This play was written for and performed as part of the Vedanta 10 Minute Play Festival at the King Street Theatre in Sydney, Australia on June 8, 2014.

(A man stands just outside the light)
Man: Hello. Hello. Is there anybody there? Hello?
Voice: Step into the light, please. Who are you?
Man: I’m John. John Smith.
Voice: What brings you here, John?
Man: I was told that you might be able to help me. You see, my GP has diagnosed me with depression.
Voice: I see.
Man: He referred me to a clinical psychologist and he diagnosed me with severe clinical depression, multiple personality disorder, seasonal affective disorder and bipolar disorder.
Voice: Is that all?
Man: No, actually, in addition to that I’m a chronic alcoholic. I’m a drug user, both recreational and prescription. I undereat. I overeat. Sometimes I regurgitate. I’m prone to mood swings. You see, I can get very aggressive very quickly. I self-harm on a regular basis. And I just can’t give up the bloody cigarettes! My doctor and therapist have tried all manner of things to try and cure me of these afflictions, but nothing has worked. So that’s why I’ve come to you.
Voice: I can help you with this… this… let’s call it "disorder" for the purpose of ease.
Man: I think you’re trivializing it a bit. My problems are very complex. My therapist said as much, and I really can’t see a way out. I’m considering suicide.
Voice: Disorder isn’t a bad thing. The whole universe is in perfect disorder.
Man: What are you talking about? My doctor says—
Voice: Your doctor sent you to me.
Man: Yes he did, so please help me.
Voice: Ok. First of all, I need to ask you some questions to get to know a bit more about you. Do you have any brothers and sisters?
Man: Yes, I have seven. Some are closer than others.
Voice: And is there any history of psychological disorders in the family?
Man: I don’t believe so. I’m gifted, you see, and this has placed a huge burden on me from a very early age.
Voice: In what way are you gifted?
Man: I don’t wish to bore you with the details (pause) well soon as you ask, I am able to create complex systems that can replicate themselves. It’s taken me years to perfect the technique and it’s unique to me only.
Voice: And what do you do for living?
Man: That’s a difficult question to answer. If I was to sum it up I would say that mainly I rotate.
Voice: Interesting. How old are you?
Man: Old, but always new.
Voice: But what is your age?
Man: Four and a half billion... I mean 40... ish.
Voice: What did you say your name was again?
Man: Umm... John.
Voice: UmJohn. And your surname, UmJohn?
Man: Um... oh, alright. My name isn’t John. It isn’t even UmJohn. It’s Planet. Planet Earth.
Voice: Planet Earth!!! The Planet Earth! Wow, I am very honoured to meet you. Yes you do have some issues.
Man: Thank you. At least now you are taking me seriously.
Voice: I most certainly can help you, Mr Planet.
Man: Please. Just call me Earth.
Voice: Earth, from now on, for this to work I need you to be open and I need you to be honest with me. Ok?
Man: Ok.
Voice: Now, you say you’re depressed. How does this manifest itself?
Man: I just so feel so down in the dumps all the time. I don’t know why. I do try to be happy. I‘ve got so much going for me. I’m beautiful. And my humanity has created this amazing thing called the media. It’s a phenomenal achievement. But it constantly tells me what a bad person I am and how dangerous I am. I’m in a constant state of hysteria. And there are never enough of my internal resources to go around. But there are times, mainly when I’m asleep, that I feel at peace. But I always wake up to this wretched feeling again. I think I was happier not knowing the truth about myself.
Voice: So this constant stream of images, words, judgments and put downs. You really believe that this is the truth?
Man: Absolutely. My media says so. You couldn’t possibly believe otherwise, could you?
Voice: Hmmm… perhaps. Moving on. This seasonal affective disorder, what does this do to you?
Man: Well, initially, I used to find that I was down in the dumps for short periods, usually when the darkness would come. So I used my humanity to illuminate myself during the dark periods. That way I could bask in the light all the time and I would never be unhappy. For a short period of time, this worked. But then I started having trouble sleeping and I craved the darkness. I was desperate to get some rest. But when I tried to get my humanity to turn the lights back off, it couldn’t. Or it wouldn’t! Now I can’t work out which are light times and which were dark times. So I just feel dark all the time.
