From “Just—ice” to “Just—Us”
It is said that ignorance is bliss. Many see this alone as truth, but those who have experienced the ills of ignorance now see this and mentally “zoom out,” see more of the Big Picture…a deeper truth. As blissful as ignorance may be, it can also be blinding: whether a blindfold was conditioned around our minds with protective intent, or our mind’s eye was maimed by the misdeeds of those who first touched us, we further restrict our own vision by our own mirrored mistakes.
In hindsight, it is most clear how being beneficially informed about what is going on around me has always served me much better than being blissfully ignorant…in every instance.
Yet, who is not born into a world where darkness seems to reign, until the Light needed to illumine what is really there is found, not “without,” but within? How can we see that which seems fearfully separate in darkness unless Light Unobscured shows us all of what is really there, lovingly HERE, a part of the same space we occupy? How can we know Who and What we really are until we can see ourselves IN RELATION to everything else?
This is also true for the institutions we create, including the one responsible for correcting the vision of those who’s perception of Who they are and What they are part of is darkened most…the Criminal Justice System.
It is also said that Justice is blind, symbolized by Lady Justice wearing a blindfold. But it has been Her blindness…Her blissful ignorance regarding Who She is and What She is a part of that has resulted in the making and enforcement of laws, the abuse of power, and the societal callousness that has demonstrated that we do not know who we are as a collective of individuals, while denying in darkness the Whole we all make up.
Fear blinds. Love sees. And as the transreformative Light of Conscious Thought begins to Shine from within the darkest recesses of society—the Criminal Justice System—Lady Justice is in the maturation process of removing Her youthful, “protective” blindfold.
Consequently, laws are changing and being litigated with creative clarity, restoration is replacing revenge, and Love is healing, giving everyone new life, even those like myself who were once legally condemned to die in an abysmal, incarcerated ignorance that is anything but blissful.
In the discovery of who I am as a Human Being, a part of an entire Earth Community, the evolution of our Criminal Justice System has become clear to me as the people of our planet increasingly—and inevitably—realize the totality we are all parts of. Specifically, as we continue to consciously grow as individuals and as a country, we are consequently demonstrating a gradual shift as the focus of criminal justice has gone from one of mere Crime Control to one of Due Process.
A clear look at the Criminal Justice System in America from its inception in light of everything going on today displays a growing and greater awareness of Human Rights, not only with regard to the safety and well-being of our law-abiding citizens, but those members who, in one form or another, are reprimanded for violating these laws. Not only are the conditions of incarceration improving for the better—but the laws themselves—reflecting a gradual awakening to the cause of all crime, as well as the role and responsibility each member of our society has within our Justice System.
My life experience, personal incarceration, universal accountability…framed by what I’m learning and witnessing as part of the Criminal Justice System EVERYDAY, portrays a blooming collective awareness of what our Ultimate Reality is in the U.S. and on this planet: the realization that there is JUST US! As the causation of crime becomes crystal clear in due time, Due Process will be perfected; crime prevention and controlling crime being the natural by-products.
We will explore the effects of what I like to call “The Grand Pendulum,” whose two swinging extremes touch two opposing perceptions of Justice Itself: “Just-ice” and “Just-Us,” where the roots of Crime Control and Due Process reside, respectively. As the idea of “Doing Justice” began as the number one goal of our Justice System over 253 years ago (given our initial, united understanding and perception of joint needs), it stands to reason that our Pendulum’s swinging action had to begin with Crime Control in order to come to the realization of Due Process: not just its necessity, but its actuality.
Our perception of “crime” and the “criminal” directly correlates to our perception of “justice”; as the former two change, so does the latter. Being that every crime is preceded by a conditioned belief—and more effectually, a conditioned belief system—so too is every perception of crime, and every idea of what “must” be done in the name of “justice.” Further, as all crime inherently goes against the best interests of society and its members, there must be a fundamental causal belief that one is separate from the very individuals/society crime is committed against, otherwise, no benefit from the commission of crime, however grand or innocuous, would nor COULD be perceived.
