Notes on being a spiritual activist
Spiritual activism is about consciousness.
As soon as you become conscious about a thing, the energy that was stuck before you became conscious - starts to move. The more consciousness you embrace, the more you decide to become aware, the more movement happens.
You become a spiritual activist. Change follows quickly. Unconsciousness in people and cultures keeps stuck energy in place. Change happens on the planet when the old dense stuck energies begin to shift and break apart. Communication and the free flow of information helps this to happen, which is why authoritarian leaders worldwide try to shut those things down.
It starts with you.
All change begins within, sometimes starting out quietly, rumbling in the background. It may not seem like a big deal. The outside world looks the same to you, same as it ever was. Your job, relationships, and home are still the same as before. Or are they?
Once you've changed from within, you don't see everyday life the same way anymore. You're different, looking through new eyes. What previously seemed real and important changes as you do, and your relationship to reality becomes new again.
Consciousness = new possible realities.
This new awareness is personal, it shows up because you decide to have it. But it doesn't stay within you, it spreads. Your consciousness is a powerful healing energy, and you can direct it to help create change in the world. By becoming conscious, you are practicing spiritual activism. This is because once you become conscious, it's hard for you to sit in the old energy you were in before, the stuck or unconscious energy, the fear and distrust, the lack of faith.
It's easy for each of us to imagine the power an angry hateful person has to spread his hatred. We may be in fear or judge the hateful person, but we don't doubt that he has power. 'Might makes right' is an old saying about the abuse of power. Some people are not conscious about how they are abusing their own power, and it can be easy to believe the lie that gentle action is weak by comparison. You are only one person, what can you do?
Nothing could be further from the truth. Gentleness is strength, and consciousness is powerful. We easily believe the lie that the out of control person abusing his power is stronger than we are. We don't give our own spirit enough credit for the power it has. We don't need to start a fight with the angry person, but we can create healing through our peaceful conscious energy.
Conscious peaceful loving energy is far more powerful than hateful angry energy.
Being a spiritual activist means you are being conscious in your daily life, but you don't have to be perfect. Spiritual activists get angry too, and sometimes that anger gets your energy moving. Don't judge your own anger as being wrong, it's normal. It's what you do with it that counts. Using your own anger to get anything that's been stuck within you moving again is a self healing choice. Once the anger does its job, you can turn it down until you need it again.
Spiritual Activism isn't a specific belief system, it's not about religion. You become a spiritual activist when you choose to work from a place of conscious awareness, and look for your own answers instead of following a group dogma. Working from someone else's beliefs that are not true for you will get you stuck, because that is not your energy.
Tenets of spiritual activism include: forgiveness, consciousness, self love, responsibility for one's own choices and actions, a desire to be in one's own truth, non-judgment, love for humanity and the creatures on it, love of the earth, connection to spirit.
"Being kind and not mean will change the world a lot." -Campbell, 12, maker of teddy bears for sick kids
The spiritual activists I know do their own work, and I'd add that this is a powerful part of being a spiritual activist, you are willing to work on yourself. How you do it is up to you, and nobody else gets to judge that. This isn't about being perfect. This is about being awake.
Being awake doesn't mean you have to go around solving the world's problems, or taking all the pain and putting it into you. And it certainly doesn't mean you judge others who remain (more or less comfortably) asleep, numb, apathetic, hateful. In fact, hating the haters isn't a very conscious thing to be doing. Anger isn't the same thing as hate.
Some ways to be a spiritual activist:
Spiritual activists get energy moving. Meditate every day and get your own energy moving. Do your work, forgive those you've been holding a grudge against, and get yourself into the present time. Clean it up on your end.
Get rid of your negativity about the system we live in. You and I and everyone we know helped create this system, it wasn't foisted upon us. If you want to make change, get active in a positive way and help others do the same. Stay awake.
Practice your visionary skills. Visualize what you DO want, and release the energy you hold onto, including the old rotten beliefs that don't work for you anymore, so that you can match your vibration to your vision.
The earth is a spiritual activist, the earth gets energy moving. Your body is a spiritual activist too. Be kind to your body, respect it and listen to it. Be kind to the earth also.
Find your amusement and it will take you very far. None of this needs to be super serious. Funny people who make us laugh help get the stuck energy moving more easily. Laugh at your own foibles, and you'll be able to let them go.
Vote, in every election, all the way down ticket. Do your research so that you can fully participate in the democratic process. Spiritual activism is a democratic system.
©Kris Cahill
Image from Morguefile
