If we look at the social, economic, political reality of any country, race, or demographic at the moment, there are a plethora of issues plaguing our world.

Reading or listening to the news, more often than not, puts us in a state of gloom. Most rational people can see that the state of the world is not going to change overnight; it would take months, or even years, for a semblance of normalcy to return to our world. What this normalcy might look like would need an entire post devoted to itself.

There are two ways of looking at a situation; seeing the abject reality—the state of things as they stand right now, or looking at the current reality with the lens of what brought us here and where it can lead us. It’s the latter that gives us the true understanding and acceptance of our reality. Even from a spiritual perspective, now is a continuous reality that honors the learnings of the past and the potential for the future.

I am an energy intuitive and have a strong ability to feel, understand, and manifest energies. My belief that the world is ascending to a higher level of consciousness is not just based on in-the-moment psychic impressions or messages I am channeling from outer worldly beings. It is, in fact, based on a deep understanding of spiritual principles that I have assimilated through my evolution and growth.

The beauty of these principles is that they are universal, and anybody who has been through a transformational experience in their life—materially, emotionally, or spiritually—would concede that these principles apply to their transformation as much as they do to mine.

There is a beautiful story in Hindu mythology called Samudra Manthan, literal translation, “Churning of the Seas” that illustrates various stages of transformation through these principles beautifully. The story mirrors the state of our world allegorically at many levels and lends beautifully to the purpose of this article, so let’s dive right in.

The Decline:

Once great sage, Durvasa Muni, offered a garland to Indra, the God of the Worlds, who ignored it and put it on the tusk of his elephant, Airawat, which trampled it. Seeing Indra’s disregard, the revered sage became furious. He cursed Indra saying that he and the other Gods would lose all their powers. In due course, Indra and the other Gods began losing all battles against the demons, and the demons led by Bali took control of the universe.

Through the ages, in prolonged periods of peace and material success, humans (and even the Gods, apparently), tend to lose sight of what is important. Our senses are at ease enjoying the best that life has to offer us and unknowingly our sense of duty, responsibility, and the ability to see the proverbial red flags declines. 

Humanity hasn’t had it this good in generations; pick up any per-capita studies for the past century and the global population has become richer, better educated, and less exposed to collective mortal dangers like wars and epidemics. And just like Indra in the story, when the pandemic hit us in 2020, we were caught unaware, not because we are callous, but simply because we got used to a cycle of unprecedented growth.

Pain is the Catalyst for the Rise of Consciousness:

Seeing no other means, the helpless Indra rushed to Lord Vishnu, the God of Sustenance, for help. Lord Vishnu had a plan. He said that to get back their powers the Gods would have to churn the oceans and bring out the magical nectar of Amrita. Only after consuming it could they regain their powers. This great churning is known as Samudra Manthan. But as the Gods were powerless now, they sought the help of the demons to accomplish this huge task.

The Gods and demons got together for the herculean task. The huge mountain, Mandara, was used as the pole to stir the waters. But as the pole entered the water, it kept sliding into depths of the ocean. To stop this, Vishnu quickly transformed himself into a tortoise and placed the mountain on his back. This image of Vishnu as the tortoise was his second avatar called Kurma.

Pain is often considered evil, but the truth is that it pushes us to find our true potential as individuals and as a collective. The paragraph above is replete with spiritual symbolism; Samudra Manthan could represent the churning of consciousness; Vishnu, the Purushartha, our quest for our highest potential; Mandara, the channel for the rise of consciousness or our spine; Kurma, the seat of our innate power or Kundalini Shakti; and Amrita, the divine essence within us that is activated once the Kundalini rises.

The events of the past year have forced us to wake up from our reverie and connect with our innate power as individuals and as a collective—to find novel solutions that can change our situation and fight the evil that we face. Groups, factions, and ideologies don’t matter; no one is immune anymore, and everyone has to work toward a common goal.

The Churn and the Chaos That Ensues:

Once the pole was balanced, it was tied to the gigantic snake, Vasuki, and the gods and demons started pulling it from either side. As the churning began and the massive waves whirled, an extremely poisonous drink called halahal came out. The gods became scared because this blue drink could destroy creation.

The churn is never pretty. Anyone who has been through any kind of awakening would know that the process always brings out our deepest insecurities and fears to the fore first, so we can deal with them in pursuit of connecting with our strength. Halahal translates as chaos, a difficult poison to stomach. It has the potential to destroy our carefully crafted world. In retrospect, 2020 was our Halahal, things that we had never imagined came to pass. We have all personally lived and lamented through this chaotic year so the less said, the better.

The Rise of Loving-Kindness and Selflessness:

They all got together and prayed to the powerful Lord Shiva, the God of Destruction of Evil, to help them. Lord Shiva appeared before all and gulped the entire poison. But he did not swallow it. He kept the poison in his throat. Since then, Lord Shiva’s throat became blue, and he became known as Neelkantha or the blue-throated one.

Lord Shiva is the source-consciousness, and his consort is the Kundalini Shakti residing in us as raw, primal lifeforce. Shiva always supports Shakti; once we awaken her, our innate strength, we also awaken Shiva, the self-less source-energy within us. For humanity, 2020 was a call to awaken our Purushartha—our highest potential in all aspects of life. And in the year 2021 and beyond, we see this awakening our strength, our Shakti. This dynamic will slowly reflect in us as individuals, groups, and society.

The chaos, the Halahal, needs to be dealt with, or it will keep rearing its ugly head when we least expect it. But in response, we will see a slow but steady rise of loving-kindness, selfless leadership, and all ethos that will ultimately evolve our world to a higher level of responsible living. 

This won’t be an easy process still, but 2020 has evoked our Purushartha, our highest potential and we will not fail in these testing times.

Life Goes On:

“The churning continued and poured forth several gifts and treasures. They included Kamdhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow; the goddess of wealth, Laxmi; the wish-fulfilling tree, Kalpavriksha; and finally, came Dhanvantari carrying the pot of amrita and a book of medicine called Ayurveda. A great war between the gods and demons followed. Finally, Vishnu disguised as the enchanting Mohini, tricked the demons and recovered the nectar.

Once Garuda got back and the Gods drank the nectar, they became immortal. But as some demons had managed to taste a few drops of the drink, they too became immortal and to this day the fight between good and evil continues.”

Personally speaking, many of us have already started seeing the benefits of this awakening. Kamadhenu, Lakshmi, and Kalpavriksha, all represent dormant divine powers of intentional living and manifestation we hold. The central themes I spoke about in the energy update for 2021 and beyond, were the rise of consciousness, manifestation power, and heartful living.

If we look hard enough amidst the current chaos, we can see ample signs of that rising.

As the ending of the story illustrates, in 2021 and beyond, both the good and the evil will remain, but the greater good would prevail and so would humanity. There will be events along the way that will shake the foundations of our faith and belief, but if we understand the larger picture, we will look at this phase for what it is—a harbinger of the much-needed change in our world.