Image by Nino Souza Nino
In this Article:
- What can we do next for positive social change?
- How can everyday people (you & me) make the world better?
- The power of inner work to change the world (The Maharishi Effect)
What Will We Do Next?
by Will Wilkinson.
Every week there’s something dramatic happening! The craziness escalates and I often find myself asking, “What will they do next?” But who are “they?” Many of us believe, with good reason, that there are puppet masters behind the curtain, pulling strings to orchestrate events, then hiding their intentionality via mainstream news distractions.
OK. Probably true. But, my real question is “What will we do next?” And, similarly, the relevant question to ask is who are “we?” I believe we are millions, millions of ordinary people all over the world who care about each other and the state of our world and that we may be increasingly frustrated, feeling powerless to make a positive difference.
We Can Make a Difference -- We Already Have
But here’s why I believe that we can make a difference, that in fact we already are, and that the future may be much brighter than what we often fear.
There’s solid evidence scattered through recent history of indisputable “results” achieved by people focusing their attention and intention. This is sometimes called The Maharishi Effect, describing the power of inner “work” to affect outer change. That term originated from a 1976 experiment in Washington, DC, when 1% of the community practiced Transcendental Meditation (TM) and the crime rate decreased by an average of 16%.
This dramatic demonstration of the power of meditation should have made headlines. It should have prompted research, triggered grant money flowing into more projects like that to learn why and how it worked, to identify the skills involved, and to begin educating children from an early age how to activate, perfect, and use those God given powers.
Instead, this story and countless others got buried. Buried but not forgotten. Ignored but not discredited. And now, today, this reality - that we can influence outer events through inner advocacy - is roaring back to the front page of our lives.
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
It’s an all-powerful strategy for personal and social change. And all it takes is accepting 100% responsibility for what we express. Easy peasy, right?
Actually, no! Our contrary programming is strong. We need each other to support and encourage the kind of deep change that requires confronting those patterns and choosing differently. I call this becoming activated.
I have just returned from a brief writing retreat on the slopes of Mount Shasta. Downloads happen in that place and you sleep differently at 6,000 feet in the mountain air!
While in Shasta, I found myself scribbling about all this and I’ve since consolidated my notes into a four-fold perspective on levels of awareness RE: activation:
-
Asleep.
The vast majority of people are unaware of their potential to create positive change in the world through their attitudes and choices. They live day to day, as Thoreaux said, leading “lives of quiet desperation.” We should leave them be. Someone whose asleep doesn’t appreciate being jarred awake. -
Awakening.
Increasing numbers of us are rousing from sleepwalking through life and asking, “Hey, what’s really going on here?” These folks might be inspired by others who are already awake but they will, or won’t, take a next step on their own timing, not ours. -
Arising.
A slim percentage have actually gotten out of bed and are moving around, doing creative things, helping others rise and shine. These are the students, ready to learn and get fully activated. -
Activated.
Awakened, risen, activated, we partner to pour our broadcast into the quantum field 24/7, confident that our thoughts and feelings and words and actions represent our best contribution for wellbeing, close at hand and to the furthest reaches of creation. We lead and teach by example, or not at all.
Fake Enlightenment
Another Shasta insight relates to fake enlightenment. It’s easy to sing in unison. Uniformity of beliefs and behaviors is what cults of all kinds encourage and enforce. This includes almost all organizations that depend on conformity for survival. Jung once opined that the purpose of religion is to prevent people from having religious experiences. Understood!
The true, transformative spiritual epiphany is disruptive. Imagine all of us having those all the time… society would be in chaos. Well, it’s actually in chaos anyway! So, maybe it’s time to discover how to manage personal transformation in ways that enhances society by graduating us from unison to harmony.
You have your “note” and I have mine. When we abandon attempts to be the same and be ourselves instead, then we can find out how to sing together by harmonizing, instead of compromising. True enlightenment, then, is being uniquely distinct, participating in Oneness not Sameness, because we are all fractal aspects of the true One, facets of that jewel.
The Final Piece in the Quantum Device
Here’s an image: picture a device with many parts. One part after another activates until finally the last one comes on line and BOOM, the machine begins to operate.
What if you are that final component in a quantum device designed to radiate love and peace? And what if there are millions of such configurations… people connected through life itself, activating one by one until all of our little quantum communities become operative, working together to create reality one moment at a time from the inside out.
The controversy around whether we live in a simulation or not seems to miss an obvious point. Simulations repeat. For instance, a pilot uses a simulator to practice flying. Over and over again, simulating the real thing until she masters the skills and is ready to fly a real plane.
Every day is another simulation, another chance to practice living as an activated, conscious creator. I wonder what happens when we graduate?
Imagine that.
Copyright 2024. Published with permission of the author.
Book by this Author: The Success Paradox
The Success Paradox: How to Surrender & Win in Business and in Life
by Gary C. Cooper with Will T. Wilkinson.
The Success Paradox is the improbable story of a life and business transformed, told in a warmly authentic style that says: “I hit rock bottom, I surrendered, I began doing the opposite of what I’d been doing before, miracles happened, and here’s what you can learn from my journey.”
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Click here for more info and/or to order this hardback book. Also available as a Kindle edition and as an Audiobook.
More books by Will T. Wilkinson
About the Author
Will T Wilkinson is Executive Director of The OpenMind Fitness Foundation, exploring innovative solutions to our global mental health crisis.
To access free mind fitness programs contact
Find out more at OpenMindFitnessFoundation.org/
Article Recap
This article dives into positive social change and conscious transformation, focusing on how everyday folks can drive transformation. It looks at the power of inner work, like the Maharishi Effect, to change the world. It breaks down four levels of awareness: asleep, awakening, arising, and activated, and talks about how managing personal transformation can help society. It asks us to think about what we’ll do next to make the world a better place, emphasizing the importance of collective action and personal responsibility.
