The process of transforming September 14, 2006
Posted by bodhidude in : Transformation, blog , add a commentI hear a lot of debate these days among spiritual people regarding how to deal with the state of our world today and considering my approach to this has occupied my mind quite a bit lately. Some people I know choose to ignore what is going on in the world and focus on spiritual practice, positive activities and conscious people. They don’t really want to give any attention to the negative events that are unfolding. I’ve gravitated towards this at times myself but the problem I have with it is that by not acknowledging these events and situations I think we give them power and we don’t realize the part we have played in creating them. By not acknowledging whats playing out in the world we disconnect from our own shadow side and fail to integrate the darkness with the light. Our shadow can then manifest unconsciously and help give rise to negative processes in our external as well as internal world.
Others give so much attention to world events that they become disillusioned, depressed and hopeless. They become so caught up in the negativity of the world that they can no longer see beyond it. I don’t think this is healthy both because its not an accurate picture of whats happening and because engaging in this attitude is like throwing fuel on the fire of negativity.
I’ve been trying to maintain a balance between these two extremes and find the most effective way I can to relate to the environment I find myself in. For me I find it necessary to track what is happening in this country and the world and also to reach out to people I disagree with so as not to become insulated. There is no real way to work for change without being in touch with what you want to change. I also feel like there is a great lesson in the ignorance, delusion and evil that is currently playing itself out and the center piece of that lesson is how we all have a role in creating it. This world is our collective dream and it is all of our karma to be a part of it at this time. If we can come to understand what our role is in it then we can find a real unique way to effect change but first we must acknowledge the negativity and take our share of the responsibility for it. Its not something “out there” that we have no part in, how could that be because we are all interconnected?
On the other side of the coin is the positive potential that this degree of negativity activates. Our world is so skewed in a negative direction right now that there is immense potential for positive
energy and action. The more spiritual practice we can do, the more we can love people unconditionally, the more we can work through our own shadow process, the more we can practice patience and understanding, and the more healing we can do ourselves and help others with the more we can bring this world back into balance.
So I see the process as seeing the negativity and evil for what it is and integrating it while at the same time transforming it into positive loving energy and action. This is like an alchemical process of taking something in, transforming it and sending something else out. This is similar to the Buddhist practice of Tonglen where we take in the suffering and pain of others in the form of black smoke, transform it through our compassion and send them back healing energy in the form of white light.