OUR MODERN WORLD
How did such a beautiful race of beings find themselves where they are today? In our increasingly developed world, humans have largely become disconnected – from the earth, from each other, and from themselves.
As survival and fear have taken over in our ‘scarcity culture’, many of us find ourselves lost in our heads. This type of mass dissociation has led to widespread spiritual numbness, where our collective sense of grief, loss and despair have become background noise that we rarely honor, let alone notice. And yet these unacknowledged feelings still drive our very existence, in ways of which we are largely unaware.
“When an inner situation is not made conscious, it happens outside, as fate. That is to say, when the individual … does not become conscious of his inner contradictions, the world must perforce act out the conflict and be torn into opposite halves.”
― Carl Jung
EXPERIENTIAL AWARENESS
Experiential awareness involves discovering ourselves in the world through a sense of being connected, in an immediate and visceral way, with our inner and outer environment. It includes moving away from a habit of only analyzing and describing our experience of life, to one where we allow ourselves to actually feel. This begins by slowing down enough to raise our awareness of our thoughts, feelings and emotions, especially those which we normally try to avoid. Emotions such as sadness, sorrow, longing and loneliness can be hard to bear.
By regularly engaging in stillness-oriented practices such as sitting & moving meditation, we give ourselves the room to ‘be with’ things in an uncommon way. By also engaging in conversations with sensitive, intelligent and intuitive people – be they friends, therapists, teachers or other guides – we help ourselves make sense of all that arises from these stillness-oriented practices. This can free us up to go a little deeper. And so it goes, from stillness to sense-making, ongoingly making space for ourselves to open up more with each passing year.
PRACTICING PATIENCE
Growth, expansions, and revelations generally arrive in fits and starts, alternating with long stretches of apparent lack of progress. But by resisting the impulse to give up, we are practicing patiently working with our visions, knowing that results come when we least expect them. In fact, they are likeliest to show up when we’ve forgotten our goals completely and are simply engaged in our daily practices with openness and trust.
Experiential awareness involves becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, and taking the seemingly paradoxical step of being willing to face the hard stuff so it has the possibility of loosening its grip upon us. This can be a challenge during a time when it is harder than ever to know that we are safe, we are loved and we have freedom of expression. These three ‘knowings’ are critical to our ability to be embedded in the world and embodied in our experience. In their absence, we tend to shut down.
So how do we reclaim our birthright? How do we come back to a place where we feel we can relax, open and reconnect? At a time when many people are struggling to have their basic needs met, it seems hopeless. And, in a sense, it is. But how do we avoid giving up? How can we begin to turn the tide?
LIVING WITH THE QUESTIONS
There are many facile, pre-packaged solutions offered to us at every turn: “Practice gratitude. Read ‘The Power of Now’. Meditate. Learn tai chi. See a body-worker, a psychotherapist, a psychic. Get an astrological reading.” But how well has the self-improvement movement worked for us so far? When we look ‘out there’ for answers, we often come up short.
What would it be like to live, instead, with important questions, such as: “What do I need to let go of in order to be who I am truly meant to be?” “How can we all live together, as one big family in brotherhood and sisterhood?” “Can I reignite my connection with others, supporting the people around me in a feeling of safety, love and freedom of expression?” “Can I remember to practice harmlessness in thought, word and deed?”
Can we find a way to start exactly where we are? To look around and acknowledge how things are, without judgment? What would it be like to resist the impulse to be defensive and combative when we see and experience things as being ‘against us’? A rude customer, someone cutting us off in traffic, a person supporting causes we oppose.
Generosity of spirit can seem impossible in today’s ‘us against them’ and ‘I’m right, you’re wrong’ culture. But what would it be like to try? What kinds of new connections could be made? What long-dormant feelings may arise? By loving others unconditionally, we are beginning a process of forgiving and loving ourselves more fully.
SERVICE
This way of serving others is an act of courage and a doorway to heightened experiential awareness. When we live a life of true service, the inner and outer rewards can be rich. When we feel safe, we begin to open up – to ourselves, to each other and to the world.
You are safe.
You are love.
You are free to express.
And you are free to experience the joy of being fully alive in a healthy and thriving community.
Ask for what you need. Offer what you can. Declare who you are and what’s important to you. Insist on being your best you – kind, generous and doggedly committed to others. Change happens, but not by trying to fix yourself or anything else. And it requires perseverance and trust.
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Esoteric Mantram
“(I) … work within the individual framework. … (I demonstrate) a definite control of energy, … purity of motive, … deep love of humanity, … selflessness, willingness to follow the light wherever it may lead, ability to begin work within the larger framework the moment such an attempt becomes possible, clear vision and spiritual insight, a developed intuition, and an undeviating intention and strong faith in the future.” ― “The Rays and the Initiations“, p. 154-155 by Alice A. Bailey
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