Those who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear are probably smiling. They are not even astonished but smile because someone has finally affirmed what they have intuitively felt all the time. They may also that their realisation was not mere vanity, and happy to know they are not crazy as they thought or told by those with whom they may have shared their views.

Of course, the eyes may be open but not see when the spirit is asleep. Hence, in the absence of seeing, one is left to believe and conform to anything propagated in their direction. Unless one may have, either by intent or accident, found themselves on the road less travelled, they may simply believe the world and everything is as true as it is told.

The world is a stage. It is a stage with political and religious actors and the banks are magicians who can create money out of thin air. This needs not any emphasis nor elaboration because all it needs is one to honestly start questioning everything. It soon starts to reveal itself, especially when one first starts to question themselves, and they may realise one does not even know who they truly are.  

The world is a stage, and we are all actors who depend on others and systems carefully put in place to give us roles to play in this fictional life. Instead of defining the self, one trembles in self-pity and drown in low self-concept as they endlessly continue to seek approval from the world. The saddest part is that one seeks approval and acceptance from others who also need it desperately. At the end of the day, you have a society of individuals whose ‘happiness’ depends on the preferences of others.  

The world is a stage where most actors play roles as presentations in search of acceptance and belonging. It is a stage where actors are constantly immobilised by the fear of opinions of other actors. Just as in any movie, as the lie one lives, the actor must stick to the script. In his every speech, a politician must be politically correct, a pastor must act holy, and the banker must be convincing that a fictional financial system is real as he is made to believe by an invisible hand.

For too long the eyes have been open but cannot see the world for what it is. It is even hard to see and realise that the game – Monopoly – is not just a game played to pass the time. It is a representation of the game of life in the fact that it has become all about acquisition and accumulation. Just as in the game of Monopoly though, the one who acquires the most wins and celebrates even when the rest of the players have nothing. Interestingly though in the game of life, just as in the life of Monopoly, when the game is over, everything must return to the box. 

In this event, one can only think with a monk’s mind that it makes no sense to have eyes open when the soul is asleep. Thus, the best option would be to adopt the practice of closing one’s eyes more often so the soul may awaken, so that one may at once and finally search from within everything they have sought in the world, but could not find. That for once they may realise that may have been deceived to seek outside for that which has inherently always been within. It is only in this realisation that the eyes may now open, except in this instance, they are in the company of the third one.

 By Karlos TheGreat

E-mail: karlsimbumusic@gmail.com

Uncommon Sense is published every Friday in the New Era newspaper with contributions from Karlos Naimwhaka