I breathe in and I breathe out.

Another day, another bomb. More senseless violence.

Beirut burning, not many caring (the day before the Paris attacks, a bomb killed at least 43 and wounded over 200 in Beirut). In Baghdad, 26 people were killed in a suicide bomb and roadside bombing targeting Shiites.

A third world country in ashes, nobody pays much attention.

Paris explodes and the world takes notice. A campaign of sympathy for Western victims, but nothing much for the rest. The media cry out and shockwaves of fear spread across humanity. How can this happen?

How can chaos and instability reign in the developed world?

Intense energies and raging wings storm the planet whilst some are sleeping. Is there any sense to be made of this world? In times of upheaval, people seek theological solutions, seek comfort in a higher power.

Who or what is the enemy? Who are we fighting for? Who are we fighting against? Perhaps it is our light that we fear most.

Who is the real enemy? Is it external or within?

In the years to come, it seems inevitable we will face more tribulations. Will we see beyond the illusion or be sucked into a vortex of shadow? Will we react fearfully or respond with grace?

We are all under attack from extremism from the Middle East to America, Asia, Russia, Europe and all the world. We are all targets of the dark forces and that actually unites us. Humanity is at war with the darkness and in our plight, we are one. The real enemy is darkness. The face-less enemy is within just as much as it is on the external plain of existence. Something unites us all—that is love. It does not have a religion, or a philosophy attached to it.

What is darkness? What is it inside that corrupts a human soul? What is it that ignites the flame of tyranny, the evil of wanting to harm others? Inside our soul, where is the light? The forces of darkness and derision have always been here. We all have something to look at, something to think about.

Blame is too easy. Doubts are all over, everywhere.

People doubt and want to think negative things; when suspicion prevails, all we get are the same empty sound-bytes.

These forces that want to destroy life are fearful of the light, fearful of love, they feel such darkness that they want to destroy all light. They are desperate to leave a ghastly legacy of death. They do not love themselves, but feel a seething hatred of life itself. Only a mind under a cloud of fear and suffering would support such evil acts.

The cleansing is difficult as all catharses must involve a shedding of the old—a releasing and letting go of fear, grief, and so many old beliefs. We cannot escape our individual responsibility as all of humanity is under attack. When one person suffers, we all suffer. We are all inwardly responsible and outwardly influential. Purging is only a part of the process, it is not perpetually in motion. Collectively, we are co-creating all that is. We can change what we see now with love.

We live in a world of facades of cascading vibrational illusions that stand for reality. The love of our Creator and all of creation is truly limitless. Evil is only relative, reflecting the apparent limitation of unconditional love. We have all inherited this evil. The cause is a limitation placed on that which is unlimited. The true cause of this is doubt. Judgements of limitation and extreme bias only place shields over people’s eyes and blankets over their spirits. There are many aspects of relative truth and absolute reality. This field of creation consists of worlds within worlds. From our perspective, we can only glimpse the reasons and reasoning behind events.

Vivekanada spoke of the illusory separation and ultimate union with the godhead in a speech on November 18, 1896: “We are like silkworms; we make the thread out of our own substance and spin the cocoon and in course of time are imprisoned inside. But this is not forever, for in the cocoon we shall develop spiritual realisation and like the butterfly come out free.”

We live in a world of constant change. Impermanence is our teacher. The only reality is flux. All is within the mind to be healed and changed. The Ascended Masters of our past did not want religions, they wanted enlightenment. They did not want war, they wanted peace. Peace must always begin within before being externally manifested.

The human community must ask ourselves who we are. Our self-identity is key: how do we define ourselves? Are we divine souls united under One Creator, or are we divided and separated predators battling amongst each other for limited resources?

Our true nature is not evil, violent, wicked, or devious. Within all of us is the seed of God, the seed of goodness, light, unconditional love and purity. We each have a saint glowing within, a shining star of grace inside. Our essential nature is not darkness, it is starlight. May we see our light manifest in the world and shine upon all those who suffer.

Our conditioning comes from old belief systems based on the ego-self that taught separation, materialism and greed, a competition-mindset—always focused on the self instead of on co-operation and co-creation. Our history is filled with control and manipulation by dominating forces seeking to build empires. When we act out of ego, we act out of limitation, we easily fall into the trap of fear, hatred and blame.

We each have our own path. How we respond is not the same. There isn’t a right way or a wrong way.

Sri Chinmoy wrote so evocatively—

“Life is given to each human being
For a very special purpose.
This secret each human being
Must discover for himself.”

We cannot change evil by countering with evil. The Buddha taught: “For hatred does not cease by hatred at any time: hatred ceases by love. This is an unalterable law.” Reacting to terrorism with more terror only fans the flames of hatred. We cannot bring peace by murder. The only way to peace is via peace. The only way to bring about peace is to look within at our nature, to embrace the practice of compassion, loving-kindness and tolerance. Only love will bring us out of darkness. Only our love for ourselves and each other will heal the collective suffering and blindness. As Marianne Williamson said—“as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.”

Humanity mourns. We cannot let our comrades die in vain. Standing together for the light—to stand for the powers of goodness, the mastery of kindness, love, forgiveness and grace—these are the hallmarks of human development and evolution. Spiritual integrity, wholeness and kindness, and following the pathway to goodness is the only way forward for humanity.

It is time to expand our awareness and set new intentions for our world. Healing our collective trauma takes a willingness from each one of us to heal and forgive ourselves within. The test is one of faith. Have we lost faith in the light—or do we still believe in the light forces of hope and innate goodness?

Only awareness and coming back to fundamental spiritual values of unity, forgiveness, understanding and kindness will bring the world back to a positive light. May we all feel alive with the unity of the Divine spark within glowing and throbbing within the heart of humanity.

We are one heart together as love.

I breathe in and I breathe out love.

Relephant: 

Let’s Pray for Beirut the Same Way We’re Praying for Paris.

Author: David G Arenson

Editor: Renée Picard

Image via the author