The late Maulana Abul Kalam Azad a former leader for India's Independence Movement once said, "The unity of man is the primary aim of religion. The message which every prophet delivered was that mankind were in reality one people and one community, and that there was but one God for all of them, and on that account they should serve Him together and live as members of one family. Such was the message, which every religion delivered. But curiously the followers of each religion discarded the message, so much so, that every country, every community and every race resolved itself into a separate entity and raised groupism to the position of religion."

And so we have formed groups, coalesced with causes and challenged each other's ideologies, each making a different point, each adamant about its absolute truth and each act reinforcing the barriers of our species that have no doubt been manmade. 

And then the events of September 11th took place. After we calmed our aching hearts and slowed the pace in an unending stupor, most of us did the only thing we thought was in our power. We prayed. We returned to our faith. We called friends and family and those we rarely speak to just to say, "hi," and "are you okay?" and "let's keep in touch."  Here in America, we grabbed every flag and sang every song that reflected our patriotism; our united cause, "One nation under God, indivisible…" Suddenly we realized that clinching that sale to reach budget for the quarter and catching that flight to land a new client was not what it was all about. In fact these former priorities became largely insignificant, no longer worthy of urgent pursuit. Suddenly everything took on new meaning, spirit was renewed and the divisions began to gray, at least for many of us and at least for the moment.

But throughout this still unreal drama, other pictorials have also emerged. Hate crimes against those who even remotely resemble the alleged perpetrators of the attack are being carried out; racial slurs are being slung, people are being murdered and a doctrine whose denotation is that of good and love and peace is being misinterpreted by those who have bought into the stereotype as one of terror for a cause. 

And so this is the dichotomy that we are facing now, one of unity and further separation. We can choose which side of the created veil we wish to join. However we must, I believe, be mindful of the possible impetus for these horrendous attacks. Was this an attack on America, the world or self?

Some believe that this event represented quite simply a "wake up call."  Irrespective of the surface circumstances, the universal implications are poignant - its message, clear. Collectively and unconsciously the human species created this scenario as a crude and earthshaking corollary to get us all to return to the natural oneness we've been taught to unnaturally dissect. The thousands of people who lost their lives although consciously not aware of their plight on September 11 were unconsciously co-creating this scenario and thus giving their physical lives as martyrs for meaning.  Even the perpetrators themselves though consciously carrying out their surface mission were integral in creating this universal message.  And yes, we who were left behind to seethe with anger and wallow in sadness were also present within the timeless-spaceless cauldron of intentionality and invention. In other words this may have been a universal endeavor, each of us playing a part.    A harsh possibility to consider?  Or a mind-expanding challenge to delve?

In Dr. P.M.H. Atwater's article, The Attack: What I Witnessed on the Inner Planes, she states, "(This event represented) a wake-up call (that) was needed, one horrendous enough to reverberate across our country and the globe, affecting every man, woman, and child and in every nation.  Many are those who have grown complacent in life - sloppy of dress, rigid in beliefs, uncaring in the consequences of personal activities, ever needful of another addiction convincing enough to prove we are alive…The people who died sacrificed their lives to make the statement that none of us can continue to live the way we have.  It is time to awaken…Our complacency comes from putting 'things' ahead of service and investment; a consumerism gone mad, a spirituality deemed little more than new age nonsense."  These are strong and sobering words - food for thought that perhaps we were long hungering for on some deeply unconscious level.

So now we are at a stage, although by no means over the unrelenting shock of this calamity, where we can consciously choose how to interpret what happened on September 11, 2001. We can reflect on the universal purpose, assuming there is such, that thousands of "victims," in that moment became martyrs for meaning.  Or we can choose to believe that their "deaths" were incidents of fate, yet with no purpose other than to highlight the evil that permeates the earth.  We can ask, "Was this 'attack' exclusive to evil doing; it's purpose nothing more than indignation objectified?  Or was this event a metaphor with a multiplicity of meanings, all leading us to a singular truth that lies awaiting in the fore, if only we would "see" with our hearts - that we are spirit and thus are connected?"  We must acknowledge and be grateful for this connection or perhaps reap more havoc on our psyches and our structures.  Your reflection for meaning will be your choice.

Consider this: Yes, most would agree that if this event was meant to awaken us, what a rude awakening this has been.  But perhaps an event of this magnitude was needed to bring us out of our coma of complacency and callousness and our beliefs in division and self-satisfaction.  The fundamental laws of the universe strongly denote wholeness - oneness and union.  The divisions, largely and historically emphasized by religious interpretations are self-created, merely mirages of belief that appear over time as fixed and immutable laws. But they are just that: beliefs. And the festering of such may be destroying us. 

The events of September 11th were perhaps a test in the truest sense.  And we - the collective authors.  The questions on the test, a matter of multiple choice - it's answer, a singular message, that of omniscient oneness.  Its "victims," martyrs for meaning now dancing as flickers of light, although appearing as separate sparkles are in truth one eternal flame, beckoning our attention for unity with one and all.

© Copyright 2001, Alexis Brooks.

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