Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unsplash
From a spiritual perspective or the perspective of oneness, all creatures are worth the same. There is nothing or no one above the other. I’ve experienced this state of consciousness in my own experience many times.
It is as if all the borders You have in Your mind melt away, and You understand that this game we play on the earth is quite meaningless. There is actually no need to hurt anyone or play mind games, or power games.
Because in that state of consciousness everything is love.
Meaning You have everything all the time (might sound like a spiritual cliche but we can call it “abundance of everything”) and the concept of lack or “losing someone’s love and affection” does not exist.
Which in my view is one of the reasons for the games we play here. Maybe even the main reason. We are so deeply afraid of being alone and not being love and/or lovable.
Understanding the concept of worth from the perspective of human society is much different than this.
Here we have laws and ideas about worth passed down to us by older generations or previous ones. And also different influences like our parents, friends, “social media influencers”, “thought leaders”, they all give us different ideas about what makes us worthy. Many of these come from emotional reactions as well.
Here are some popular ones (not necessarily in that order but here’s what I perceive it to be):
1. Success and status
2. Money
3. Achievement
3. Power or influence over others
4. Possessions
5. Higher education
6. Doing something else humans find valuable. Or having skills others find valuable.
7. Looks
8. Sexual magnetism
The important thing here is that this type of worth is impermanent and valid for a short period of time. It can be taken from You at any given moment. The other kind discussed in the first part of the article is more permanent but harder to understand and get to.
If You have at least some of those You can consider Yourself worthy in the eyes of the human society. You have some worth.
But notably, this does not mean You actually have an understanding of some inner worth. Or that You actually think as a person that You are worth something. It might actually mean the opposite. Meaning, deep down You feel worthless still, regardless of those achievements or looks, etc.
This only means You are worthy in the eyes of others in our human society.
The reason for me writing this is to actually distinguish these and give You an idea that these are different things.
If You can understand this then You can go towards what it is You actually desire. Obviously You can go towards both at the same time.
Some points for consideration if You choose to go towards the human society kind of worth:
1. It is very fleeting. You will get it only for a short period of time. And then You have to go looking for it again. The basis of this type of worth is that it’s given to You from the outside.
2. Your worth is dependent on others and the perception of others. If that changes, so does Your worth as a human being.
3. If You do something “wrong”, Your worth will be taken from You. Ties together with the previous point but important to mention.
Important to understand that neither is “good” or “bad”. They are both valid experiences and ones we are having constantly. Although one is more prevalent in our society than the other.
But for the sake of Your own freedom, it is important to distinguish these.
Because let’s say You achieve some worldly status in Your life. Something we all go for.
If You think this is a lasting experience, You will be greatly disappointed. And You will probably suffer thanks to the idea that could go something like this in Your head “I have achieved this, now I’m worthy, others will think I’m worthy and the emptiness within myself will no longer exist.” This is actually not the case.
Although it will momentarily feel good, the experience itself is very short-lived. As the emotional tides of the other humans shift, so does their attention on Your doings and achievements.
And the idea and perception that You are worthy of something because You accomplished x, will start to vanish.
Most likely You will start again and something similar repeats.
The only reason for distinguishing this is Your sense of freedom.
Because if You expect something to be something in Your mind but once You get there You experience it to be something else entirely. Then that is usually when suffering happens.
If You know what will await You, You can approach all of these things we give each other worth for, from a healthier and grounded, mature place.
Ian Altosaar
