To Be or Not to Be, That Is Your Choice

Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet’s soliloquy, “To be, or not to be, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. To die—to sleep, no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us pause—”

Was Hamlet debating whether or not to kill himself, or is there a deeper meaning to these words? If you think of “to be” or the state of pure Being as a state devoid of thought or feeling, you get a different meaning to the subsequent words. Hamlet was experiencing mental anguish after discovering his mother was having an affair with his father’s murderer. He was suffering because he was resisting his fate. He was thinking, This is bad. He felt like there was a “threat” to his self (when it is just psychological), causing fight or flight & stress as if he were being attacked by stones and arrows. He thought that accepting the slings and arrows would be suffering and wanted to take arms and resist the opposing forces, thinking that would end his troubles. But suffering results not from accepting but from resisting. Acceptance is realizing that everything that the mind would label as “bad” has a purpose in the evolution of the One. The darkness is necessary in order to experience light!

Hamlet devoutly wishes to end the mental anguish, heartache, and pain, which only happens with the death of the ego, which to him is equivalent to physical death. And he thinks that without thoughts and feeling there would be nothing. It would be like sleeping with maybe some dreams.

Hamlet doesn’t realize that with the death of the ego and the quieting of the mind and heart, he can experience the state of pure Being, the state of Oneness with the Universe. And in that state, he would realize that the drama he is involved in is a dream and the events taking place and characters on stage with him are there to teach him lessons about life.

In the midst of activity, thought, and feeling, stop and simply BE. Be still and know that I AM God. It's your ever-present choice.