When we look at the evolution of word meanings, we can see the changes in the direction of culture that occur over time. That is why I like to look up the root meanings of crucial words I use when I teach. Knowing the root of a word tells me what was originally meant by the word and how it was originally used. Then it becomes obvious where knowledge has migrated as we see how that word changed, even twisted, to fit the understanding of the current age.
Of course, this process can be seen in spiritual circles easily enough–which is my chief concern, but it is ubiquitous through all human culture. Take the word “revolution” for instance. It is now associated with political struggle for power (actually “force”) as one group seeks to overthrow another, to substitute one power structure for another–theoretically better–one. That reflects the recent use of ‘revolution’. However the root of the word, from latin, is much more interesting! And it has something to teach us about politics and spirituality.
The latin root of ‘revolution’ means to revolve, a turning or looking back. Naturally, anything that revolves arrives back at its starting point sooner or later. To return we have to turn away from the furthest point of movement and complete the revolution. It is natural and automatic. In some ways, this reminds me of the word “yoga”, which means to ‘yoke’, or ‘tie back to’, and refers to the uniting of the small self with the Universal Self, of the physical self with the Ultimate Beingness.
So, revolution really points us towards the eternal movement of life that expresses outwardly, from silence to activity, and inwardly, from activity to silence, at the same time. The true revolution is a turning away from the purely physical view of life, towards the very heart of life itself, the source of all unity and grace–the divine from which all emerges and remains forever rooted! It hints that progress, without continuing to be connected to our Universal roots, is unstable–one dimensional, at best. And when we begin to feel uncomfortable, alienated, and lost in our lives, it serves to remind us that the solution to our dilemma is through a return to our roots not continuing in the direction that lead to the dissatisfaction.
More than that, though, it suggests that each of us is a unity that is forever untied with our universal roots even as we dance the dance of life. We can never be separated from any part of the ‘revolution’. We exist at all places at once just as any part of a revolving entity remains part of the whole despite the direction it may be facing. Our dilemma is that in focusing only on the physical dimension of life–one direction–we have lost sight of the Universal. Imagine a ball that is revolving; it is a unity!
This is what I mean when I tell people that what is needed is a fundamental revolution of life. I refer to the awakening of awareness to the entirety of the revolving entity (you) rather than continuing to wander, lost to vision and purpose, in the physical, blind to the power and gifts of all the other dimensions.
The point is twofold. First, the physical doesn’t have any answers to what ails us individually or culturally. The physical is only a part of life and so sees only partially. Anything we “learn” in the physical is illusory, or even delusional; it could never be complete. Second, you already are the unity that is revolving. Whatever you imagine to be your troubles are the product of only seeing a fragment of what is there.
So, as I said in a previous post, there is no spiritual path because we are already whole and there is no where to go! However, there is a spiritual task, and that is the task of awakening to the totality that we already are. Let me repeat; to do this we don’t have to go anywhere! we just have to awaken to where we already are. Then, in that complete vision, knowledge and experience will be complete, and life will be revealed in all its divine glory. All without us having to go anywhere!
When I speak of revolution I do not typically speak of society or politics. Those will go where the consciousness (or in this case, the unconsciousness) of the people direct it, and there will always be people willing to use force to get their way. Our freedom, knowledge, and experiences have nothing to do with “society”. Spiritual law assures us of justice. When enough people have experienced their own revolution, society will be compelled to change, compelled not by force and violence, but by spiritual law.
This is why I teach the individual nature of the spiritual task. Your task is yours and no one else can accomplish it. In the program called The Training, I teach who you are and how to navigate through all the dimensions that comprise you as a human being. I do not teach a path. I teach what you need to know to unfold the fullness of yourself, and give you tools to help you awaken…right where you are!