Reflectively, when one who has been thought to—through criminal acts—do the the impossible and separate themselves from the individual(s)/Earth Community that could only encompass everyone, then equally delusional ideas for controlling and preventing crime are the consequence. In other words, “corrective” measures are taken that involve merely isolating and/or executing perceived criminals, both of which are physical/temporary solutions that do not acknowledge, address, or treat the CAUSE of crime.
In both cases, both perceived criminal and perceiver of the criminal act on the Belief in Separation that exists in appearance, not in actuality.
Our identifying with separate appearances instead of our joint actuality has led to our attempts at “Doing Just—ice,” where we “coldly” attempt to just “ice” one another. Every time we act against a perceived criminal’s best interests by delusionally seeing them as separate from ourselves and the society responsible for them, we further validate their criminal delusion as real in our impossible attempt to separate them from the society they obviously ALREADY felt apart from.
Unsurprisingly, Crime Control and Crime Prevention has not yet become ideal (and that’s putting it mildly).
Yet, as appearances between one another are increasingly seen through, and the Cause of crime and the baseness of our humanity understood, Due Process is permanently replacing Crime Control, and will be—the more Crime Control is recognized as a an INHERENT QUALITY of [true] Due Process. As all political, social, and ideological pressures play an innate role in the pendulum-swinging shift of our Shared Consciousness, I will cite some here, along with the overall role they have played and are playing.
Each example, as well as each one of us, plays a part in our nation’s and our Earth Community’s conscious realization that there is JUST—US, being Parts of the same Whole…this being what real, actual, TRUE Justice IS. As will be seen here throughout, and more importantly through our own awakened life experiences, it is this growing realization that is the power BEHIND our Grand Pendulum swing; the liberty that is “DUE” all, understood through the “PROCESS” of living.
The Evolution of the Criminal Justice System
It is my understanding that our evolution as Human Beings entails the ultimate realization that we are all individuated expressions of the same Life/Energy/Consciousness/Love/God/Universal Spirit (or whatever name you have for the All in All), regardless of any ethnic, religious, cultural, socioeconomic, political, national, familial, bodily, or any other conditions we may consider part of our world.
All conditions—like the world itself—are merely the contextual field through which Life (unconditioned and universal) experiences Its Being in the Earth realm; all physical phenomena created from Life’s mental nomena. As I myself had to personally go through a most arduous process in order to come to this realization and allow it to become my experience, it is the exact same process we are going through collectively as an Earth community—and with regard to our young nation—as a Criminal Justice System.
Within this process, we must consequently experience being cultivated by the illusion of our conditions in a myriad of ways, and the false convictions therein, in order to transcend them and recover the true, Unconditioned Identity we all essentially/eternally share. As the single Belief in Separation resides at the base of every false, conditioned, delusional belief system of all since time was conceived, even our nation was born as a result of a large population’s separation from England; people who cultivated ideals and a way of living thought better than what The Crown provided. Yet—unseparated—the roots of American policing are founded on the legal tradition of England.
In other words, America’s initial idea of justice appeared to be one of betterment and revolution, different from whence its pioneers came, EXCEPT at its core. Consequently, Crime Control began as the focus; “justice” beginning as a form of “just—ice,” being that our Criminal Justice System was built upon the same intrinsic principles as the country we appeared to separate from.
In the short span of America’s development, the fear at the center of all Separation Belief has worked its way into all of our major institutes. From governments to religions; from education to rehabilitation institutions; from our communities to our families, the cultivation of fearful delusions of separation have stifled our ability to perceive and thrive as a national part of the Earth Community by the Unconditioned Love we’re extensions of.
“Separation, desertion, or divorce is frequently found, and in many instances, the parents are obviously incompatible…too often today churches are separated from schools, social agencies from courts, courts from various industrial, recreational and medical services. As a consequence the average neighborhood of a large city fails to bring all its resources concertedly to bare upon community problems,” said Professor Sheldon Glueck of Criminality at Harvard Law back in 1935, and it is still more true now than ever before, nearly 100 years later.
As it is understood that juveniles make up the largest demographic of those perceived to be criminals—thereby feared—the above quote by professor Glueck reveals the insidious role of our Belief in Separation and consequent fears have played in the cultivation of our family units and the development of our societal institutions in kind.
