From Garrett: I’d like to personally welcome Richard Abbot to the Command Z blog. It’s quite rare to hear as refreshing and inspiring a voice as Richard’s echoing from the desert of the seeker. While my personal definition of ego differs from his, I’m confident after talking with him that the disparity is semantic rather than philosophical.

Thanks again for providing us with this fresh, dynamic defense of the personal adventure of individuality. Without further introduction, take it away, Richard.

“Music never goes away. It is always available. But we are not always available to the music”

– Robert Fripp

For music, read planetary bio-feedback, ancestral DNA, precognition, Spirit, Source or the Cosmos. If you prefer then simply call it God or the Universe, but whatever name you use it amounts to the same thing – there is a tune playing, throughout your life, that only you can hear.

Your Music. Your Life.

The Music of Life is different for everyone. It is Your Music, not The Music, because none of us are able to hear the same thing. The basic fact that everyone is different rarely excites us now but it should, for we have not yet scratched the surface of what it really means. Take it on four levels.

In the body. Everyone appears externally different – fingerprints, retinal scans, facial features. Yet they are also internally different. The precise way that our bone structure knits together with our muscles differs from person to person and although we persist in categorising people by blood group, the true reality is that every individual has a unique blood signature. Michael Jackson was one hell of an entertainer, but when he sang Cause we are all the same, the blood inside of me is inside of you he was mistaken, seven billion times over.

With the emotions. Everyone sweats and cries in different ways at different times. Different triggers affect everyone differently. Regardless of the desire to focus on common responses there is no standard emotional reaction to any event.

Through the mind. It has long been known in the police force that if you take twenty witness statements at the scene of any incident you will get twenty different versions of events. Most of the differences will be subtle and at the margins, but some of them will be significant. ‘He ran toward me’ says one. ‘He did not move’ says the other. It is not that people are lying, they genuinely saw it, or more accurately they processed it differently. ‘I’ll meet you at 2pm’ she says, turning up at 2.30pm, crying out ‘I said 2.30pm, why weren’t you listening?!’ This is not a function of the quantum ideas of the observer created universe where everything is whatever we think it is. This is a function of individual difference, where everyone can see something slightly, subtly different, and is able to make a slightly different interpretation.

Invisibly. In spite of attempts by religion and politics there is really only one way to measure morals that is relative to the individual. This is not a recipe for chaos, for the crazy lone gunman does not go out and shoot the town up because of the voices in his head. He does it because of the lack of voices in his own head and the presence of voices from other people’s heads – the propaganda, the role playing, the endless comparison and blame game which he has swallowed whole.

These four kinds of individual difference combine to form the unique, irreplaceable individual that you now are. But the need to find and develop one’s own way should not be confused with selfish individualism. The truth is that by recognising and accentuating individual difference we are likely to become more peaceful and more connected. You can – potentially – do, feel, think or say a specific something, in a particular way that I cannot. If this could be recognised, and even if you have not yet fulfilled that potential then I would become immediately invested in your progress. The illusion of sameness is the root of all killing; it is done because we are persuaded that our lives do not matter. But they do, for it we lose you we lose something valuable that cannot be replicated by another. To disadvantage you is to disadvantage me.

But resistance to this idea is strong. Many people are deeply invested in their sameness, for it is a comfortable place to hide. This is especially true in revolutionary and alternative sub-cultures, who rail against orthodoxy only to land up creating their own orthodoxy! Many people see sameness and call it equality, togetherness or community, and it is the place to be if you cannot see that your contribution is any different than anyone else’s, even if you have not really tried to look.

Many people assume (because they have been told to) that there is one answer to every question and that it is a matter of getting it right, and then getting everyone to agree. Nothing could be further from the truth. Sure, truth exists, but most matters are a product of the individuals view. You would be surprised how differently people see the most mundane things. Never assume that people either agree or disagree with you.

Having said all this we must recognise that we are in the midst of a long standing war against the individual. The educational establishment is firmly wedded to rubbing out individual difference. They begrudgingly recognise differing learning styles and preach the doctrine of diversity but only as a means to an end – which is the indoctrination of all children with the same, in their world ‘right’, views. They can call this ‘common core’ or ‘national curriculum’ but it amounts to the same thing – conformity of behaviour, appearance, reaction and thought.

The medical and psych establishment have taken it one step further by their ruthless diagnosis of all deviations from proscribed norms, in turn allowing pharmaceutical companies to join the assault by selling expensive corrections to wrongness. The diagnoses are given names like ME, CFS, OCD, ADHD and Autism – wicked labels of torture people that continually redefine ‘different’ as ‘broken’.

The media supports this attack by its promotion of a manufactured professional outrage industry and even peace loving hippies have unwittingly joined in the assault proclaiming that individuality is ego and all hard edges must be rubbed out, while the corporate and academic worlds are no more pro- individual than they ever were. Statements such as ‘wear what you like to work’ are meaningless when you cannot actually wear what you like. When fear is the dominant meme you can be sure that individuality will take a back seat. And thus the Music of Your Life is extinguished.

Do What You Must, Not Just Whatever You Like

At this point I should make clear that when I speak of uniqueness I am talking about HIGHER INDIVIDUALITY, individuality with a purpose, that allows and does not restrict others individuality. Neither selfish grasping, nor dog-eat-dog, but evolutionary and expansive.