Voice: How can we have light if we do not have the dark? (Pause) This multiple person thingy; how does this manifest itself?
Man: I’m torn. My humanity is divided and I don’t think I can put it back together. Each part has assumed a different name. Some of them co-operate but others are in open conflict. There are even parts within the parts that can’t agree. I just can’t control it.
Voice: There are no divisions.
Man: There are! That’s why I self-harm. My humanities are attacking each other.
Voice: You say you are trying to give up smoking. Why is this important to you?
Man: I’m polluting my body. The facts are there. I’ve been having hot flushes and my doctor says it’s because of the smoking. My media reminds me every day. They say I’ll continue to get warmer and warmer, until eventually I die a slow and painful death. Not only that, but my skin is getting thinner. I am getting sunburnt a hell of a lot more lately.
Voice: So why do you do it?
Man: It relaxes my humanity. You wouldn’t understand the pressure I am under. Being as naturally gifted as I am is not without its stresses.
Voice: I am sensing a common theme here.
Man: Really? What? A troubled childhood, perhaps?
Voice: No.
Man: My gift?
Voice: No. Do I really need to spell it out?
Man: I’m lost.
Voice: Yes, you are lost.
Man: What is it, then?
Voice: Humanity.
Man: (Laughs) You’re not seriously suggesting that humanity is the cause of all my problems?
Voice: Well, in a way, yes.
Man: Don’t be so bloody ridiculous! I can’t believe what you are insinuating. How dare you!
Voice: All I am trying to say—
Man: No, you hang on a minute. My humanity is a supreme intelligence that is unrivalled. In fact, it is completely unique. There is no other. I have been responsible for some of the most advanced scientific achievements. I have created tremendous works of art and musical masterpieces. I have been to the moon. I have stretched way beyond my solar system and I have been able to see as far as the most distant galaxies.
Voice: Yet, you are considering suicide. Look, I’m not saying that your humanity is the cause of all your problems. But it does seem that your interpretation of this humanity is rather questionable. You see it as truth.
Man: But my humanity is in me. It defines me. It is me. It is what sets apart me from all other planets in the solar system.
Voice: Think about this for a minute; I agree you have a gift; for simplicity let’s just call this the gift of life…
Man: Hmm. I do like that.
Voice: Now, is this gift dependent on your humanity?
Man: (Pause) I suppose not. Life itself was here before humanity. But if I didn’t have humanity, I would be ordinary, I would be—
Voice: Just stop talking for a minute and listen.
(Pause)
Man: Yes?
Voice: Sssh.
(Pause)
What do you hear?
Man: I can hear a dog barking. I can hear a fan, an air conditioning unit.
Voice: Ok, but underneath that? What can you hear?
Man: Nothing.
Voice: That’s silence. Out of silence comes all noise. But all noise returns to silence. Underneath your humanity is your pure divinity, the silence that is and always will be.
What happens when your humanity’s time has come to pass? Will you quit rotating?
Man: No.
Voice: Will you quit being beautiful?
Man: No.
Voice: Your humanity will be your humanity. It will ebb and it will flow; it will come and it will go. Your divinity is for eternity.
Man: (Realization) I am not my humanity. Wow. It is in me but it doesn’t define me.
(Pause)
(Earth turns to walk away, then stops and turns back around)
Man: Wait a minute. Who are you?
Voice: The sun.
Man: Who?
Voice: The Buddha.
Man: Who?
Voice: Oprah.
Man: Who?
Voice: God.
Man: God?
Voice: Divinity.
Man: Who?
Voice: PLANET EARTH.
(Silence)
(Lights out)

Watch A Global Awakening here: 

Anyone is welcome to perform this play publicly for free, but first, please email details of the performance to the author at llmohj3@googlemail.com.

Jeremy Mohamed specializes in creative writing for performance. He is originally from the UK, but currently resides in Sydney, Australia. He is a keen proponent of mindful awareness and conscious living, and he uses this, among many other things, as inspiration for his work.
image 1: a world map via Shutterstock; image 2: Global warming? via Shutterstock

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