Being that the family unit is the foundation of society, our System’s method of Just–ice and focus on Crime Control has been built upon this fractured familial structure. With regard to blaming crime on root causes, 30 years ago, James Q. Wilson said, “…We ought not think of the problem of family structure as a black problem, a white problem, or a problem of any particular color. It transcends color and affects all segments of society.”
Ultimately, because of our innate connection, the microcosms of our family and community units BECOME our American institutions and country at large.
“The crime rate rises rapidly through the early adolescent years, peaks sharply in late adolescence and early adulthood, and then declines precipitously and continually throughout life. Thus the crime rate of adolescents and youth is markedly higher than the rate for all other ages…Research amply demonstrates that offenders are relatively unable to sustain a course of action directed at some distant goal, whether the goal be education, friendship, employment, or criminal gain. In fact, The defining characteristic of offenders tends to be low self-control, the inability to consider the long term consequences of one’s acts.”
Does not the above quotable statement microcosmically reflect the macrocosmic process of the world we’ve made under the perception of Just—ice and our evolution from Crime Control to Due Process? As our country moves from adolescence to maturity, not only will our crime rate fall, but we will also gradually develop our long term vision; Due Process and the understanding that there is only Just–Us, being our best and only option.
The key to our national maturity, our refinement of Due Process, and Its improved implementation lies in our increased value in one another over money. “The house cleaning of the present economic order inevitably involves an attack on limitless greed and upon lawless and unjust competitive practices…Without a radical change in attitude and practices on the part of such citizens, there is but little hope of a large-scale, realistic treatment of the crime situation and related social ills within the existing economic order,” Glueck also said 30 years ago, speaking to what is still the case today.
It is no surprise that every effort to “just—ice” one another and cling to the Crime Control model has been monetarily motivated. Economic slavery, or naive “voluntary servitude,” rather—whether you appear to be on the “serving” or “being served” end of things—is responsible for the amount of time it is taking for us to fully commit to the Due Process model and its conscious refinement. Our police have been in-over-their-heads, our courts overwhelmed, and our Corrections facilities have been overcrowded, all due to our collective reluctance to submit to the improved inevitable.
As a result, our collective karma brings us legal situations such as GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT as a means of revealing to us the essence of what Due Process is for us all; Just-Us served through a fundamental, experiential understanding.
As there are a plethora of court cases responsible for our moving in the direction of Due Process’ permanency, and for refining the laws in ways irreversible, I’d like us to focus on GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT here because I believe it touches every aspect of our collective, final “Just—Us” realization; aspects that I’ve narrowed down to three: our transcendence of economic aims, our rights as Human Beings, and our united need of help and reliability from a Source beyond ourselves.
In a nutshell, Mr. Gideon was denied Counsel by a Florida State court, forcing him to inadequately formulate his own defense—which in turn led to his being found Guilty and going to prison. After his appeal denial at the Federal level, his appeal to the Supreme Court led to the highest National Court’s determination that his being denied Counsel was unconstitutional; Mr. Gideon’s release from prison being the Court’s mandate.
The economic transcendence beautifully displayed through his case lies in the perceived monetary motivation on both ends: Mr. Gideon’s “alleged” motivation for breaking and entering a poolroom, and the State of Florida’s apparent motivation for denying Counsel to the indigent Mr. Gideon. Although the State APPEARED to initially financially come out on top by not providing a lawyer for Mr. Gideon AND getting a conviction, Mr. Gideon’s discovery of his rights and what should be fundamental to all Human Beings—as well as his due diligence—led to the physical manifestation of his inherent freedom…OUR inherent freedom per the Constitution.
This transcended not only Mr. Gideon’s initial [alleged] Separation Belief in Lack (as reflected by the crime he was accused of) and perceived indigency, but the perceived monetary gain of the State Court, which tried to deny Counsel and attempt to imprison one Mr. Gideon with whom State officials and all people share rights! Economic transcendence, meet Human Rights.
