The Source of our Strength

Q: Where can I find the strength and inspiration to evolve beyond self-centered motives?

A: Ideally from the direct recognition of a higher truth, a glorious potential that compels you to make it manifest. We are all capable of greatness when we feel directly connected to a higher purpose. It’s amazing what profound transformations can occur when we awaken to a larger context. Think about the human virtues that emerge, for example, in times of war—the heroism, selflessness, generosity of spirit, and risk-taking that are often expressed when a group of individuals bond together in order to defend themselves, their families, their country, and their values from an external threat. That kind of crisis can bring out the best in us. In an instant, our narcissism and petty self-concern can vanish—not because we are trying to improve ourselves but because we have been shocked awake to a bigger picture. And often people who return from war report that despite all the horrors, it was the best time of their life. Why? Because they discovered what it was to be awake, living on the edge, fueled by the ultimacy of a life-and-death context. Imagine what it would be like if a significant number of us felt that same sense of urgency in relationship to our collective spiritual evolution, to the need to develop at the level of consciousness. What we would become capable of would be dramatic.

Now of course, in times of war, the fundamental motive is survival and the goal is the restoration of peace and security. When we awaken to the evolutionary impulse, we are motivated by a similar sense of urgency, only now our objective is not peace or physical survival or emotional and psychological comfort. In an evolutionary context, the goal is not peace; it’s perpetual development. Evolutionary enlightenment is inspired by the ecstasy that compels us to create the future. And it’s not a future that’s going to unfold by itself while we go back to sleep. It’s a future that we forge the hard way through direct, conscious, intentional engagement with the life-process itself.

What is it that will inspire any of us to find the courage and the heart to take our own lives this seriously, to get to that point where we are ready to embrace the overwhelming urgency of the call of the future? It’s very difficult to get human beings to feel as passionate about the imperative to evolve as they would feel if their lives were being threatened. But the whole point of evolutionary enlightenment is to evolve to a level of consciousness and conscience where we care that much. If we want to create a truly enlightened future, the source of our strength has to be the highest. The experiential recognition of what’s possible—the glory of it, the significance of it, the sense of meaning and purpose—should be what’s compelling us. Only there will we find the conviction and passion to catalyze the kind of transformation that is so desperately needed.