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The Tale of the Businessman and the Fisherman

Updated: Jan 30

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.


About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. “You aren’t going to catch many fish that way,” said the businessman to the fisherman.


“You should be working rather than lying on the beach!” The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, “And what will my reward be?”


“Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!” was the businessman’s answer. “And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman, still smiling. The businessman replied, “You will make money and you’ll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!”


“And then what will my reward be?” asked the fisherman again.

The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman’s questions. “You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!” he said. “And then what will my reward be?” repeated the fisherman.


The businessman was getting angry. “Don’t you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!” Once again the fisherman asked, “And then what will my reward be?”


The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, “Don’t you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won’t have a care in the world!”


The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, “And what do you think I’m doing right now?”


Oscar Wilde wrote “Work is the refuge of people who have nothing better to do." Perhaps a Utopia could free us up to do the things that AI cannot do: Philosophy; Wisdom; and Creativity. Leave the rest to AI. Bregman wrote “The purpose of a shorter workweek is not so we can all sit around doing nothing, but so we can spend more time on the things that genuinely matter to us."


Confucius wrote "Choose a job you love , and you will never have to work a day in your life." When your inner and outer purpose become aligned, no-thing and no-one can stop you. Utopia here you come!


The tale of the businessman and the fisherman


My take on Utopia

I am with Rumi on this one, who said  “Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” This is the only way. When enough people awaken (look inside themselves for the answers), we will no longer have conflict. Hurt people, hurt people. Awake people, awaken people. Healed people, heal people. Awakened people, love people unconditionally. Souls love one another. 'Love through connection' needs to replace 'Hate at a distance.' Just meditate on this for a moment in a beautiful guided and uplifting meditation by the incomparable Ram Dass, the Harvard Professor of Clinical Psychology turned spiritual guru:


Ram Dass and East Forest 'We are Truth'


Someone once said about Utopia that "It's like aiming for the stars - even if we miss, we might still land on the moon." This seems wrong to me. Aim for the stars, and know that you are already surrounded by them, and all the elements in your body were made in the crucible of the stars. This is the scientific Truth. You are a star! Right now. It's just that you have forgotten that you are. This is the spiritual Truth. You feel it, and therefore know it to be Truth, don't you?


Utopias offer a fascinating exploration of human nature and the human condition, which is existential angst, spiritual dis-ease, and the asleep conditioned mind. Can humans ever create a perfect society? Are we inherently flawed, destined to repeat our mistakes? Or can we learn, grow, and build a better world?


The solution is not economic, literary, historical, or political. The solution is a psychological, philosophical, and spiritual one. We haven't found Utopia, because we have been looking in the wrong place (outside, instead of inside) and for the wrong thing ('imitation love', instead of real love and peace). Your awakening is the only thing that you can control, and it will radiate effulgent beautiful shockwaves of energy, that will encourage others to do the same. Be awake, reflective, intuitive, joyful, compassionate, loving, and peaceful. This all comes from waking up to the Utopian abundance that you seek BEing here now. All is well. You simply need to trust and take the leap, and watch, with new eyes, the world be created by you giving birth to your saviour: Your saviour is you. The Bible is simply a metaphor for this. Turn the world on its head. We need small government and visionary, awake humble people who are not craving external validation (as a result of self-centred fear) to run the show. We have forgotten that institutions, and the political and economic systems that try to govern us are here to serve us, not the other way around. Watching a parliamentary debate is like watching children fighting in a playground.


We all need to stop being the cause of war. It is our violence, hidden and denied as our shadow that leads to drama, conflict and war. The violence of the world is on each of us. J. Krishnamurti wrote “Inside you is the cause of every war. It is your violence, hidden and denied, that leads to wars of every kind, whether it is war inside your home, against others in society, or between nations.” We are sharing in a shared self and contributing to the collective unconscious. Denial is powerful. The shadow is secretive. We all need to stop holding up negativity. It represents a deep sense of inferiority in ourselves. Just before we create negativity we feel what we don’t want to feel. That’s how we know. Carl Jung said "If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of your Self. What isn't part of our Selves doesn't disturb us."


