As Within, So Without
As I write this, during the evening of January 24, our federal government is still stuck in a big, ugly quagmire of polarization. It was a disappointing day when the votes were tallied, and a bill wasn’t passed that would end the shutdown.
We’re witnessing a massive battle among those with power, our elected representatives, who are currently representing huge political divides among the American people. But there is one fact I haven’t seen mentioned on mainstream media about this polarization. As a spiritually-driven American, and I do believe I’m in the minority, to me there is a proverbial elephant in the room — and I don’t mean a Republican!
What’s not being talked about is that spiritually speaking, since we are One, there is clearly a huge polarization within each of us.
That’s right, spiritual speaking, we are, in fact, one being: one mind, one heart, one consciousness, One. This is where theory and reality, spirituality and science, in fact, come together and agree. We are particles of energy in one big sea of energy. Without going into the details of quantum physics, let me just say what the enlightened ones know: There really is no separation between you and me in consciousness. The thoughts in your mind are the same thoughts that parade through mine.
The polarization we are seeing “out there” reflects the polarization within.
The spiritual law is, “as within, so without, and as without, so within.” Much of the time, we forget this. We so often paint ourselves as the good one, and those other folks are the bad ones. Even in our intimate relationships, we often need to be right, and thus making our beloveds wrong. Take a look within and think about a hurt you might be harboring about someone or something from the past. Who was the right one? Who was the victim? Who was unfair? That’s the stuff that hurt is made of!
Who are we Americans? We are a conglomeration of our beliefs, conditioned responses, educational (or non-educational) inheritances, ancestral traditions, and all the other influences on the many personalities we “One” wear. What we each believe is based on all sorts of almost seemingly random influences.
If we can’t understand why these political parties can’t find common ground with each other, ask yourself why you can’t always agree within yourself about what to eat, where to go, what to say, and so forth. Or take a look at the inner conflict we have about our partners, parents, co-workers, our self, our self-worth. If we sit down to contemplate or meditate, when we can find a moment of quiet, we can look inside and see, clear as day, a lot of very polarized dissent happening right within our minds, constantly.
When we become courageously self-aware, we see with greater and greater clarity the constant inner conflict we all suffer from.
We see that there is a war between good and bad, right and wrong, dominance and submission, control and surrender within our mind. It’s like the backdrop of our life, though. We are so used to it that we don’t even notice how conflicted we are, and how much stress we generate within ourselves. No wonder we love yoga classes, soothing music, meditation, wine, drugs, and all things that temporarily calm and quiet the mind. It’s such a relief when the mind stops its inner contentiousness and just gets peaceful. This is why we need enlightenment.
So here’s my suggestion of how we can each do our spiritual part in ending the government shutdown (aside from the physical world action you are called to do, like signing petitions, marching, etc.):
