WHAT CAN I DO TO CHANGE THE WORLD

On this early spring day, I was slowly walking towards the Winooski river in Waterbury, Vermont. I felt light and relaxed. Birds were singing, reflecting that spring was just beginning to emerge from a long winter. An eastern cedar was dancing with the wind as spirals of movement flowed up and down through its arching branches. Three silky gray colored bohemian waxwings were eating ripe red berries from a tall bush.

After some time, I found myself walking on the river’s path. I passed a few people and smiled. The river was full and swollen from the melting snow. Canadian geese conversed with one another. A beaver was searching for a new home. Kaleidoscopic clouds swept across an azure sky. There was a wonderful quietness within me and I was in deep joy. I felt connected to everything. All was flowing with Wholeness or as some people say, God.

There was no separation. I was connected in presence with Wholeness and was in love. Here was the sacred. When flowing in Wholeness, love flows with ease. Here, I can’t judge anyone no matter who they are, what belief they have or even when they are acting out toxically.

It is as Christ says, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

I never really understood what he was really saying here. Now I do. The rest of this stream of consciousness illustrates what this truly means.

From an external perspective, our world seems like it is full of conflicts, full of enemies, full of suffering. Yet, is this anything new? We can reflect back on history and see that our society has not really changed at all. Conflict, dysfunction and injustices have seemed to be the nature of our culture. To try and combat this dysfunction, our culture birthed religions that have tried to point the way to saving ourselves from suffering. Tolstoy, Gandhi, Jane Addams, Rachel Carson, Rousseau, and Martin Luther King Jr., to name a few, have tried to promote peace, goodwill, love and connection.

Yet, even with all this wisdom, nothing has really changed. What they were pointing to was rarely lived. We continue to hate, to be greedy, to exhibit violence. I have come to see the reason for this is simple. Our culture has taught us that we are separate from the world. So we see problems outside of ourselves and look outwardly for change to happen.

Because of this, we miss seeing the root of all problems, which come from the very consciousness that has been taught into us.

We are taught into a dysfunctional way of thinking built from the premise that we are separate from the world. As long as we come from that foundation, we will be inherently in conflict with the world around us. Culture isn’t outside of us, rather it is our very enculturated consciousness that projects all the drama we see in the world. Instead of trying to change the world, we must observe our own conditioned consciousness.

As Tolstoy shared, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”

What is it that I can do to change the world?

How does one first question the very roots of their own fragmentary thinking especially when one has rarely connected their thinking to how one perceives the world? I wonder if the answer is very simple.

There is nothing one can do except to pause and observe one’s own enculturated thinking and learn how to engage with an openness to listen, wonder and understand. By letting go of all our beliefs, we will come to the source of all that is. Wholeness.

If we can then discover our Wholeness, our very actions will flow from there. Instead of reacting and creating more problems or trying to force change, we would interact with compassion and love.

If we really want to be free, then we must break free from our own conditioning.

To truly change, we must stop judging and creating the idea of enemy, even those that are toxic or engaging in acts of violence. This is what Christ was pointing to.

It is easy to love those who we get along with. However, as long as we fight injustice with injustice, nothing changes. Only love can change the world. Instead of judging others, we must look within our own self.

As Martin Luther King said, ​“Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

This is the only revolution that will ever change the world for oneself is the world. A revolution that is not violent nor external, but rather an inner revolution. This revolution is not reactive but happens by the very act of listening and letting go and healing our own pain and sorrow.

As we let go, and begin to listen, Wholeness begins to open us up, heals us and gives space for us to listen with compassion to the world around us.

Here, as we move into Wholeness, we can also begin to dialogue instead of argue. We can look to understand and continue to challenge our beliefs and opinions to see how they divide and enter into what is true. If we can stop personalizing and be curious with a heart of wonder, we would see the nature of the self in all people.

Instead of hate and fear leading the way, love and compassion flow. This is the only way and has always been the way.

We have tried war. We have tried debate. We have tried violence. They have only created more sorrow.

It is time to try love.