Communication

Everything is interrelated. There are no subjects unrelated to the subject of communication. This is why our present educational system fails to impart the elements necessary for one to learn the art of communication. We live in a world of a thousand castes; we do not walk free in the consciousness of oneness; we walk in a state of division and separation.

Learning how to communicate with ourselves is a subject we do not usually find being taught these days. For the most part, we think of communication as a process between two or more people, but communication is not confined to such a narrow band of activity. Everything communicates in one way or another; the trees communicate with the earth and the sun; the bees communicate with the flowers, the rain communicates with the sky above. We might even go so far as to say that the universe is one great big communication factory. "But that is not communication," the man on the street told me one day. "Communication is what we are doing right now."

"So, what are we doing," I asked.

"We are talking, of course," he said.

"But why are we talking?" I asked.

"Because we are trying to communicate," he said.

As humorous as this circular conversation may sound, this is the way we tend to box ourselves in with words. For some reason we are afraid to speak in terms of expanding our level of consciousness. We use words to confine our attention, rather than for the purpose of developing our awareness. This is probably one of the reasons why other forms of language, such as mathematics, were conceived in the first place. They provided man with a better method by which to expand his awareness.

Personally, I love to communicate with myself. In fact I can still remember when I discovered I was a friend and not a foe. This was also about the time I discovered how restricting a well-defined set of words may be. Fortunately for me, I was not raised in an environment where words were the only form of communication. For one thing, music had always been an important part of my life. In fact, it had been my desire to be a concert pianist from the age of ten or eleven. (But that is a story for another time.) Music is communication and communication is what this life and existence are all about. Communication is everywhere—it makes the world go round.

"But what is communication?" another man asked. "It is apparent that you are talking about something a great deal different from what I was taught." Obviously, the man was correct, I am using the word in its broadest sense, not in the way it is often used to imply only a system or technique. Think of other words that have similar meanings such as: exchanging, exchange, interchange, intercourse, communion, and contemplation are all either closely related to, or interchangeable with the word communication. Taken in this light, it becomes apparent that trees do in fact communicate with the earth, in that there is an exchange being made between the tree and the earth below. Likewise, the bee does in fact communicate with the flower because the bee is "partaking" of the flower's nectar. Therefore, in order for communication to take place, there must be an exchange between two separate units. The mere fact that two people are talking does not necessarily mean that communication is taking place. In order for communication to take place, something must be exchanged or imparted from one life form to another. In the case of inanimate objects, there must be an exchange of something between the objects.

Yet, as simple as this might seem from on an intellectual level, the task of communication is far from simple. It is absolutely imperative, however, and I can state that learning to communicate saved my life. Only through communication can we come to know the hearts and mind of those we love, those we interact with, and those whom we wish to understand. I believe the art of communication should be taught before reading and writing, or if not before, at the same time.

But, for those of us who already read and write, how do we begin this new venture into the hearts and minds of our fellow man? In my own life, I began with myself. I began by having the desire to communicate. This was where the work began. As soon as I desired to communicate, that was the exact time I began to realize that I had not been communicating in the first place.

The poet Kahlil Gibran said: "No man can reveal to you aught but that which already lies half asleep in the dawning of your knowledge. The teacher . . . if he is indeed wise, does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind." (From, On Teaching)

"So," said the man on the street, "I want to communicate, what's next?"

"Start by tearing down the walls that are preventing you," I said. "Do you see that man over there, next to the fire hydrant? Go over and start a conversation."

"Oh, I can't do that," he said.

"Why not?"

"Because, how do I know he wants to talk?" asked the man on the street.

"You don't."

"What if he gets mad or something. Besides, I would feel foolish; I don't know what to say."

I can remember the first time I set out with the sole purpose of communicating with another human being. As it were, I was in a strange city, and knew no one. I was about twenty-two years old and had just read Dale Carnegie's excellent book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Carnegie's book made the task of meeting people look so simple that I decided to go out and try my new found information. It wasn't easy. I couldn't do it. Consequently, after several hours of roaming around, I didn't meet one person who I could communicate with. Today, if I walk downtown and don't meet at least three or four people with whom I can communicate I feel something is wrong.

"What made the difference?" you ask. When I was younger, my own feelings and emotions prevented me from following through with my desires. They formed a wall between me and the stranger, and I didn't know how to break down that wall. Since then I have learned that there are usually two walls, one for me, and one for the other person. I have also learned that if I break down my wall, the other person usually senses this and feels relief, facilitating communication. Around the turn of the 20^th century the walls I described were often thought of as an invisible magnetic force between two people. Just as magnets have two poles, people were said to have poles as well, that we could shift from negative to positive in a given situation. Some described this as changing polarities so we would not be in opposition to those we met.

Communication is nature's way of providing an education for everyone. It is through the process of communication that we educate ourselves and those around us. One need never feel deprived once he has learned the art of communication. It is like being able to suddenly expand oneself throughout the universe. When we open our hearts and our minds to this universal power of communication, we begin to experience a oneness with all life. We are no longer a stranger in a sea of chaos. We feel as though we are part of every rock, bird and human being. We are alive.

Of course, for the man on the street, my poetic description of Nirvana may appear to be nothing but a dream, a delusion of drugs and alcohol, but this is part of the problem; he has forgotten how to dream. Man is born a dreamer, only resentment has the power to stop our dreams. Without resentment, dreams are as natural as the air we breathe. When we think about it, and when we are in face of ourselves, we realize what thoughts block our minds from the hope that lies buried half asleep within the consciousness of our being.

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CONVERSATIONS

My Earliest Days

Recollections of WWII

Music Touches Me for the First Time

The Grand Island Experience

Individual and Collective Error

Pain - Notes