Living within the Questions
Sheryl Gottschall ©

Jill Tarter, a SETI scientist, was recently quoted as saying “When we ask ourselves are we the only one in the universe, we're asking, is there any other intelligent life in the universe that wonders if it is alone.” Implicit in this statement are other unasked questions like “Is there anyone else like me? What if we are alone, what does that mean? Is this all we can be, our highest ideal? How might humanity be perceived by ETs?” All questions just waiting to be plucked from our hidden depths.

When we expand our question asking we begin a process within that, although it begins by questioning outer space, can very quickly take us on a lifelong journey towards questioning our inner space. As children our earliest general questions may have begun with wanting to know why the sky is blue, which then may have spanned into adulthood with the interminable question of ‘Why me?’ Sometimes we get answers to our questions and sometimes we don’t, the latter often being the case with the UFO phenomenon. This hair-pulling, teeth-gritting phenomenon is very scarce with answers but seems to eternally brim over with more and more questions that can cause us to begin an exploration of our own dimensions, taking our first steps in a quest for higher meaning.

When we turn our thoughts to outer space and ponder about the reports of UFOs that bombard us daily we can begin to ask questions like “Who are they, where are they from and why are they here?” However, for many of us, those three questions over time are transformed into “Who am I, where did I come from and why am I here?” We begin to see a process being activated that takes us further and further into our inner universe where we have the potential to understand more about ourselves.

Again, we may not always get the answers to our questions but this can be a turning point in our journey. Questions with no answers often cause us to ask more questions, some we may have never asked otherwise. Asking questions can pop the cork on all sorts of other questions about our existence, our life and our world. More questioning can cause us to overflow like a fountain carrying us from one aspect of our life to another. Exploration may become our main theme and the journey, not the destination, the real quest. Asking questions about outer space can take us on an inner journey full of wonder, and sometimes letting go of the need to have answers can actually help us in our search.

When we explore the likelihood of other life in the universe we are presented with the opportunity to ask “What are they like? How do they live? What are their beliefs?” When we ask these questions about ET civilisations it can also shine a light on our own way of existence by causing us to question our own values, beliefs and behaviour. We can look at our world and ask “What’s wrong with our world, society and me?” We all share a deep sense that the human race is broken somehow and that something is not working, and maybe part of that is “Me too”.

Then we might ask “What would an ideal ET society look like? What would our world look like if it was right? How would we look at an ideal society? How would I look at my ideal self if I were whole, healed and not diseased?” Again, our own questions about ETs reflect onto ourselves highlighting what needs to be brought to our attention.

Further questions we might ponder on are “How did that ET society get from point A to point B? How does humanity get there? What’s the prescription that will heal us? What still needs to emerge?”

As you can see, questions about extraterrestrial life can create potential for closer examination of ourselves, our world and our global perspective. When we hear the UFO “call” and answer it we are, if you like, turning our inner space inside out so we can put it under the microscope. The UFO phenomenon challenges us to question our own existence, but more importantly our destiny, as human beings. The deeper we delve into this subject the more it urges us to look at what makes us human. This is the flip side of the UFO phenomenon. We cannot ignore it nor can we hide from it. It is there waiting beyond us for our arrival.

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