of belief is so strong that our beliefs literally have the power to heal our bodies and also to create disease, and Jesus is said to have been unable to perform miracles where the people did not believe in his power to heal.
We are creators, and every creation began with a thought. Every book that has been published, every poem that has been written, every building that has been constructed, and every war that has been fought, all began with a thought.
Thoughts of themselves have no power without our attention, for they are like empty vessels or light bulbs, charged with energy when we give them our attention. And we have total control over which thoughts we empower with our attention, and which thoughts we refuse to charge by refusing to give them our attention. Whatever we focus on grows, and therefore whatever thoughts we focus our attention on eventually become our reality. When we worry about the future, we are only increasing the chance that the undesirable outcome we are worrying about will come to pass. But the same goes with our dreams and goals. Every thought given our attention long enough will manifest in our life, in one form or another.
I like to think of thoughts like seeds that are planted in the soil of our minds, which is our consciousness, where giving a thought our attention is akin to watering it. Without water, it will never sprout and grow, but the longer we water and nourish it with our attention, the bigger and bigger it will grow until it has eventually grown into a mature plant, the manifestation of the seed. On the flip side, by simply refusing to give thoughts that don’t serve us our attention, they will cease to exist in our reality. A seed that is never planted can’t grow and any plant, no matter how big, will wither and die if we stop giving it water. It is our job to turn our mind ground into fertile soil by opening our minds and hearts to be expressions of our true Self, and then to plant the seeds of positive and empowering thoughts that align with our dreams and to uproot those thought patterns that do not serve us. In doing so we will transform our consciousness, turning our mind into a beautiful garden of productive, empowering thought patterns that work for us rather than against us.
The journey of @samstonehill going from a depressing life situation to manifesting his dreams to create an independent life with a loving family of his own has been a great inspiration to me, and is a living example of how the law of attraction works in real life. You can read his great summary of law of attraction at the link below:
Such stories are not isolated, and the teachings of Abraham Hicks (a being called Abraham channeled through Esther Hicks) focus almost exclusively on law of attraction, and are pretty prolific and easy to find. I also highly recommend the videos of Aaron Abke for a better understanding of manifestation, and how it ultimately centers around becoming who we are meant to be rather than getting what we think we want, which really resonated with me at least, and his law of attraction series playlist can be found here, and additional set of videos on the subject here.
Above all else, our task must be to free our minds, for if we do not first free our minds, we will be of little help in creating lasting freedom in our own life or the world around us. Until we first find true peace within ourselves, our attempts to create world peace will be futile. If we are not willing to step out of fear and into love, we can never hope to build a better world based upon love. If we are unable to find happiness in the present moment, nothing we get or do will every be able to make us truly happy. And if we are not willing to change ourselves to become the change we wish to see in the world, then the world will never change, and the most important change anyone can make is within themselves.