The absence of any stab at our HIGHER INDIVIDUALITY leaves a vacuum which is filled by role playing. How easily we adopt those roles and how quickly they mask our special individual contribution to life. How quickly we become merely Mum, Dad, Nurse, Doctor, Soldier, Programmer, Writer, Socialist or Conservative. The labels we scrabble for when introduced at parties block the Music that is waiting to sweep you on, for as soon as you plug into the role you cannot help but adopt the Rules of the Role, whether they are appropriate for your circumstances or not. The Music of Life will only be heard by those making an attempt to discover who they are and what they are for.

No Signs

The quest for a sign along the road of life is doomed because if we are not careful they are simply confirmation biases – we see the signs we want to see, not the ones we need to see. And of course once we have passed a sign and gone down the wrong road it’s too late. It’s only in computer games that we get the message ‘you’re going the wrong way’. Signs are external, a creation of someone else, and have no bearing on your life, except to conform it to others’ requirements.

Check Your Ego

Ego is as prevalent in the poor and needy as it is in the rich and powerful, indeed it might be argued that it is found more in deprived sections of society, for Ego is the thing that teases you with what might be yet keeps you exactly where you are, personality intact with the goodies just out of reach.

Ego insists that the solutions do not lie within reach and that all the problems are someone else’s creation. Ego keeps the rich rich, shielding them from any real connection to the Music of Their Life but it also keeps the poor poor by steadily reinforcing the message that ‘it’s too hard’ and ‘what’s the point?’

The Disease of Sophistication

Additionally we are all infected with a virulent disease, the desire to know where the bus is going before we step on it. Now in public transport this is sensible, but in general life it is lunacy. The desire to know where the bus of our life is going manifests in all attempts to see the outcome before deciding whether to commit to the start. This is not only self defeating but impossible because you are not the only piece on the chess board of life. Others are making decisions right now which will affect the outcomes in ways you cannot ever know. The ego-debilitating answer is to simply go as far as you can until you can see further, by which time all the other pieces on the chessboard will have moved as well. But obsessing over the destination of the bus, or the length of the journey, is to move out of earshot of the Music.

Look for Mistakes to Make

Mostly everyone who attends my courses and talks has one thing in common. They are sensitive. They notice the invisible worlds and can read the unspoken words. But they don’t like to fail, because they take it personally. It is interesting that highly egoic people act the same way, yet failure for both groups is inevitable. In fact it is desirable.

At the end of his life I asked my long time mentor, Arthur, how he had come to attain so much knowledge and wisdom? ‘Willingness to make mistakes,’ he replied, and then added, ‘eagerness actually’. I suspect he was onto something. There is all the difference in the world between being sanguine about mistakes made, calling something a teachable moment after the fact, but it’s another thing entirely to actively go looking to make mistakes. The ego has such resistance to this that these words might jar terribly. But within them is the seed of truth, for it is only in the unknown unknowns – as identified by the great philosopher Donald Rumsfeld – and the introduction of novelty that we really ever learn anything new. Without this the Music is just Sound.

The Demons of Noise

Television and newspapers long ago gave up the pretence of providing the impartial reporting of facts. Do not fall into the trap of rejecting news from the Murdoch stable in favour of The Guardian or New York Times. It’s just a different form of bias! The same goes for websites and blogs. It is not that everyone is lying to you, but they are all coming at you through their filters. There is not a media organisation in existence, big or small, that is an exception to this. All are biased propaganda outlets. And that includes your favourite one.

The noise of social media is arguably just as bad, especially now that it has become anti-social media. But it is the default acceptance of these inputs into your life that will disturb the Music of Your Life, drowning it out with other people’s noise. Can we find solace in film and TV drama? No chance. That is just propaganda with a bigger budget.

Know Thyself

It is vital that we learn as much as possible in this short life, but the real learning that we ought to be engaged in is learning about ourselves. What we are like, and what we are not like. What we are good at and what we struggle with. Where our good behaviours come out and what triggers our bad behaviours. It is crucial to learn these things about ourselves for if we know ourselves then we will always have a place to start, and a way to turn. The noise may not disappear altogether but we will have the means to counter it.

It behoves everyone to do whatever it takes to see themselves as they really are. There are a million and one systems with which to do this. The naturally brave among us simply jump into life to see if they sink or swim, and then draw their own lessons afterwards. This is in many ways to be admired, but is not for everyone. This is where the value of esoteric systems is revealed – the ability of things like Numerology, Palmistry, Tarot and I Ching – not to tell you what is going to happen, but to tell you more about yourself, right now.

Finally, Dance To The Music

The musical analogy in this little story helps us to break down the barriers between knowing and doing. Gathering information was once a laborious and challenging human task. Now the collection of knowledge is probably easier than it has even been, but our issue is to translate it into action. The self-doubt inherent in all sensitive types is resolved not by merely hearing the Music of Your Life, but by taking the first faltering steps to dance with it, regardless of the noise and sound of others.

Richard Abbot learned about the unseen dimensions of life over a 20 year study period with Arthur Norris. He practises Tarot, Numerology and Palmistry as tools for self-discovery, empowerment and transformation, as well as providing alternative forms of healing. He has written numerous books and courses and has appeared at events in UK, Holland and USA. The Hermitage Development Centre, originally established in 1983 by Arthur Norris & Pat Warrington, now continues under Richard’s guidance www.thehermitage.org.uk. He tweets occasionally @AbbotAnswers, blogs at The Impossibility Factory, and contributes to Enlightening Times and Tarosophist International.

His next book – The Armchair Mystic – is out in Feb 2015.