11 Jul 2017

The Five Steps to True Societal Change

It has been almost two months since my last post, and that was the birthday of my Co-creator. Everything is bursting with life, the freezing winter seems so distant, and all beings are frolicking in the summer heat and rain. 


Blue skies, lush green vegetation, harmonious chirps of birds, buzzing bees

I have been very busy planting, hand weeding, and building the tiny house that I haven't created the energy to write a new post. I am blessed to have visitors coming in the homestead every week and bringing good news and new opportunities to make life brighter and more meaningful. Having to do several tasks within a short span of season takes a lot of energy and requires concentration so that I can provide my full presence with each activity. But, as I lack practice on mindfulness, my energy gets drained and I lose focus and concentration. As my energy gets drained the results of any activity becomes poorer and I had to redo several tasks. I am reminded again that to be able to be there for others, one has to be there for oneself, first and foremost. I was focused on simply doing tasks and forgot to get back inside, to my own healing. My body feels tired and sluggish as I continue to ignore its plea to rest. Fortunately, I found a time to rest and sit and contemplate and appreciate. Now, I am writing this new post on Awareness.

When I visited my Co-Creator in the Philippines, in one of our meaningful conversations, a deep insight has arose within me and I immediately shared it with her and now, I am sharing it here. In the Philippines, I will bluntly say that suffering can be seen everywhere and it is not being concealed in any fancy masks. In Japan, suffering is masked with convenience, social welfare supports, and being protected by strong sense of maintaining the status quo.

I have found out, through deep looking, that true societal change can be attained in five simple steps. If any of the steps is overlooked, the movement or action that we will do for the community or society may cause more suffering.

The first step is awareness of your own suffering. You are aware that you are afflicted. You are humble enough to accept that you are suffering and it is caused by inner and outer factors. You are aware of your own greed, your own inclinations, and your own mistakes. Many people gets stuck in this awareness that they tend to blame themselves and result to depression. The key to overcome this step is to simply be aware and not attached to your afflictions. Look at your afflictions and tell them "Hello dear afflictions, I know you are there. You are there but you are not who I really am." This is one of the ways Thich Nhat Hanh has taught us how to deal with feelings and mental perceptions. You do not ignore your afflictions and pretend they do not exist. Pride is the one blinding us from our afflictions and as we ignore them, they grow bigger and root deeper that these affliction seem so natural to us. So, simply accept their existence within you and give them your full presence.

The second step is awareness of the suffering of others. Some people skip the first step and immediately focus on the suffering of others. This may seem virtuous at first glance but behind it lies a dangerous trap. If one only looks at the suffering of others, we may have the tendency to feel more superior or more "blessed" than others. We may overlook the fact that all of us inter-are and are connected. We may be trapped in the notion that their suffering is more than ours. We must first be aware of our own suffering to have a true and realistic view of the suffering of others. To be truly empathic of others suffering, we must be deeply in touch with our own suffering first so that we would not judge others immediately. If we are truly in touch with our own suffering, when we see a person making mistakes, we would not think "That person is a bad person and he or she must be punished". Rather, we would think "He or she is suffering like I am. His or her actions are reflections of the sufferings he or she has gone through." We should not think beyond this for now. We shouldn't think immediately of what we can do for others. We should first think of what we should do within ourselves, what we should do to overcome our afflictions.

The third step is making actions and efforts to face your suffering. If you are suffering with pride, then try to focus your energies on your feelings and balance your pride with humility. If you are suffering with greed, then balance it with discipline and generosity. If you are suffering with loneliness, balance it with the openness to meet new people and friends. If you are suffering in a relationship, don't allow pride to hinder your openness. When you are suffering or hurt by your partner, the very first person you talk to is your partner. Tell them that you are hurt and tell them to help you overcome this. Ask them the reason why they have caused you suffering. To be able to relieve the suffering of the one you love, you must be able to overcome your suffering as well even if this was caused by the very people you love.

The fourth step is to re-evaluate yourself. Look again deeply within you and observe if there are any hints of self-satisfaction in the movement or action that you are about to do for others. This fourth step is overlooked by many and jump to making action in the community or the country. Many people are doing something in the mask of doing it for others when in reality the action stems from the sense of self-satisfaction or self-righteousness. This action usually results in phrases such as "At least I am doing something, what are you doing?" "I am sacrificing myself for others, how about you?". When phrases such as these are being uttered by people who are trying to incite societal change, they are likely trapped in their ego. When one is truly in touch with one's own suffering and other's suffering and the action springs from true intention of healing, the actions will be silent, without proclamation, but strong and steady with each step. Without this fourth step, the action will be ephemeral and will cause greater distortion and suffering. 

The fifth step is the actual Doing with Being. You are now in touch with yourself and with others, and you have balanced yourself and re-evaluated yourself. You can now do the action or the movement for others, community, or country without being strayed by your ego. You are now Doing while Being. You are no longer sacrificing yourself because you know your completeness and you have an Eternal Source of energy. You no longer give something in expense of your own because you are completely aware and you feel that their suffering is your own and their happiness is your own. You will not be brought down by naysayers and you know you need not feed their energies because you know that silence with compassionate action is the loudest form of change. You work under the beautiful shade of humility, without acknowledgement, without fame, because you know that the false light of good deed in fame is a deed cloaked in self-righteousness and self-satisfaction. Your action, no matter how small, will reverberate throughout the cosmos and bring change within each person you encounter and will soon bring everlasting societal change. 

Try to go into the first step first before proclaiming your actions. Maybe some of us are lost somewhere within the four steps. I have been lost somewhere as well and I am now doing something in a small spot in this beautiful earth, silently planting, hand weeding, and dancing with the butterflies and await patiently and eagerly for the arrival of good tidings.


I am doing this not because you are wrong, or they are wrong, but I am doing this because I am happy and with this energy, I can water the seeds of happiness within you.
(Photo of a Cosmos in Ginhawa Cafe in the Philippines)