Inner Transformation

Inner Transformation

We all are feeling the impact of these changing times. There is a subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, fear that subliminally haunts us. We feel increasingly powerless to fix the multitude of situations that appear to be going awry. At the same time we don’t want to avoid our responsibility to positively respond to life as it is currently unfolding.

Rather than becoming frozen in response to problems that appear to be outside of ourselves, we can become actively engaged in our own inner transformation. All of humanity is in great need of this inner transformation. We transform ourselves by deeply facing our inner world with great love and complete acceptance.

This state of inner transformation is humanity’s Holy Grail. It is what the contemporary prophet Martin Luther King spoke of in his “I have a Dream” speech, alluding to a time when humanity would be, “Free at Last! Free at Last”. It is what Jim Morrison referred to when he sang of wanting to “break on through to the other side”. It is what Yusaf Islam (Cat Stevens) referred to in “Peace Train”, saying, “I’ve been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one. And I believe it could be, someday it’s going to come”.

The stage of evolution that humanity is in could be seen as late adolescence. It is a time of immense turmoil, roiling hormones, repressed anger, and blind fearlessness leading to recklessness. The only antidote for the mind’s denial, guilt, shame, and fearful avoidance is in lovingly facing our internal world from a place of acceptance.

No more can we blithely point our collective finger at the outrages we see occurring in the outer world without taking responsibility for addressing our own shadow. Rather than moving from rejection and judgment, the evolutionary step for each of us is to look at ourselves truthfully from a stance of utter love and absolute acceptance, seeing how the mind wants to flee into rejection and blame, but sitting in a steadier, deeper place in our hearts where Love rules.

We can despair, as the mind tends to do, or we can as Bono says in U2’s, let “Love rescue me”, “Don’t let the mind tell you this is a hopeless or overwhelming task”. It is a mere turning of attention. It is a simple choice to face fear with the eyes of love, and when feeling helpless, to reach out to friends who will listen deeply without judgment. It is the act of turning to “The One”, and in the true nature of communion, having a real conversation with our Higher Sacred Self, establishing a relationship, and asking for Grace. As the Impressions sang,

“People get ready, there's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith, to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord.”