When journeying to ask how to respond to a situation, our spirit helpers frequently encourage us to “be” rather than “do.”
What do they mean?
How does this apply to social and cultural upheaval?
Our natural human inclination is to want to “fix” a problem when we see it. That means, to most of us, that we must do something—offer support, energy, money, prayers, intervention, learning, actions…
However, being, according to many wisdom teachers and my own power animals, has to do with presence. It means finding and maintaining equanimity and open hearts as we respond to the problem. It means breathing and looking deeply before acting.
These are real issues many of us face. And I am writing about them because my own internal struggles with these questions reflect the struggles of many of you. I want to reach out.
This is the conundrum as we witness, learn about, face, and try to change systemic racism: crisis calls us to action, and our own guidance may focus on spiritual centering, holding space for change, and witnessing as we stay present.
How do we justify to ourselves, let alone to our peers, why we are not doing anything overt?
How do we make sure we’re not engaging in spiritual bypassing (using spiritual practice to ignore or avoid facing an unresolved issue)?
How do we stay true to our commitment to shift consciousness and change the world as we honor our need to reflect and listen to spirit guidance before taking action?
I personally want to fix and change everything: institutional discrimination, economic disparity, the divided social fabric, generational suffering and trauma, consciousness and behavior towards the “other, ” unconscious assumptions, unfair treatment, on and on.
Really I want to see us create a peaceful, loving world. I want to actualize the vision that came to me about 20 years ago, when all nine billion people on the planet were meditating together.
I don’t have answers—you have to find your own with the help of spirit—and you’re not alone.