Also in his reversal, it is recognized that all Mr. Gideon was asking for was what the Court Itself would receive in order to attempt to convict HIM: Counsel knowledgeable of the Law that could help their case. His release was founded on a clear understanding of what we all need3not just in a Court of Law, but in the Court of LIFE—which is some form of Counsel “higher” by way of being more knowledgeable than ourselves, and has our best interest and well-being at heart.
Essentially, born to this one planet in which we all depend on; an Earth community teeming with countless numbers of Separation Beliefs and perceived conditions, who doesn’t need help transcending their delusional cultivation therein? Who doesn’t need help waking to the fact that there is Just—Us, as there has always been and will be?
The Supreme Court validated this realization, as their ultimate decision reflected that Mr. Gideon—like anyone else—deserved the right to be legally counselled by someone beyond himself; someone more knowledgeable of our socially agreed upon laws, regardless of his ethnicity, religion, culture, age, sex, socioeconomic status or any other condition he may have appeared to have—even the condition of perceived criminal guilt and court conviction thereby.
Further, the fact that he was released REGARDLESS of whether he was actually guilty of committing the crime or not; REGARDLESS of how overwhelming the circumstantial evidence against him, demonstrates a recognized value and understanding that is fundamental to all (in this case, the need for “higher” legal guidance), taking precedence over ANYTHING ANYONE can ignorantly do, bound by WHATEVER particular delusion of Separation Belief they may be bound to.
GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT’s conclusion reveals America’s concrete growth from Crime Control’s impossibility to Due Process’ necessity as a primary focus; Due Process refined that much more because of this case and outcome. Through the Supreme Court, Gideon received the Counsel he initially sought and deserved, when it was all said and done. Human Rights, meet Higher Counsel.
All in all, Due Process is the evolution of Crime Control given Its adherence to the Constitution and Its emphasis on Human Rights. Doing Just—ice via Crime Control has proven to be akin to swimming upstream, against the Current of our Collective Consciousness flowing naturally into the Ocean of Just—Us, as is ITs due process…OUR Due Process. Clearly, those still trying to swim against this current—both the delusional criminal and the delusionally detached Just—ice Official—are tiring out (temporarily and economically), as the fruitlessness of separate endeavors, and those of others past, become more evident.
As we continue to recognize the insubstantiality of our separate egos personalities and that of “others,” it will become more clear how those who would insanely even attempt to swim against the Current of our Collective Consciousness and our Due Process—as only our deluded mind would guide us to do—are essentially inconsequential. Our submission to Due Process correlates to our healing mind, one recognizing and embodying the fluidity of Due Process’ direction; using Its power as our own until we all realize the Ocean of Just—Us inevitably ahead.
The Ocean of Just—Us in front of us being our ACTUALITY and Substance.
A 1995 quote from the writings of my one-time Siddha Yoga Instructor, Chidvilasanada, sums it all up beautifully:
“… It is only because of our ego we have to do sadhana or spiritual practice. We do not have to attain God because we are already God. God pervades every part of our bodies, every cell of our blood, and every particle of dust of this Earth. Yet we cannot know that all-pervasive Great Being while bound to our sense of separateness.” In this sense, God is The Ocean of Just—Us that we all come from, are headed to, and are always already part of in Substance.
More so, the Grand Pendulum and Its swing IS the River of Due Process in Its conscious movement, from which we all came into being. Falling from the Ethereal Skies of Crime Control, once our Individual Raindrop Ideas hit the High Grounds of the Constitution and Human Rights, they could only converge as One System flowing IN Due Process to the Ocean that is Just—Us: the ultimate realization where we all begin, end, and always ARE in Substance.
My favorite author, Neale Donald Walsch, had this to say about God being the System that contains all:
“God Is The Largest Manifestation Of A System That Replicates Itself In Smaller And Smaller Versions Through A Process That Empowers The System Itself To Exist And Expand…This is the system of the soul, and it is impeccable. Its functioning is perfect. Its design is elegant. Its purpose is clear. Its power is immutable… It could be no other way or the system itself would disintegrate. That is, it would stop integrating Itself, and thus cease to be. This would mean that God is everything. And this is true. And at the soul level, we know this.”
