About Sacred Activism - Harnessing the Energy of Love Sacred Activism is the fusion of the mystics passion for God with the activists passion for justice, creating a third fire, which is the burning sacred heart that longs to help, preserve, and nurture every living thing. “A spirituality that is only private and self-absorbed, one devoid of an authentic political and social consciousness, does little to halt the suicidal juggernaut of history. On the other hand, an activism that is not purified by profound spiritual and psychological self-awareness and rooted in divine truth, wisdom, and compassion will only perpetuate the problem it is trying to solve, however righteous its intentions. When, however, the deepest and most grounded spiritual vision is married to a practical and pragmatic drive to transform all existing political, economic, and social institutions, a holy force – the power of wisdom and love in action – is born. This force I define as Sacred Activism.” ~ Andrew Harvey Sacred Activism is a transforming force of compassion-in-action that is born of a fusion of deep spiritual knowledge, courage, love, and passion, with wise radical action in the world. The large-scale practice of Sacred Activism can become an essential force for preserving and healing the planet and its inhabitants. The economic, political, spiritual world crisis that we currently find ourselves in is a call to action. It is an opportunity for us to understand the realities around us and to rally together to do something different. We now have before us the possibility of using this current crisis to empower ourselves, and others, to actually get the planet to work. Embracing an uncertain future, we need to support leaders, who are inspired, courageous and effective to rise up. We need to renew the energy of people who are burnt out and apathetic in institutions and corporations. If we point individuals to an inner compass that renews their passion, there is hope for real solutions and inspired creativity. All that we need is already there, in the currency of people, and it only needs to be tapped into. Both contemporary spiritual seekers, and activists have not been connected to a vision of action that is inspiring, hopeful and rooted in deep spiritual wisdom and compassion. Some spiritual seekers, for instance, use spiritual knowledge as a subtle way of dissociating from hands-on realistic social, economic, and political engagement in the world, thereby ensuring that the world and its people will be abandoned in its hour of extreme need. Activists, on the other hand, are prone to complete exhaustion, burn out, and debilitating and divisive rage and are often cut off from the healing and transforming wisdom of the spiritual traditions and the simple techniques, prayers, and practices that could sustain, inspire, and nourish them in their heroic endeavors. We have seen that in the very heart of the chaos of the modern crisis, an extraordinary lineage has arisen of ordinary people who have fused deep spiritual knowledge, experience, and practice, with wise, incessant action for justice and peace. Having emerged against all odds, they accomplished the unimaginable. Our world is changing. We are changing. We are evolving into a new way of being. We each hold a vital and uniquely shaped part of the whole puzzle and we are, each one of us, needed to complete the whole picture. On the outside, the picture seems pretty grim. In the last 20 years, we have lost approximately 1 million species from our planet and many more are in danger. Yet, a new hope is arising in the midst of our growing global crisis. It is being born in the hearts of individuals all over the world, from all walks of life. It is an inner fire which has the power to transform everything we know (and think we know). This flowing essence of love is greater than any force in our world today. It is greater than hatred and famine and poverty. It has the power to transform atrocities, but to do so it needs form. When we surrender ourselves to this greater love, we become that form. Love never overrides free will, and our permission and active participation is necessary. When we yield to it, we give voice to it. We give arms to it, and hands and body. It does not move as we do. It does not struggle or fight against existing structures. It does not sink into despair. Through understanding born of compassion beyond reason, it inspires creative co-operation and seeks tirelessly to find and implement solutions to the problems we face in our world today. We are called to become this love in action. Every compassionate action you make, no matter how small, has an impact on this world that goes far beyond the result that you see. If we valued kindness above profit, We would learn that we need far less than we think we do. We would remember how to trust. We would begin to erase the poverty that erodes our world on so many levels. We would begin to replace loneliness with companionship. And we would fill our world up with the things that really matter. We would realize fulfillment instead of wanting more and more. Maybe others would notice, and begin to do the same. Its not that complicated. Money is just a tool. It doesnt have to be our master. Its not money that will free us. Its kindness. And its not up to the world to change. Its up to you. This is an inspirational call to the brave and the hopeful to become love in action to create a better world. Far from the warriors battle cry to arms of the past, this is a call to a particular form of actism, sacred activism. The term sacred activism was coined by author and Oxford scholar Andrew Harvey, and he defines a sacred activist as a humble and divine agent of change to birth a new world of compassion, peace, balance, justice and harmony. One of the most intimidating things for an activist to face is the question What can only one person do to make a difference? Shifting from the traditional struggle-based activism to the sacred activist approach is the single most powerful thing any individual can do to make an impact on a global scale. Throughout human history, we have been given living examples of single individuals who have reshaped our world by embodying the unyielding compassion of sacred activism. The lives of people such as Martin Luther King bear witness to the massive impact of a human heart surrendered to something greater than itself. Cooperation is not collusion. It is possible to cooperate to change something without condoning what we do not believe in. Cultivating compassion for someone we do not agree with does not mean that everything they do suddenly becomes ok with us. It means recognizing that they are human beings like ourselves, and that they want and need the same things in their lives that we want and need in ours. Compassion can be soft but it can also be fierce. The compassionate heart understands that if we could spend a moment in our enemys sorrows, we would have no enemies. Recognizing this opens a door of cooperation. As we tackle the issues that are important to us, verifying facts is important not only to effective action but also to the credibility of our message. If our actions and message are to have meaning, we must first be informed not only of the deeper issues but of the beliefs of both sides. Always seek out the truth for yourself! The path of sacred activism is perhaps the path less followed because it involves deep shadow work. One cannot walk this path wihtout first coming to peace with ones self. It is impossible to see through the short comings of another and recognize and honor the precious breath of the Divine in them as that which also moves through us, until we have realized it in a profound way within our own lives. It is impossible to truly forgive another until we have faced our own failures and forgiven ourselves. This kind of shadow work is not easy. It is not easy to let go of our victim hood, our righteousness, or any aspect of that persistent sense of self which is the construct of the mind and not our true essence. Indeed, it is only possible when we choose, in each moment as it arises, to die to our self and allow that Love which defies understanding to shine through us. That which is within us is more powerful that that which is without. If one heart surrendered to this can change the world, imagine what many hearts surrendered together can do! It has become increasingly clear that only Sacred Activism-- the fusion of the deepest mystical knowledge, peace, strength, and stamina with calm, focused, and radical action in every arena of society, culture, economics, and politics--can be of help in our growing world crisis. Neither a purely spiritual nor simply activist approach can solve our enormous problems. The core teachings of all the major mystical paths make it clear that there is, within human beings, an enormous unused reservoir of pure divine power, the pure power of sacred wisdom consciousness, passion, and compassion--the power of what Jesus called the kingdom of heaven, and of when in Hinduism is known as bliss-consciousness. These core teachings also reveal that if we can learn how to use this power--or rather how to let it use us as its luminous instruments--we will harness the energies of love and discover for ourselves how a clear, focused, purified, divine passion devoted to transformative action on all levels can birth a new world. ~ Andrew Harvey (from andrewharvey.net and heartrising)
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 19:09:40 +0000
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