I was thinking the other day about what the Four Horseman of the Christian symbology meant. You have Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. These four things seem to have plagues humanity for the length of Its tenure here on this planet.
But why do we look at it like this? Through Pestilence, we have developed ever-evolving medicine to allow for us to combat the many viruses that would plague us. Through War, we have evolved medical practices that have saved more people than we can imagine. Through Famine, we have developed the compassion to work towards sharing resources on a global scale. And through Death, we have learned to value life.
So why do we continue to look at these Four Horseman as the enemy of Humankind? What if the Four Horsemen are Life's greatest teachers in that we learn to look at life not as individuals but as part of something which is much larger than us? Each of us has a sense of individuation that seems to distinguish us as being separate beings. But what if that distinguishing is only a part of the complexity of it all rather than the separateness of things? What if the separateness we see is only a manifestation of a certain type of illusory type of thinking? I am not suggesting that humans are connected here. I am suggesting that we are connected by the fact that we are just manifestations of life and that, in a certain sense, we are only partially different (genetically) from our surroundings. But that difference is also a part of our connectedness.
In this case, we actually need these "external" teachers (these Horsemen) to help us to discover that which is inside of ourselves because we as a species have yet to look within as a given practice. We continue to look outwardly at the illusionary boundaries of cultures and identities and forget that the manifestations that is our existence is representative of the inner struggles we deal with on a day-to-day existence. It's no wonder that these Four Horsemen continue to manifest in a cultural and global sense. Until we begin to listen to what they represent, how do we begin to allow their teachings to help us evolve beyond them on an existential level?
I leave these questions for you because I don't think my thoughts are your answers. I want your answers to be your own. And when I say your own, I mean humanity's.
