(Resend) Cultivating a Ukrainian state of mind
What you can do right now to heal the world
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia is an awful event that will cost many lives and livelihoods, cause further instability in the region and perhaps start a larger conflict not just in Europe, but around the world.
There’s no doubt it’s a political crisis. However, it also is a spiritual opportunity that, if we take our role seriously, could end future wars and conflicts once and for all. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I assure you, I am not the only one. That’s why I know if we put our hearts and minds to this moment, we can change the world and save many lives over the course of time.
Now is the time for everyone who is working to raise their consciousness from lower states of fear, shame, apathy and grief to higher levels of courage, willingness, reason and love to step up their efforts at spiritual growth and awakening. As I read the news about the invasion yesterday, I could feel my heart constricting with fear. What does this mean for those innocent people in Ukraine? What does this mean for Europe? What does this mean for peace? What does this mean for me at the gas pump? (The ego had to have its say, y’know.) I could feel fear and anger rising in my chest.
I clicked off the news sites and began to read yesterday's lesson from A Course in Miracles. Lesson 55 is a review of Lessons 21-25, which were all about being determined to see the world differently, to realize my ego sees through the lens of vengeance and I can only escape that by giving up my own thoughts of attack. In addition, it reminded me that I don’t know what’s in my own best interest, let alone the interest of politicians, leaders or the world and that I truly don’t know what any of this is for, be it war or peace.
In short, this lesson reminded me that the only way I can change anything in the world outside of me is to start by changing the world within – by doing practices that raise my own vibration from those low levels of fear, shame, apathy, and grief to those higher levels of courage, willingness, reason and love. You may ask, though, isn’t that just a form of withdrawal from the world, or naval gazing, or spiritual bypass? It would appear that way to some, yes, but as Albert Einstein once observed, "We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them." It’s only by raising our consciousness, or vibration, that we change this world that is enamored with strongmen determined to bend history to their will by force.
True power, as Dr. David Hawkins once observed, comes through a sense of unity and collaboration among people. Force can change the course of history for awhile, but in the end, only the true power of those higher vibrations of love, joy and peace can bring any lasting change. Yes, I know, those words, “love,” “joy,” and even “peace,” are so loaded down with our ego’s definitions that they don’t really mean anything anymore. We think of love as weak, joy as fleeting and peace as merely the absence of aggression.
It was GK Chesterton who remarked about Christianity that it had "not been tried and found wanting, but had been found difficult and left untried.” I propose this is the same with love, joy, and peace. We find them – in their truly powerful forms – difficult to grasp, let alone embody, so we settle for their counterfeit cousins and deem them weak and ineffectual. Love, joy, and peace, though, are our only hope, and we must rediscover the power of these higher states of vibrational consciousness if we ever hope to create what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called “the beloved community.” We do that by first assessing our own level of vibrational consciousness.
Hawkins gives us a handy tool with his map of the scale of consciousness that puts "shame" at the bottom rung and "enlightenment" at the top along with correlating numbers from 20 to 1000. In those lower states of shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, desire, anger, and pride, we are hovering below 200, which, Hawkins says, is the level of courage, where we leave behind our selfish tribalism and begin to see our commonality with others. We go from an individualistic, looking-out-for-number-one mentality to a more communal, cooperative way of seeing and being in the world.
Hawkins says the world is hovering around 200, but that was several years ago and the recent rise in authoritarian governments and ideas could be suppressing that number, which is why Russia is so bent on starting war. When we, as a society, are above 200, war may still feel like an option, but we're reticent to begin, because we can feel empathy for those our governments and leaders deem as "enemies," or seek to dehumanize in other ways.
In 2006, Hawkins wrote that "approximately 78% of all humanity calibrates below consciousness level 200" and are "therefore dominated by primitive animal instincts, motivations and behaviors (as reflected in the nightly news)." The news, as Eckhart Tolle once observed, "is reporting on what's happening in the unconscious world."
I suspect, if Vladimir Putin could be put to Hawkins' test, he would be below a consciousness level of 200, perhaps tracking somewhere in pride (175) and anger (150) with some desire (125) mixed in. Which begs the question, where are we on this scale? Have we allowed this news to pull us down to Putin's level of consciousness where we want revenge, retaliation or retribution?
