We can corrupt anything based on our approach. Activism is standing for the life that is living us. That which is incorruptible. Activism is any work done to bring humanity back in alignment with this inviolable force. Hence, we all are activists at the core. There’s a truth that came before we existed and will abide far after we are gone. It is this truth that breathes life into us. An activist stands for this truth, no matter the cause she supports.
There’s an inherent nonviolence in the activist because she knows truth stands on its own. She does not fight that which is corrupt, she aligns with that which is impenetrably pure, becoming it herself. She is a living example of truth. It is this that opens the door in the corrupt ones heart, to make the change. There is no fight nor judgement. Her enemies become friends due to her incredibly overwhelming light. She engulfs their shadow with something unmistakable. This is the activists way. She is the justice, peace, harmony, and love that she seeks to see in the world, there’s no doubt about it.
How has she done such a thing? She has trusted in the goodness of life beyond question. And it’s been done in such a way that she sees herself as a stakeholder in this sacred motive that life has to create more of itself in every corner of the universe. Not only a stakeholder, but a crucial part of the process. An element that has been created to support this eternal motive. She is not separate from it, but it is her. The activist has her grip on the unshakeable truth of life and has no intention of letting go. She has found this inside of herself and it has given her the capacity to act. Her activity is direct and consistent, an expression of her devotion to the continuation of life.
As in the great Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha (nonviolent) movement ¨avoidance of all relationships can never be a satyagrahi’s object, but transformation or purification of that relationship.¨ Through the transformation of her relationships, the activist ¨wins her opponents over.¨ This comes down to a trust building exercise. The activist gets the corrupt to see her vision by first relating to the opponent with compassion, confidence and respect.
The committed activist is often unseen because her work is not romantic. She starts with herself and slowly works out into greater concentric circles. This means she has to take her experience of life, everything she sees as wrong or unjust with her external reality, and see how her internal world measures up to that. Her act is not a reaction, but a response and for it to be so she must get clear with that which is prejudice in herself. In this way she comes to a nondual state, where outer and inner are not two. Otherwise, her actions are in vain. She fights against herself in a never ending battle.
So, she stands strong in the peace and truth that came before the corruption. The inner and outer change occur by the grace of Life finding an ally in her. She becomes a center-point of restoration in service to the Will of Life.
If we are to tap into the activism that is inherent in our veins, we must come to a place within ourselves that is natural. Where we can actively see and be in touch with the ¨we-space¨ that includes every human and non-human organism on the planet. It is in our nature that we find harmony with our surroundings. Our felt sense for this harmony becomes clearer the more often it is touched. Therefore, we become sensitive to when things are out of balance and we can act accordingly with an authentic restoration, which becomes our activism.
We live in a time that requires us to look at life in this way. The band aid fixes, finger pointing, and cognitive dissonance that have brought about the incredible suffering, inequality, and climate challenges that we see today have reached their limit. We are in a collective process. Our work lies in reestablishing our connection with interdependence so that we may untangle the web of destruction. However interdependent the solution may be though, this process requires an independent descent into the darkness that clouds the light of the heart. If we find ourselves asking what we can do to help create the changes we want to see in the world, our answer must be here.
We don’t look outside first, that’s how we got to this point. The urgency we feel for an outer change is actually a calling from our ancestors and life itself to get it right. To reestablish the connection we have lost. And I must make clear that this does not mean that we turn to inaction or passivity. The turn inward is a turn towards the power that is spontaneously transformative in ourselves. Through the acknowledgment of this power it can be wielded responsibly. With this our change making ability cuts deeper. We hold something that is true beyond a doubt and it is transmitted through our vessel into our family, community, and world in a way that is far beyond what we could have come up with by means of ¨problem solving.¨ Our activism becomes a natural expression of who we are.
Inherent in the interconnection is a reliance on each other to become the change. Everyone’s holding you accountable and looking your way to see how to make the change. It may be true that you don’t know how, but it is not, however, that you are unable to become it. Don’t underestimate the ways in which you can impact your community. We’ve seen it in history before, it only takes one person’s light to create colossal transformation. You are that.