Thursday, June 18, 2009

Yin and Yang Consciousness

A study of history reveals that in the past 3,000 years, we have records of over 5,000 wars on this planet Earth. War seems to be a popular past time. When we look into our own lives and notice how often we are at odds with co-workers, loved ones, or fellow drivers on the road, and then even closer into the internal battles going on in our own heads, we can see the inevitable and insidious nature of war.

Revolution, the overthrowing of one paradigm for a new, if it’s at the same level of consciousness is not effective in creating change. Why haven’t we noticed? Einstein said the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. As much as we talk of our desire for world peace or even peace of mind, it continues to elude us. It seems it is time we individually wake up out of our insanity and start a collective evolution, rather than a revolution.

No matter what is going on in the world, no matter how completely it seems as if it shouldn’t be, no matter how much we want to protest and change it, the only real change we can truly affect is within ourselves, individually. This is not to say we shouldn’t try to change the outside world. It would be naïve to think we could ever stop trying. To do so consciously though, acknowledging that there is no possible way we can see the complete and true nature of any situation, would manifest a radically different action. To realize the degree to which we are projecting our own filters of our conditioning onto the matter would result in less harm, greater effectiveness, and a quantum leap into a higher level of consciousness.

We don't really make change to a higher level when we are fighting something. It is a Universal Law that like attracts like. If we see something manifesting, which causes a reaction in us, we must be vibrating on a similar level or we wouldn't be in reaction to it. If we are operating at a higher level of consciousness, we naturally know how to respond harmlessly with wisdom and grace. If we attempt to change something before changing our own energetic level, we just make changes of a lateral nature. For instance, if we see children fighting, we step in maturely and handle the situation. We don't jump in and start fighting with them to stop them. Well, some of us may resort to slapping them around, which may stop them temporarily, but I doubt it does much for changing their behavior on a more permanent basis. I'll use a different example. If we see someone on the street having a psychotic spell, yelling obscenities at us, we most likely have compassion and respond from that place of compassion. However, if we are having a psychotic episode as well, we may take offense to what they are saying and attack back defensively.

We only see a tiny fraction of what's going on in front of our eyes at any given moment. To think we see the whole "truth" of a situation is to be in deep delusion. It is our grace when we see something we want to change. This is our catalyst for personal growth. We can know what we need to change about ourselves by seeing what we think needs changing outwardly, with which we are in reaction. The outer world is truly our mirror. We must first change our own understanding and level of consciousness and then see what needs to be done on the outside. When we change ourselves, it affects everything in the outer world as well. If everyone on the planet took care of their own happiness and peace of mind, we would all be happy. There are, of course, those of us who can't for one reason or another take care of ourselves, the psychotic mentioned earlier would be an example. This is where the call to serve comes in. But only from a place of higher understanding.

If we each take responsibility for the quality of energy we are personally radiating, especially when we are in judgment and opposition, acknowledge our own projections onto others whom we are judging, and heal ourselves first, what a difference it can make! This brings to mind the metaphor of putting our own oxygen masks on first in the event of cabin depressurization on an airplane. We are then able to freely breathe while assisting others. If we don’t put ours on first, we are of little help to anyone including ourselves.

We can also change the quality of our energetic radiance by focusing on what we WANT rather than on what we DON'T want. What we focus on expands and so focusing on solutions puts us on the track for effective change into a new paradigm rather than fighting from the same level of consciousness, which created the situation in the first place. This is a most important and effective step forward in creating a world of peace. Have you ever noticed how good it feels to think of what you want and what a downer it is to stay focused, ruminating on what you don't like? This is our challenge, to stay aware of our thinking and ask ourselves if we are radiating warlike energy or peaceful energy. How often do we get what we want by complaining and radiating negative energy?

The yin/yang theory is a great tool, if you want to find a path toward inner peace. In the yin/yang, (also called Tai Chi symbol) we can see expressed visually the dynamic in which war occurs. Whatever is happening is occurring in this play of opposites. We can view it from a yin side or the yang side. We can see it as right or wrong, as good or bad, as beautiful or ugly, the list goes on to infinity. Which side we view it from determines how we feel about what we are seeing. If what we are seeing is in alignment with our beliefs and conditioning, we like it, if not, we don't. If however, we view it from the mid-line of the circle or more expansively from the outer rim of the circle viewing the whole, we see everything as just this play. Each side is dependent and gives rise to the other and each exists within the other. Nothing is good or bad, it’s our point of view that makes it so for each of us individually.

If we all could take a moment now and then to go within and ask what a particular dislike, or even better, an extreme aversion is pointing to in ourselves, we may be wonderfully surprised. I say wonderfully because this is a very empowering technique. I say surprised because seldom do we realize that what we dislike in another is a disowned part of ourselves. What we cannot accept in ourselves, we cannot accept and love in another. The answer to peace and happiness lies in the degree to which we love and accept ourselves. When we stop projecting all of our self-hatred onto others and begin the process of healing into self-acceptance, the end of war becomes a real possibility.

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