I am personally grief-stricken for those innocent Ukrainians who are being forced to take shelter or uproot their entire lives to flee the bombing and Russian advance. I am terribly worried for their fate and how this aggression will play out in the rest of the region and the world. However, my fear for them will do nothing to help them, but my determination to see this world differently, through a lens of powerful, fierce love instead of one of vengeance, will help them, and everyone else who faces tragedies brought on by acts of aggression fueled by lower consciousness states.
Everyone wants to know their purpose in life and this is the moment for us to truly see the one purpose we all share and engage in it wholeheartedly. Our one purpose here is to constantly be working to raise our own vibration.
Ah, yes, I hear the naysayers. I'm not talking about thinking happy, positive thoughts or even sending "thoughts and prayers." I am talking about doing the difficult work of expunging every thought of hatred, violence, fear and grievance from your own skin and mind. I am talking about truly becoming and embodying the peace we want to see in the world.
Though such an accomplishment may be difficult, it is not impossible, especially for those of us who know, without a doubt, that this is how we change the world. A world with a collective consciousness consistently above 200 and moving upward will not be a world of war. It will be a world of peace, a world of collective care and concern, a world where we are all allowed to thrive without the threat of bombs being dropped on us. This is a world where we cooperate and do no dehumanize or declare others unworthy. This world is possible, but only if you're determined to root out all shame, guilt, apathy (hatred), grief, fear, desire, anger, and pride from your own heart and mind.
I am willing to do this work. I have been doing this work for many years now and I have seen the world around me shift from one that was antagonistic, fearful, and angry become a loving, caring, and cooperative one. Hawkins says we can create this on a larger scale as we ascend the levels of consciousness. Whoever can reach the vibrational consciousness of 500, which is love, can influence 750,000 other people, Hawkins says. Those who can reach 700, which is enlightenment, can lift the consciousness of 70 million people.
Tell me that such a goal could not change the world, because I am convinced it is the only thing that will.
I know many can be skeptical about this, and I get it, I was once too. However, turning inward to root out the guns in my own heart and mind feels a lot more constructive than sitting in front of the television yelling at world leaders and feeling helpless about machinations that I cannot change outside of myself. I can change the world inside, and I have seen, time and again, how adjustments within bring huge changes to the world I see around me.
I invite you to join me – to claim your true, actual purpose in the world and engage in whatever practice works for you to root out the vengeance, fear, hatred, and despair you feel within. Whether it's physical practices such as yoga, dance, walking meditation, or artistic endeavors that bring you into a peaceful place, do those. Whether it's prayer, journaling, meditation, chanting, or going out to commune with nature, do those. If it's more psychological practices, such as doing the lessons in A Course in Miracles to change your perception of the world, do those. Do anything that leads to your spiritual growth, healing and consciousness raising.
We don't all have to do this – just enough of us have to be willing to live into our true purpose of raising our vibrational consciousness for the world to change. If a level of 500 – love – influences hundreds of thousands of people, imagine how many lives are changed exponentially if even just hundreds of us reach a vibrational consciousness of willingness (310), acceptance (350), or even reason (400). I personally feel that I am somewhere in the range of acceptance, moving toward reason. I certainly have not attained a state of Love yet, much less enlightenment, but I am dedicated to become the highest vibrational consciousness possible for me right now, because I know that my effort will bear fruit in time and benefit many people.
If you are interested in pursuing your true purpose of raising your own vibrational consciousness, I invite you to look into the work of David Hawkins and read over the full explanation of each level of consciousness to identify where you might be right now and what kind of spiritual or psycho-spiritual work you need to be doing to get you to the next level and then the next. None of this is easy, but I feel like this work is far more fruitful than ginning up our fear of what may come from this whole conflict and stewing in our own thoughts of vengeance, fear, or hatred.
It sure as hell beats watching the news.
How are you doing your work of raising your vibrational level of consciousness? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
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About the Motley Mystic:
The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth, because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true, Divine Self.
Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass and the founder and senior editor emeritus of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for LGBTQ People of Faith. She is also a musician and avid beer drinker.