The Empty Vessel

Until you become "spiritually" awake, you are an "empty" "vessel of consciousness" into which God poured His abundance at creation. That emptiness is big enough to contain the fullness of God. "The ego" is a masquerading entity produced by your upbringing and efforts in human culture as you try to fill that huge emptiness using the human method because you were not "spiritually" conscious of the abundance of GOD and the culture of His kingdom within you (see Luke 17:20-21 - KJV). "The ego" is not you, it is who you, the "empty" "vessel of consciousness" have come to identify with, as you gradually wake up from the "sleeping" state of infancy into human adulthood. Its root is your subconscious. It is not you. You are the “empty” "vessel of consciousness" that contains this usurping entity on this plane of life. The Ego is your own consciousness captured by a phantom called "subconscious memories" of your life from birth. This is why it has the power to influence how you perceive, interpret and interact with LIFE and experience yourself.

However, you also contain the fullness of God. That is even more fundamental to your nature. Just as you identified with the ego and became one with it when you woke up into the consciousness of this world, so would you fully identify with God and become one with Him when you finally wake up in the spirit into the consciousness of CHRIST (see John 10:30), the fullness of God and the culture of the kingdom of heaven contained within you. In John 10:10, Jesus said: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The thief is that phantom (THE EGO) that has stolen your identity and threatens to destroy your life.

When by just being silently aware (not thinking, just being) in meditation, you once again experience that primordial "emptiness", you will gradually become one with your self, the "empty" "vessel of consciousness", and withdraw the thoughts and emotions that currently define your consciousness from the sub-conscious phantom that constitute your ego, thereby becoming free from what you inadvertently projected as the ego life and the ego world (see Ephesians chapter 4). You will thus receive the GRACE to gradually perceive (ie experience) the PRESENCE of God in you. In Psalm 46:10, God says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” That means God will predominate over the ego.

This is the beginning of your union with GOD and a transmutation in the character of "the ego". The sub-conscious memories that formed the ego will remain, but now without life, without the power to influence your perception, interpretation and interraction with life like they once did. This is the death of "the ego". Now that you have swiveled the light and life of your consciousness away from "the ego", first, to experience your own "emptiness", your lowly helplessness, you will become gradually aware of the PRESENCE of God, the source of your abundance and blessings

The purpose of life is to realise that the fullness of God is within you and His abundance is at your disposal through His Grace. However, no matter how hard you try, you can never attain to this realisation while you have a selfish disposition simply because your "little SELFishness cannot contain the Almighty. You have to be ready to relinquish your attachment to all the "labels" that identify you in life and open yourself up for the will of God. That means nail your ego to your own cross following the example of Jesus Christ. There you have it. Make your choice.

Indigenes and Settlers

Even in the most advanced States of the Western hemisphere, there is a natural distinction between indigenes and settlers. I am talking of places where there is only one common language, ENGLISH. I am talking about the United Kingdom or the... USA where your accent, whether northern or southern could isolate you in the place you have chosen to settle. In Nigeria, we have more than 2oo distinct languages, and many variant dialects of the same language. These are strong markers of our sub-cultural identities and they cannot be over-looked. They are not just in the mind. They represent us in all our interactions. We therefore, need to confront the Nigerian situation with pragmatism and wisdom rather than have unrealistic expectations based on current constitutional provisions. If there is need for revision for the good of the nation, let us look into it rather than look for an easy way out. Experience tells us that easy way always leads to bloodshed invariably. We pray for wisdom as we ourselves exercise our minds in this quest.

Fundamentally all humans are one, It should be possible for any one from Kalahari Desert to decide he wants to settle in Oceanside, California. God created the earth for all humans. Differences exist only in our minds. As noble as these thoughts are, they are merely ideals. Our current reality demands that we recognise cultural and sub-cultural differences and then engineer a culture of tolerance and pride in the diversity.

The cultural ego of every human society is very assertive, some more so than others. That is why it is possible for some with imperialistic egos to colonise others that are less assertive. These are natural facts. Those who have been charged with the responsibility of governance need to accept this reality and then encourage cultural values that place premium on human life above pride in ethnicity. This is a difficult task, but it is one that must not be neglected. Even most international wars are fought on this assertiveness of national egos. Similarly, when aggression against settlers is a reaction to adverse socio-economic conditions, it is still a subliminal statement of the “superiror” ego.

CULTURAL EGO at every level needs to be tamed, pure and simple.

Politics in Nigeria

Nigerians are great people whose resilience has been taken undue advantage of by generations of corrupt and ruthless politicians in sheep's clothing. What Nigeria needs is not a great man. What we need is a mature, honest and capable leader who truly cares for progress, and is humble enough to know that he is employed by us to work on our behalf for the good of the nation We need a visionary leader who is not hungry for power but yearning to serve.

I can already hear some of my fellow citizens singing praises of presidential candidates with unknown, untested credentials. This is a serious weakness in our makeup, and it is counter-productive. This attitude can be compared to a bright and beautiful young maiden, unaware of her virtues, carelessly inviting a maniac into an abusive relationship. She will only end up regretting.

Democracy gives power to the people, power to assess fellow citizens and then employ the one with best credentials to lead the process of governance. Power to question and to fire if necessary. The responsibility of governance belongs to every citizen, and if we expect the elected official to play his role right, then we as electors should do the same in our role.

Starting Out

For a larger view of this mindmap, click the picture.

We are finally inching forward with our latest collaboration with Genesis Studios and GBF Productions. Starting Out is devised to turn unemployed graduates into self-employed and empowered citizens.

We have always believed that Nigerian tv programme executives should not simply ape the reality tv traditions of the West because our cultures and criteria are different. Central to reality tv in the West is entertainment. Our reality tv series should place "opportunity, development and empowerment" at the centre without ignoring the element of entertainment. We must therefore, consciously and astutely define those elements that will constitute effective "entertainment hook" for our production. Another powerful tool with which viewers can be hooked and made to watch from week to week is the "Educational Value of the programme content. Both of these hooks are employed to serve the course of providing "opportunity, development and empowerment" to successful candidates and viewers at large.

Politics in Nigeria

I am glad to note that Mr Omosule, a Presidential Candidate for 2011, has on his to-do-list most of what all sensible and responsible Nigerians will also want to change positively. I will personally include social and cultural re-engineering of traditional mindsets, even at grass-roots level as a priority. The people need to take ownership of their own lives and their own Nation. We have to take the electoral process very seriously. Proper exercise of voting rights can make a significant difference in the governance of Nigeria. Our Tax regime needs re-modelling for effectiveness so that the responsible government can properly fund public investments. No doubt, this is the age of enlightenment in Nigeria. Commited, progressive and pro-active leaders with integrity, a strong sense of public accountability, and vision must emerge at every level of society. The soil into which the seeds of our great future will be planted needs to be enriched with noble ideas and principles.