Word
Gems
What is a
man but the sum of his thoughts?
Person:
Craig
Hamilton:
A
Moral Obligation to Transform
A Moral Obligation to
Transform
Craig Hamilton - April 19, 2007
We might call it the
malady of contemporary spirituality. As a speaker, workshop leader and transformative life
coach, I hear it all the time. The refrain usually goes something like this:
“I’ve been on
the spiritual path for years. I’ve meditated, gone to therapy, and attended dozens
(if not hundreds) of workshops, seminars, satsangs, and retreats. I’ve had a lot of
peak experiences. But, I’m still not fundamentally different from when I started. I’m
still plagued by many of the same recurring negative patterns. I’m still not sure
what I’m doing here. I’m still not deeply happy. I’m still not free.”
Is it, as some ancient
eastern traditions tell us, that enlightenment is such a lofty goal that we should not
expect to experience any radical transformation in one lifetime, but should instead see
our current incarnation as but one of millions of baby steps toward that supreme
attainment?
Or is it, as many
contemporary teachers are fond of saying, that the attempt to change ourselves in any way
is in fact misguided, that we should simply “accept what is,” “call off the
search,” and realize that ordinary life, in all of its neurotic frailty, is enough?
With all due respect to
those of differing opinion, I would like to propose another possibility.
I
would like to suggest that the supreme and lofty goal of profound, life transforming
spiritual liberation is not only possible in this lifetime, but is in fact well within
reach of anyone of reasonably sound mind and stable character. And that the reason it is
not happening for the vast majority of those who are seeking it is that, for most of us,
our context is just too small.
To paraphrase spiritual
teacher Andrew Cohen, imagine for a moment that the fate of the entire human race rested
on your shoulders alone. That humanity’s evolution out of brute self-interest
depended entirely on your willingness to transform your consciousness, to rise above your
smallness, purify yourself of negative conditioning, and become an exemplar of humanity’s
highest potential for the world. Imagine, in other words, that for you, waking up from
ignorance and self-centeredness became a moral issue.
Would you approach your
path any differently? Would the energy you brought to your spiritual practice intensify?
Would the quality of awareness and care with which you approached your interactions with
others become more profound? Would you find yourself reaching with muscles you didn’t
even know you had to be awake to the true context of your life? If you knew it all rested
on you, would you have any choice but to change?
The Indian sage Ramana
Maharshi once said that the spiritual aspirant must want liberation like a drowning man
wants air. But the painful truth is that even when we recognize that we are drowning
spiritually, most of us don’t care enough to struggle to keep our head above water.
The challenges of the spiritual path are so immense that most of us will choose to
continue suffering in our smallness over feeling the pain of allowing that smallness to
die forever. But how many of us would do the same if we realized that it wasn’t only
our own suffering we were perpetuating, but the suffering of the entire human race?
Now, you may be thinking
to yourself, “That’s a nice thought experiment. Sure, it makes me realize I
could be more earnest on my path, but what does it really have to do with me? I’m no
megalomaniac. I know that my transformation alone isn’t enough to liberate the human
race.”
And it is here that I
would ask you to reconsider.
Modern chaos and
complexity science has in recent years been verifying what the ancient traditions intuited
long ago: that, in both tangible and mysterious ways, we are all interconnected, and any
one of us can have a profound effect on the whole. And, if you accept the perennial
mystical teaching that, at the level of consciousness, we are not only interconnected, but
are actually one Self seeing through many eyes, then it should be clear that, like it or
not, in the way we conduct our inner and outer lives, each of us is in fact always having
an effect on the whole. Add to that the reality that we are evolving beings living in an
evolving universe, that we are all part of a grand, cosmic evolutionary process, and the
question of our moral obligation to the whole starts to cut close to the bone.
To reframe my earlier
question:
What would you do if you
realized that the entire human endeavor, the evolution of consciousness itself, depended
on your willingness to evolve your own consciousness? How would it affect the choices you
make every day if you knew that those choices were, in a very real sense, either
contributing to the evolution of the whole or holding it back? At this time when it seems
that our very future depends on our willingness to evolve as a species, would you have any
choice but to act in alignment with the greatest evolutionary good?
The point I’m trying
to make is that when we take a closer look at what spiritual transformation is actually
for, it quickly becomes clear that the path of transformation is not primarily about
freeing ourselves from suffering and securing our own happiness. Sure, that’s a nice
by-product. But, as long as that’s all we’re seeking, we probably won’t get
very far.
When we begin to embrace
the fact that our lives really are not our own to do with as we please, that in everything
we do, we are in fact accountable to the Whole, something truly miraculous begins to
happen. Faced with the moral responsibility to transform for a greater good, we find that
we suddenly have access to a seemingly infinite source of energy, intention, passion and
courage to confront whatever challenges present themselves on our path. What’s more,
all of the personal issues and problems, all of the fears and doubts and resistances that
once seemed so insurmountable begin to seem a lot less significant.
Why? Because our
attention is now captivated by something much bigger than ourselves. Ignited by a noble
calling to participate in the grand adventure of conscious evolution, we find we no longer
have time to worry about ourselves. And in this freedom from self-concern, before long we
discover that the deep inner peace and joy we were seeking all along has become the very
ground we are walking on.
Editor's note: The "afterlife" literature,
messages from the Other Side, almost unanimously affirm the principle that
service-mindedness develops and matures one as nothing else will.
27th June
2008
(from Victor Zammit's weekly commentary)
COMMENTARY- ON
EVOLUTION: For the purpose of the record, I do
accept evolution because notwithstanding any other available
evidence, the great afterlife teachers from the afterlife have
affirmed it ! We are informed that the whole universe –
including our Earth – is evolving;
everything is evolving especially our minds and our spirit. When one
studies those precious afterlife transmissions, one gets to know
that the ultimate aim of our existence is to evolve in spirit. Some
may be slow learners, some will make mistakes – small and big – and
others choose to delay their progress and others to make rapid
spiritual progress. We have free will but always in context that we
are on a continuous universal and personal journey of spiritual
evolution. And the most important, the
most vital and critical thing we can do to evolve spiritually while
we are on planet Earth is – selfless spiritual service: ‘positive
activity’. Once you get
into the habit of participating in POSITIVE ACTIVITY, on crossing
over you will find it fairly easy to continue to do that in the
afterlife because you’re in the habit of regularly doing selfless
service. That is extremely precious to know – because we are
informed that that is the only way for rapid
advancement in the afterlife to the higher, more beautiful realms.
Of course, we usually act according to the
level of spiritual advancement. Some will find it easy to do
selfless spiritual service, others don’t find it so easy. Follow
this advice and relative to others, you will be a 'spiritual
millionaire' evolving into a 'spiritual billionaire' in the
afterlife! For those who don't accept this, one
time in the future, guaranteed, you will know what I
mean!
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