From the last week of October until the beginning of November, I visited Jerusalem for the first time since I left at the end of September 2023 for financial reasons. In addition to resolving several bureaucratic issues and meeting those few friends who had remained in touch with me despite the physical distance between us, I was curious to see how Israel in general and Jerusalem in particular had changed over these three years.
Of course, many things have changed externally, not only in Israel but also in the world at large. One of the most significant changes I have noticed over the past three years is the accelerating tectonic shift in the world order, which has become more visible, especially if you follow alternative media.
Ironically, however, what has struck me more is what has not changed - the state of consciousness of many people. Without going into details, I just want to say that wherever I go, not only in Jerusalem but also during airport transits in third countries and on my flights, I have been forced to witness again and again that so many people seem stuck in the illusion of separation and compelled, automatically and unconsciously, to ask questions that label others, especially those they are meeting for the first time.
Some of you might say that this very sentence of mine is a form of labeling, but I would call it meta-labeling, which is often inevitable for the sake of argument. Hopefully, I am sufficiently aware of the danger of turning even meta-labeling into a source of arrogance.
I don't say this to judge others, God forbid, as I, too, was once stuck in what I call the mind-made prison, with language as its gatekeeper, as I must have mentioned a number of times before. What really tormented me was seeing an older version of myself every time I met new people and realized how they seemed to be hijacked and controlled by the ego and its illusion of separation.
I don't mean to fix them, nor do I have any means of persuading them conceptually. All I can do is watch them with patience and compassion, hoping that they, too, will be liberated from their mind-made prison, but without having to hit rock bottom as I did.
Now I'm back again to my "minyan" in nature after this short trip. No plants label me or themselves, and I don't label them either. Just pure presence. Peace.
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