Stop Responding To The False Appearing Real

I used to have a few registered trademarks. I kept most of them for over fifteen years, which required renewing periodically.

While I had them, I would get notices about an upcoming renewal. I had assumed that the notices were bills from the trademark office because they looked very official and had all my information on them.

However, when I looked at one bill, I noticed it contained a fee to register the mark internationally and a fee paid to an agency. It took careful inspection to discover this was a solicitation and not an actual bill from the trademark office.

Another bill had a fee more in line with what I remembered it to be. It looked even more official and had a huge “deadline” date on it.

However, “something” didn’t feel right, so I wrote to the trademark office about finding the information to file and pay online, as I had done before.

They responded that they never send bills or even reminders.

So, I looked at the “bill” again, and right there, in plain sight, was a bold statement that said it was a solicitation and was not from the trademark office at all.

It boldly and clearly stated its counterfeitness, but my perception saw it as real until I looked again.

This bold-faced lying, which we simply ignore, is everywhere.

What’s going on here?

We have the power to stop taking part in anything false. By choosing to pay attention, we can recognize what isn’t true when we stand up for what is.

Counterfeit caring surrounds us as political posturing, counterfeit love as abuse, and counterfeit healing as dangerous addictions.

We not only allow bold-faced lying about ideas and others to be promoted; we pass these ideas around and start believing them ourselves.

We know better than this.

We have the courage, strength, foresight, intelligence, and principles not to be swayed by lies.

We can pause, listen, and investigate before acting or believing.

We can choose not to participate in lies, either in words or in action.

Since what we perceive to be reality magnifies, each one of us must put a stop to anything that we take part in that promotes counterfeit thinking or acting.

We must stop acting in counterfeit ways. We must stop accepting that violence and retaliation, either in actuality or in rhetoric, are acceptable or even understandable.

Sometimes, we take part in the counterfeit by simply doing nothing.

• Instead, we need to actively declare and actively work for Good, actively declare and actively work for compassion and understanding.

• Actively not put divisions up between people and ideas, but open our hearts to what is the common element in each of us.

This will begin to dissolve the illusion within and for ourselves. And because what is within is witnessed without, we will see it dissolve the illusion for the world, too.

Stand firm against the illusion, know yourself and others within the context of the expression of good and love, and the counterfeit of these qualities will be revealed as a lie.

Without our attention and acceptance, lies have no power. The hypnotic pull to either produce or participate in what is false will dissolve, and all of us will walk free as “some holy thing.”

When from the lips of Truth one mighty breath

Shall, like a whirlwind, scatter in its breeze

The whole dark pile of human mockeries.

Then shall the reign of Mind commence on earth,

And starting fresh, as from a second birth.

Man in the sunshine of the world’s new spring,

Shall walk transparent, like some holy thing.

From Thomas Moore’s Poem: “The Veiled Prophet”