The fact that our Criminal Justice System is INTRINSICALLY perfect is an ode to our ability to identify with that which is ULTIMATELY perfect—that which is Just—Us—our shared, Ultimate Reality. Due Process is the means through which we SYSTEMATICALLY awaken, all in due time (“time” being THE Process through which all plays out; to which all pays “due”).
There is another great analogy that best finally depicts our evolution from Just—ice to Just—Us and the role of the Transreformatively Committed within our Due Process:
The Doctor who is striving to figure out the Cure to a disease becomes content with making a profit treating the mere symptoms of his Patients, until he is overrun by the Sick. It then no longer becomes financially lucrative nor in HIS best interest to merely treat Symptoms. The Sick are content with merely having their Symptoms treated until, through their worsening disability, they realize it is in their best interest to discover the CAUSE of their Illness so they can fully recover their heal via the Cure (thereby able to help and join forces WITH the Doctor).
Without the Cure and Its administration, the Doctor is just as much bound to Illness as his Patients. The “Doctor” is our Criminal Justice System; the “Patients,” incarcerated persons; the ” Illness,” a mental one: cultivated Beliefs in Separation that ultimately do not exist; Crime Control being the method used to treat the “Symptoms” of Separation Belief and Its corresponding criminal behavior. Due Process has proven to be the means through which we are discovering the cause of “Illness” being our initial Belief in Separation…the realization of Just—Us being the ” Cure.”
In no longer identifying with the cultivated, delusion/illness we once had in Separation Belief, we personally realize the Cure, embodying Just—Us, taking it upon ourselves to administer it in the best and most creative ways we know how; sharing them with both “Doctor” (the Justice System), and Its “Patients” (the Condemned and Condemning alike).
Being that there is Just—Us, “we” is part of “my” identity; all of my creative actions and interactions clear, behavior congruent. Here is the key: through Due Process, we are coming to realize that “Justice” was never something we could “do,” EXCEPT through realization…again, there is JUST—US! With the help of our Constitution and our understanding of Human Rights, Due Process is guiding both incarcerated persons and detached Justice Officials ever toward the universal fact of there only being Just—Us, allowing BEHAVIOR to individually and systematically (through Law) transreform for the best.
Realized in Just—Us, the perceived criminal understands that they HAVE the freedom and love they have always searched for in their conditioned separation delusion; the Criminal Justice System understanding that it IS the Rehabilitation and Transreformation Its been searching for through “Doing Just—ice” via Crime Control.
Will we get to a point where, as a society and a Police Force, we completely stop seeing the delusionally separated as criminals and start seeing them as OUR COMMITTMENTS in the name of Just—Us? Will our Courts get to a place where Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys work together on the Commitment’s behalf; where Prosecutors prosecute the ego-delusion and its foundational Separation Belief, while Defense Attorneys defend the actuality and innocence the Commitment MUST HAVE in the name of Just–Us?
Will Judges ever ONLY sentence Commitments to Indeterminate Sentences and send them to Correctional Institutions that have evolved into Universities of Life Experience; where they are guided through the necessary unconditioning process of their particular separation delusion so Just–Us is finally, cognitively easily accessible? Will the Justice System and our country come to understand how and why the development of Commitments under the realization of Just—Us is within our individual and collective best interest?
Will the Criminal Justice System ever become the COMMITMENT JUST—US SYSTEM?
Speaking for myself, I ignorantly allowed myself to be conditioned by the Belief in Separation for my first 21 years of life, thereby manifesting a delusion that was as deep and dark as one can get. So based on MY own personal unconditioning process, correlated healing demonstration and behavior—and my personal commitment to Just—Us—I’m confident that an emphatic “YES!!” is the answer to all the above questions.
Why? Because if I could transreform and evolve from MY “Just—ice” delusion and all ideas of Crime Control (via controlling through committing crimes) to realizing that in reality there is Just—Us through the Due Process of Life, so will ANY and EVERYONE. Through Due Process, we are collectively realizing what Justice truly is and that we HAVE IT as Just—Us already, no one being outside, separate or unredeemable from this ultimate understanding.
Now in this spirit, let us continue to inspire, administering Just—Us together.
