Outer Change

We already divided change into inner and outer, and we can distinguish again between Outer Change which tries to change others and that which tries to change us. All of this is somewhat conceptual, and such distinctions may not feel relevant to you. But I want to mention them at the head because we need to be clear, as much as is possible, about what we want to achieve. And what we need to do to get to that goal.

Change Yourself - Change the World

For example we may feel strongly about animal rights, this conviction that animals should be treated more fairly may have been awoken by a specific incident. We may have seen someone mistreating an animal; hitting them, tethering them by a short rope, leaving them isolated or in a cage. There is nothing we can do, and nothing we wish to do, to un-see this cruelty, we have to act.

Now what does that conviction ask us to do?

  • In this moment, what can we do to alleviate the suffering in front of us?
  • Then, what can we do to help the person who is currently mistreating the animal, to see their role as a carer, and the animal as worthy of greater respect?
  • Then, what can we do to promote a culture of care, a movement towards equality of rights for all living beings?

Once we meet this last question, we need to recognise that there may be as great a need to change myself as there is towards changing anyone else. It may even be greater.

  • I may need to review how much I need certain cosmetics that use animal testing.
  • How many animal products I feel comfortable having in my diet; meat, milk and blood.
  • What I feel able to wear; leather, fur and other animal skins.

As well as this I may feel I need to promote my views to others, encourage more people to open their eyes to the pain we are causing our fellow beings.

So how will your path look?

One Person and a Flickering Light

I love the story of AJ Muste protesting outside the White House.
Each night while America was at war in Vietnam, Muste would stand alone in the cold with a single candle burning beside him. Already, I find this a beautiful image. One person with such conviction that his government is doing wrong that he takes a stand. Something in him cannot stay quiet, hidden or unexpressed. Something calls him into action.

One evening a journalist came and interviewed Muste. He asked him a really obvious question; "Do you really think that you, just one person with a candle, can stop the actions of the American Government?"
Muste replied; "You've got me all wrong, I'm not doing this to change the government, I'm doing this so the government can't change me."

It's Us or Them; or Both

I think this story touches us because it's such a gentle expression of a powerful conviction. Yet the real lesson is we may not succeed in changing the other, we may just be able to remain true. In fact if changing (defeating) another is our goal, we risk devaluing our stand, and falling into a clash of views.
We'll look into a wise approach to views more deeply further down.

Courage to be a Minority

Another aspect we can draw from this story is the fact that you will find yourself in the minority at times, you may even find yourself standing alone.
But what does that mean? If you are truly standing up for something bigger than yourself, can you ever be alone?

"If you stand for something, you will always find some people for you and some people against you. If you stand for nothing, you will find nobody against you, and nobody for you."

- William Bernbach

In a certain way, we value other people too highly. We look around to see who is for me, and how many are against me. It's an aspect of our personalities that has somehow become over-developed. I'm not going to blame social media with it's likes, follows and affirmations. Those are mere symptoms that show this quality in a crude and no longer ignorable way. But they did not create it.
We seem to be currently less confident in our power, in our thinking, in our abilities, than is healthy.

Confidence to Be

Some would like to find out why this is. We can try to unravel the ravel of how I came to be under-confident. The danger with this path is it may take a lot of our energy, and be an endless inner inquiry with no worthy result. But, feel what you need, it may be necessary.

For many of us it is more important at this moment to recognise that we have been underplaying our significance. That we've given up our power for a powerless role. If this rings true, we need to find a way to "Take the Power Back". Or to put it another way, we can develop confidence in our convictions.

Believing in Ourself - For a while

A human life is often lost within the thicket of views and opinions the human beings lives by. These views are held onto, fought for, and even died for. Spiritual teachings try to teach us how to have a healthy relationship with views, values and judgements. They don't teach us that we should drop all views, that having a view is wrong, negative or harmful. If they did they would be teaching an antagonistic view about views, and would implode in oxymoronic perplexity. Yet, 'to be spiritual I should not have a view', is a conclusion we too often reach on our own.

Views and Values - A Trap and a Platform

If we didn't have any values, views and convictions, we wouldn't mind what happened in the world. But we do mind, we do care, and that is a good thing. By bringing our views into sight we can see what it is that I believe in; what I want to stand up for.
We can also see, how hard am I holding onto this view. This is an important part; what is my relationship to what I believe in and care about.
How can I embody this, act upon this, and not be so rigid that I exclude anyone who doesn't share this view from my circle of friends.

Clarity of Truth

We really have to find a way to express our truth in a way that embodies that truth. When we plan our actions we must stay in touch with the deepest aspect of our motivation. Can we march for peace in a way that brings peace through the way that we do it? Can we act for the planet in a way that does not make us lose touch with all beings?

Next we can look at bringing the Goal onto the Path.