The following post comes courtesy of Evolver blogger Rae Liera. You can read this and other posts – primarily dealing with bridging the spiritual and political – on her blog here.
You ARE a political being!
I’ve heard SO MANY spiritual people say, “I’m not political.” I have news for you. You ARE a political being. Like a fish swims in water, you swim in a matrix of political thoughts and institutions. And just like the fish is never out of contact with the water, you are never out of contact with the political world that has woven itself around you.
And just like the fish could only know it is in water through the experience of leaving the water, you will probably never understand the depth and degree to which your consciousness is interwoven with the political world until you pull your consciousness free from it, until you take the time to allow the invisible matrix to be seen.
Spiritual people often acknowledge that everybody is spiritual – that there is nothing that is not made up of God-stuff – so even if you don’t define yourself as a spiritual person, and even if you are not consciously on a spiritual path, nonetheless you are a spiritual being still on a destination that will eventually lead to your Self Realization.
Well, Dear Spiritual People – in exactly the same way that everybody is spiritual, everybody is political. And just like the spiritually ignorant person will at some point embrace their spirituality consciously – in this life or another – all of us will be required to awaken to Political Life. It is part and parcel of true awakening.
That time began for me about four years ago. Until that moment, I was blissfully and willfully ignorant of Political Life. I was interested only in my spiritual development. I believed that it was not only not necessary for me to concern myself with the political reality of my world; I considered it detrimental to my spiritual health. The whole of my attention was on my personal awakening and with that undiluted focus came mystical experiences, breakthrough experiences, highs that lasted for months, miracles of healing, etc. Many of the experiences that spiritual people seek to know.
But the experiences came and went and what I noticed was that although I could have a level of peace seemingly rare in the world, it did not last. And more importantly, I realized that I was not in a peaceful world. My country was and is divided between the left and the right and this is billed as somehow normal and inevitable. 9/11 and the Middle East. Israel and Palestine. The sirens never stop and the police helicopter makes regular appearances in my air space.
So who am I kidding? Am I really at peace when I live in a world that is expressing this much pain? How real can such a peace be? And if everything that is happening outside of me is a reflection of my own consciousness, then what do all of these events reflect about me? I still don’t have answers to these questions, but I’m no longer satisfied with a hide-my-head-in-the-sand version of spiritual life.
By the time my political awakening came, I had come to trust the unfolding of Life. My goal has always been awakening – the full Real Deal awakening, as I often say. And my spirituality had taught me to simply trust whatever came into my awareness and to embrace it – to follow its lead, to trust my desire. And so I found myself interested in, fascinated with, repulsed by, and then interested again in the political reality of our world.
To use an often disparaging term, I became what some call a conspiracy theorist – what I call a conspiracy realist. I became a student of history and economics, false flag events and free energy – all the subjects that the lunatic fringe are compelled to consider. Lunatic fringe in this case meaning an intellectually and emotionally flexible person; somebody willing to look beyond pre-packaged reality and question ever more deeply what’s possible, what’s real, what is truth – even willing to open to information that by its nature is upsetting.
This, I feel, is the inevitable unfolding of a path dedicated to full awakening. Each will eventually awaken to the world all around… not just the world within. Maybe not this life, but in another. As spiritual people we often say that We Are One or One Love. If that is so, then the world outside me and the world within are One, and if I am living in a world where millions of people are being killed and starving, then what part of me is responsible for that?
It was not until he reached the university that he began to recognize that all these injustices did not come by chance, but were the inevitable results of our economic system. Capitalism did not merely enslave the workers, it also vitiated taste and vulgarized intellect - hence our educational system and hence the lack of recognition for new genius. This discovery had made him a communist, but when the war came along and he saw Russia in alliance with the capitalist governments, he had found himself once more isolated and had to become a conscientious objector.
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The reading above hits the heart and soul. I read an ebook on Kindle, Toll Booth, and it reflects the same sentiments and a whole lot more. I know we are the leaderless movement however, I believe a leader is coming that breaks down all the layers, as I read in the book. I also believe the great change will come, the greed is just too much.
Thanks for your comment, Chris. We will see about a leader. On one hand, the whole point of Occupy is for all of us to become our own leaders. On the other hand, given the way the world is set up today, having a more defined leadership structure does make it easier to get things done. Hopefully, we’ll all be clear and open-minded enough to make the right decision should that possibility present itself in the future. Of course, there are people running for office today under the banner of Occupy, so I guess you could call them leaders in a sense.
I agree with your response. I believe we will know the leader when he or she arrives. Everything happens for a reason. Nothing is random. I pray everyday.