Day 517: A Little Something About Desteni

From what I have witnessed other people overcome using Desteni’s tools, I can say with absolute certainty that any person wishing to change themselves and their life is capable of doing it using the tools. Unfortunately, nothing is that simple, and one of the biggest obstacle people face in living these tools is that it requires absolute dedication – dedication in themselves. This world is far from perfect, it is cracked and broken

. I see the world and our society as a reflection, or manifestation, of our cracked and broken selves. We are the masters of the world and what we see around us is what we have created – we are individually and collectively responsible for this world. Desteni offers the tools to repair oneself, but there are so many aspects that influence each person’s life that I am not certain that most people would take the opportunity to help themselves. Another aspect is that the community exists online and so any person(s) without access to the internet would also not have access to the community.

Each person in this world is born into a unique set of circumstances, not by their own choice. There are people born into wealth, poverty, illness, deformity, culture, religion, family values, social values – there are so many factors influencing each person. This is essentially the greatest challenge that any person, organisation or community faces in the attempt to make the world a better place. Primarily, people have the tendency to hold onto their belief systems so strongly that they are simply unwilling to consider that there may be an alternative that would lead to a world that is better for everyone. The belief that “I am right” is one that causes much suffering in this world. Take racism as an example: those who believe that the colour of a person’s skin makes them somehow inferior or superior is the epiphany of an irrational and flawed belief system – but the racist person continues to believe in their own superiority because to them, it is what is “right”. In this particular human behaviour I would like to share another principle that Desteni shares: The idea that a person’s opinion is their right is one of the greatest abuses of human rights. There are so many atrocities stemming from peoples’ opinions. Desteni proposes that we instead live according to principles such as do unto another as you would like to be done unto you, and investigate everything and take that which is best. The former principle is perhaps the more applicable to the particular topic I am discussing: that we as people have a tendency to assume that our beliefs are “right”, even when they are not in everyone’s best interests is one of the greatest contributors to human suffering today. Take the current debate on economic inequality: those who are in power and are enormously wealthy believe that they deserve their wealth more than anyone else, and that those people who live in poverty somehow deserve it. This opinion can in no way be seen as being in the best interests of all of humanity, but it is still accepted because of our flawed belief that to have an opinion is somehow a right. Is it still a justifiable right if it leads to someone’s suffering? This is simply one aspect of the current global issues that Desteni members investigate. 

Desteni suggests writing as a tool to investigate oneself and grow as a person. The 7 Year Journey to Life is one platform the Desteni uses, it is a daily writing or video log that one can share on the internet if one so chooses. The principle is that a participant writes in a journal style, daily if possible, about whatever issue, event, thought or belief system they are currently dealing with. When I say “dealing with”, I mean that the person is working on investigating and essentially letting go of whatever pattern(s) may be detrimental to them. The 7 Year Journey to Life takes form in multiple ways, some people write about their own experiences, while others write about global/societal issues. The purpose of sharing the writings (or video logs) is to provide support to other people who are currently dealing with the same topic, or who are just investigating a particular topic.

The Forum at the Desteni website is also available as a support platform where people can share their writings (experiences) and receive input from others who have had similar experiences. This input mostly comes in the form of suggestions for the person seeking advice to ask themselves questions in order for them to clarify for themselves how best they can support themselves – because this is essentially what Desteni stands for: providing people with the tools with which they can support themselves. With this in mind, the support that people give each other on the forum centres around helping each other to see different aspects of any one situation, in order to be better enabled to make an informed, practical choice on how to move forward.