Edward Edinger said "Confronting the shadow means to stop blaming others." Carl Jung said "Everyone carries a shadow, and the less embodied in the individual's conscious life, the blacker and denser it is." When you are unhappy with something only you can bring joy to your Self. One needs to be able to give oneself a free pass to make mistakes on our journey. Any spiritual or compassionate approach would incorporate this. Then you can’t fail. Love that radical Self-compassion. You can only fail if you stop loving your Self. Be your best friend. Reparent your Self with love.


Now, let's get creative! Visualise your Utopia during meditation. That is when you may connect with your higher power. What does it look like, feel like, smell like? Feel free to be as imaginative as you want. Remember, this is your Utopia, and you call the shots! Visualise your higher Self dwelling there. Fuse with him and become one. For me it would be being in my favourite place, with all the people that I love. I will never again get up form that place, my Utopia, the seat of my soul. Worry not about the people scrapping outside. They are simply illusions! I banish toxicity from my life. Leave the 'Drama Triangle' behind and enter presence.


Conclusions

Chasing Utopia by changing the shape of civilisation or through tech is futile. We have thousands of years of history, failed political doctrines, and societal toxicity to prove it.


Emotions are real. They are our gold, for they lead to our wisdom. If someone is upset with you, it’s nothing to do with you. Hand it back: With clarity. Be angry (anger is fine) and assertive, not full of guilt. You have nothing to be ashamed about. Respond, in your time (some people call this God's time): Don't react. Get in touch with your anger: Yes, you need to connect with it. Then you will stop apologising and people pleasing: These are manifestations of trauma. Connecting with your emotions will give you your voice back, and allow you to step out of the shadows. Karma is a real bitch. It really is. A compassionate heart can engage evil and toxicity directly, bring light to your life, and protects you from negative Karma. 


Aretha Franklin wrote in her superb version of 'Bridge over troubled Water' “Still waters run deep, Don’t trouble the water.”


The only 'battle' to win in life is an inner one: Between the ego and the higher power. The ego dissolves in the solution that is awareness or presence. Pour that miraculous loving present moment solution all over the ego and watch it dissolve. 


Be the best you that you can be. Be the real, authentic you. There is no need for an actor (your false self, a.k.a. your fake self, a.k.a. your ego). There is nothing to be afraid of. It's just the ego talking - fear is the language that the ego speaks.


John Maynard Keynes wrote “The difficulty lies, not in the new ideas, but in escaping from the old ones." This is why we have to get well and heal, to light up the way to those who are lost and are looking to choose the path of waking up.


Utopia consists of de-identifying with the ego, and identifying with your higher power. The deafening demands of the death-denying ego are like a call from mermaids to the sea: You WILL drown if you follow the ego.


Just like our ego, 'civilisation' needs to be a useful servant, not a terrible master. If each of us brings our life into balance, purpose, and we are prepared and brave enough to do the inner work, then ‘civilisation’ will be reborn too. The archaic institutions will tumble and fall. The new ways of subjugating you being spearheaded by giant tech and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will never take off as a source of joy, and will fall flat on their clunky VR goggled face. Let's let AI become our servant. Rutger Bregman continues “In fact, it has become increasingly profitable not to innovate. Imagine just how much progress we’ve missed out on because thousands of bright minds have frittered away their time dreaming up hyper complex financial products that are ultimately only destructive.”


Any systems that are required for Utopia will self-assemble through human needs, service, compassion, creativity, love, positive psychology, and philosophy. Philosophy is all about the search, the enquiry: The Journey. Be present to life. 


Rutger Bregman in his seminal book ‘Utopia for Realists’ wrote that “You can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps if you have no boots.” You have to do the inner work before you can step into your own Utopian ideal. This is your Hero's Journey. Bregman continues "The inability to imagine a world in which things are different is evidence only of a poor imagination, not the impossibility of change.”


Rutger Bregman wrote "What is the value of free speech when we no longer have anything worthwhile to say?. What purpose does freedom of religion serve when we no longer believe in anything: Not even ourselves?"


