The Advanced Soul

Can’t We Change The World?

Below is an extended dialogue from Richard Bach and his inner child in the book Running From Safety.

“The world’s not a sphere, Dickie, it’s a big floating pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid is the lowest life form you can imagine, hateful, vicious, destroying for destruction’s sake, devoid of empathy, one step above consciousness so savage it self-destructs the instant it’s born. There’s room for that kind of consciousness, lots of room, right here on our triangular planet.”

“What’s at the top of the pyramid?”

“At the top is consciousness so refined it barely recognizes anything but light. Beings who live for their loves, for their highest right, creatures of perfect perspective, who die with a loving smile upon whatever monster would strike them down for the fun of watching someone die. Whales are like that, I think. Most dolphins. Some people, the human beings among us.”

“In between are the rest of us,” he said.

“You and me, kid.”

“Can’t we change the world?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “We can change our world any way we want.”

“Not our world. The World. Can’t we make it better?”

“Better for me and you,” I said, “is not better for everybody.”

“Peace is better than war.”

“The ones near the top of the pyramid would probably agree. Peace would make them happier.”

And the ones near the bottom…”

“…love battle! There’s always a reason to fight. With luck it’s a burning cause; this war we fight for God, this war’s to save the Homeland, this one to cleanse the Race, to expand the Empire, to get the tin and tungsten. We fight because the pay’s good, because it’s more exciting destroying lives than building them, because war beats work for a living, because everybody else is fighting, because it’ll show I’m a man, because I like to kill.”

“Terrible,” he said.

“Not terrible,” I said, “predictable. When one planet makes room for so wide a spectrum of mind, we expect a lot of conflict. Is that okay with you?”

He frowned. “No.”

“Next time pick a narrow planet.”

“What if there is no next-time?” he said. “What if you’re wrong about other lives than this?”

“Doesn’t make any difference,” I said. “We build our personal world calm or wild according to what we want to live. We can weave utter peace in the midst of chaos. We can destroy in the midst of paradise. Depends on how we shape our spirit.”

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