The Secret of Change
When the worlds collide
The Secret of Change
Is to focus all of your energy,
Not on fighting the old,
But on building the new.Socrates
I have written this blog just before the total solar eclipse on 8/4/24. For some this phenomenon in itself was scary to witness it in its entirety: darkness falling over the sky during daytime. But this was only a passing stage, a moment during the moon’s travel across the face of the sun, until the light from the sun emerged again. But it could have been interpreted as the moment of a new world coming into view, emerging into light which nothing can obscure. One can say arising from darkness in terms of human consciousness…
Light and darkness have always existed side by side from times immemorial being seen as two sides of the same story. This was the story of ever present duality witnessed in the world: of good vs evil, yin vs yang, malevs female, war vs peace, of heightened awareness vs oblivion, of tolerance and acceptance vs separation and hate for one another. Hence for example the term: the Dark Ages’. Light and darkness seem to have also been deemed as to sides of the same story, completing each other’s emergence into a whole – so the duality was only a temporary illusion. Where there was light, there could be no darkness, so Enlightenment followed.
Historical connotations aside, in religious or philosophical terms the same shift in awareness has been repeatedly observed throughout the millennia, and one can say that it even continues to be the case today. Any deep changes in human understanding of the world and the very process of interpersonal dynamic as well as our interaction with the external reality have always been challenging. Even threatening if the awareness of the world around us did not keep up with a degree of distance and perspective to what was being observed. Of course, individual perception of any change varied but humans often shared their observations and their interpretation of what was with their communities. Especially if this gave them the explanation or a purpose to which to cling to in uncertain times. This group mindset has been a certain constant imparting a degree of familiarity and belief in the common understanding, showing the way and helping navigate the unknown for the times ahead. Twenty-one centuries later this common denominator still applies when there is change around us, when the worlds seem to collide. This was the case during the Covid years, this is the case whenever a political, humanitarian or environmental conflict takes place – all indicating change beyond our control.
Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and it is imperative to learn lessons from the past. But to go into the future and to create its best version, without repeating mistakes we have perhaps made before, we need to disconnect from our stories, our linear experiences that defined us. After all they contributed to who we now think we are today, who we identify ourselves as, and how we perceive ourselves amidst the many relationships in our lives, both with ourselves as well with the world outside of us. This ego-based, mind-formed identity, in turn, can equally dictate the quality and dimension of our new relationships, our beliefs, our thought and behaviour patterns as well as other habits that reflect into the physical world around us. Quantum physics has it that as we resonate, so we attract. Thus unless we review and leave behind the old paradigms we followed or adhered to previously, we are more likely to create the same again.
How to avoid the trap of falling into the known and familiar, however obsolete or outdated the systems they were part? Only by focusing on the ideal scenario we want to see in the world around us! By the pure act of focusing our attention repeatedly on what we desire, visualising we are already there, feeling it with all the senses and believing to be true and real ALREADY, we can manifest the new and instigate the change we crave and desire. This technique is as valid for changing your body shape, your exercise and eating habits, as it is for larger changes we wish to be part of, from community building to political and economic changes we’d like to see around us. Once you master it, the old becomes obsolete and there is no need to dismantle it as it falls by the wayside on its own. There is no need to fight what’s been as its concept becomes outdated, but only empower the new that better serves all concerned. How right was Socrates, and Gandhi, and other peaceful leaders all these years ago! They understood full well that if we harm another, we harm ourselves and the same principle of ‘ahimsa’ still applies today as it did in their times.
Thus, for the purpose of personal and group transformation, aim high and do not compromise on your vision. By directing your attention to it you will be getting closer and closer towards living your vision. Of course, one’s vision needs to be congruent with one’s beliefs, thoughts and actions / behaviour, so the universe does not manifest the opposite. Then you cannot cheat the universe by resonating what you do not really wish to embody, let alone find in your life, can you? It is all part of One Universal Consciousness and physics is everything….