Part I : An Evolutionary Turning-Point: Revolution From Domination to Unity
George Floyd’s death was a flashpoint, erupting into the flame of truth, spreading over the world like wildfire. What is that truth, too long hidden, that needed to break through into the light of day, to break open our hearts?
It may seem like everything is coming at us now at once, shock after shock after shock — the pandemic, ecological and economic collapses, racial violence, martial control and attack — almost too quickly to absorb, everything coming together. But if, in the midst of these breath-taking events, we stop to take a breath, we can see some things clearly. It is not an accident that they are all coming together, because they all go together. Our exploding crises, fragmented as they may seem, all have the same root.
All are caused by the same roots – a divisive consciousness, of separation, domination/submission, that underlies our culture, values and systems – and all are crying out to be uprooted today, by getting to those roots. We have to radically shift today from a society based on domination and division — that echoes at all levels – to one based on interconnectedness, caring, cooperation and love. These too can echo at every level of our consciousness and society, but it is up to us to go to the roots of the crises, to make that evolutionary leap.
The Pattern of Domination that Echoes at All Levels
Right now we exist in a chain of domination, from the top down to the very roots of our consciousness and society. We are at a vital turning point in our evolution – the time to reverse this perverse upside-down hierarchy that has dominated and pervaded every level and domain of our lives.
The same patterns of domination and submission exist in our present society at all levels and scales. The way humanity as a whole dominates and exploits nature, the way whites dominate and exploit people of color; the way men dominate and exploit women; is the same way the most aggressive, rapacious strong-men at the top, nationally and globally, dominate and exploit everyone else and the planet. It is one pyramid, one pecking order, of power-over relationships that is now destroying us all, collapsing from the unsustainability of its own top-heaviness, teetering and toppling from its own egregious imbalances.
But there is in fact another power far stronger than even the top-men in this scale of domination; and that is the power erupting now, that is causing it all to collapse. What is happening has clearly spun out of the control of even those who would create a new order of their total control – nature herself, and the sacred itself speaking though her, rising up through indigenous people, people of color, youth, women, people of good will around the world, demanding radical change.
It is a true changing of the guard we are seeing today, from those profiting off their domination and destruction of the Earth and peoples, to the Earth and those people themselves rising up in defense of the sacred. There can be no doubt on whose side the highest power lies, in this incredible play of creation – though it has long been hidden, the game is up now and all is exposed — it is surging up now full-force.
From Apathy and Complacency to Love and Solidarity
We are energized by crisis, especially when it hits home. And home is getting closer and closer, as we realize none of us will escape the damage, the death and destruction, we are inflicting on each other and our planet, the one home that sustains us all. It is hitting home now, that our real home is the whole.
The worse things get, the greater the temptation to withdraw into numbness, complacency, a kind of stupefaction, complicity, carrying on business-as-usual – and many have been doing this. But those who can afford to do this – who still have business-as-usual to carry on with — are not the most impacted, the greatest victims, of the atrocities happening; and, in many ways, by withdrawing into numbness, apathy, they add to their complicity. Like frogs in boiling water, they pretend not to see, as long as they still have skin in the game.
But something new is happening now – we have finally reached the rupture point, a radical tipping point, the game is up. With the pandemic, climate collapses, and martial racist violence, those who are most impacted — black people, people of color, like the Earth herself — are no longer taking it lying down; they are at the breaking point, with nothing more to lose. And so they are erupting now, with the painful truth, bringing it into the light of day for all to plainly see. They are rising up from the knee in the neck that killed George Floyd — and will soon kill all of us if we do not join them.
We all need to rise up together, from domination to unity – or we, the human race as whole, simply will not survive. We are all one race – human – we need to realize that, down to our bones, and we need to act that way. This is the naked truth, that is seeing the light of day now. In the intense heat of this evolutionary moment, something big is being cooked – bigger than saving our own skin, the understanding that we all have to take this leap together – the evolutionary leap from divisiveness to connectedness, from separation to co-creation.
And this is finally shattering the complacency of our more privileged brothers and sisters. We are seeing that no one is immune from the wide-spread destruction happening now, the collapses closing in on all of us – if we don’t rise up and act now, we will all go down together. We are seeing more and more that it is not just a cliché – in many ways, more than we can count, we are all in this together.
The long-standing historical pattern of domination/submission is coming to a head, breaking down. We will no longer submit to it – and that “we” is becoming bigger and bigger, as those who are impacted grow, and those who would exempt themselves become smaller and smaller. As the world burns, an awakening is being ignited, and it is spreading like wild-fire. The flame of truth, goodness, justice, beauty and love, is being awakened in our hearts, as they break wide open.
A tremendous, long pent-up power of people and planet is breaking through, being released now, to come together, to heal the damage done, to light the way to a new future. We are being called to jump into this evolutionary leap, this revolution of the heart – it is either now or never.
Let us make it now. Let this be the day that love and truth awaken, finally, in the human heart, that have been so long dormant. Let us not all go down together – let us rise up together.
Which torch do we want to carry, which torch do we want to pass on – of separation or co-creation, hate or love?… it is up to us to decide. An evolutionary leap is upon us, a revolution of the heart…None of us can do it alone, but together we can make it.
Revolution, Inner and Outer – Now Is the Time
We need a revolution, inner and outer. We need a revolution in our consciousness and we need a revolution in our systems – a whole-scale, whole-systems shift – now is the time, while the iron is hot and while we still can do it. The world is on the boil, we have reached fever-pitch, and it’s time to break through our sickness.
A “crisis”, in medical terms, literally means the peak of the illness, the turning-point from which the patient either goes on to die or revive, where all the anti-bodies kick in and we come out stronger. This is what is happening today. We are called to rise up, in inner and outer revolution, to renew ourselves and our planet, to turn the tide on the damage we’ve done and the damage we’ve suffered, to bring in a new world of caring and love, of strength in cooperation, communion.
The problem isn’t a “them” versus an “us” – the problem is “us” and “them” thinking — the divisive thinking that pervades our consciousness and our systems. The revolution we need is radical, total, global – it is not “against” anyone or anything, but to see how all are interconnected and all need to work in unity. It is an overturning not of the opposition – that has been done, again and again, endlessly throughout history – but an overturning of opposition itself, a true realization on the outer plane of our oneness on the inner.
We need a revolution — and now is the time, or never — which one do we choose?
Teaser photo credit: By BlaueBlüte – Own work, CC BY 4.0