As Victor Hugo wrote "There is nothing like a dream to create the future. Utopia today, flesh and blood tomorrow." It's up to you whether flesh and blood has a sinister meaning of toil, trauma, pain, and tears or relates to reality and the positive qualities that all people may have that make Heaven on Earth a reality for you. Wake up to abundance: It's your choice of who to be.


Your only task is to fan the flames of the ember of Utopia that is coming alive and setting alight inside you. You can feel it can't you? The term 'Fuelling the fire' or "Add fuel to the fire" originates from Roman times. The saying features in Roman historian Titus Livius's "Ab urbe condita" (From the Founding of the City), which was written 27-9 BC. Set your life alight. Give your Self an energy boost. It's your Utopian destiny. Give your energy to it: You won't regret it. You will effortlessly attract more of the same.


Suffering is due to our disconnection from our inner soul. Meditation is establishing that connection. Replace fear-based thinking with love-based thinking. Every time you’re making a choice ask yourself if it’s going to cultivate the experience of unity and love or the experience of separation, ego, and stress. The question to ask your Self every morning is "Do I want to be host to God or hostage to ego today in all my choices?" Or "What would love choose?"


Be soft, don’t let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain and hate make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree (it really doesn't matter what society thinks - it is broken), you still believe the world to be a beautiful place, and it really is!


Eugene V. Debs wrote "While there is a soul in prison, I am not free." Once you are awake, when you have dropped the rock of your fears, swim in the sea of service. You will start to see miracles starting to become commonplace.


To quote Freddie Mercury from Queen in the first verse of Bohemian Rhapsody, which was played at midnight at the party that I was at, while the fireworks wowed the crowd, but the real showstopper was the snow, against a pitch black sky, all the snowflakes unique and beautiful, like shooting stars, as we move into 2024.


Queen: The first verse of Bohemian Rhapsody:


"Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?

Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality

Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy

Because I'm easy come, easy go, little high, little low

Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me, to me."


When you awaken to your inner Utopia the way the wind blows is irrelevant. It can blow any way that it likes. You will be at peace. That, is priceless.


Marina Wiederkehr wrote "God, why do I storm heaven for answers that are already in my heart? Every Grace I need has already been given me. Oh, lead me to the Beyond within." There's no joy without sorrow; our feelings cannot be neatly compartmentalised and controlled. To know how we feel is to add real richness to our lives. It's to see in colour what we've been seeing in black-and-white. Our feelings are the basis for our reality, our actions, and our inner Utopia. As Brian Tracy wrote “Set peace of mind as your highest goal, and organise your life around it.”


Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we have learned here. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and the acceptance of love back into our hearts. If you can’t change a situation, change your perception of it. Remember, most of your stress comes from the way you respond, not the way life is. Faith is knowing it will all unfold in a wonderful way, even though you cannot see it from where you are standing.


Recognise the intrinsic value in every one of us. Jesus said ‘The Kingdom of God is within you.’ You see, Utopia was never outside of you. Let’s all make 'A Brave You World'. Look inside, love your Self, and pass it on. Your ego is who you think you are: You then live in a Dystopian Hell. Utopia is simply remembering who you are, and never forgetting it, that is Heaven. Utopia, then, is an inside job. The structure of Utopia, is no less than that of your soul, your true self, the real you, your higher power. Give gratitude for your life. Accept the 'isness' of the present moment. You are an alive, limitless, unconquerable human BEing. Welcome to Utopia: Or rather your 'You-topia.' Open your eyes: It's a 'Brave You World.' You have arrived....

 

Namaste.


Sending you love, light, and blessings brothers.


Olly



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Hello,

I am delighted and enchanted to meet you. I coach men with 'Deep Coaching', 'Supercoaching', and Transformative Life Coaching (TLC). Thank you for reading this far. I very much look forward to connecting with the highest version of you, to seeing your highest possibility, and to our conversations. Please do contact me via my email for a free connection call and a free experience of coaching on Zoom or in person. 


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