If we are lucky or blessed or both, we will sooner or later be afforded an opportunity to see ourselves as we really are and have some time to reflect on how and why we live the way we do.
What we see when we look can be, profoundly shocking and transformative. Fortunately it is never too late, even when we are in the process of dying,
to experience and appreciate some of the energetic power, beauty, and joy of self-discovery and transformation. I do not know for sure, though I do have some thoughts and ideas, what if anything happens to us after we die. If there is something of us that continues on and we have experienced and explored the dynamics of transitions and transformations before we die we will probably be a little more prepared to face whatever we meet next. So it seems to me we have nothing to lose in spending some or our brief time here, in self-discovery and very possibly, we have a lot to gain.
From
what I have learned and experienced real self-discovery and personal transformation require a
heartfelt long term commitment to being and staying open to the adventure of self-discovery and the process of self-transformation. Once you
make that choice you find you are always on "the Path" and every step you take is
inherently magical and academical.
I believe that there
is no more worth wile and enjoyable adventure to be had in this life than that of self-discovery. Because we are not a singularity in the cosmos it is impossible to have any real self-knowledge without understanding our energetic, physical and social contexts. So self-discovery out of necessity demands we seek to find, examine, and understand the many and varied contexts we exist within. This includes looking at our place in and relationship with innumerable micro and macro energetic and physical environments. And we must also carefully examine our place within the many interrelated human societies that our species has created and exists within.
It is especially important to uncompromisingly investigate our relationships with the most significant and or valued people in our lives. We need to understand how they affect us for good and ill and how we can and do affect them.
Their realization of the inseparable unity and dynamic relationships and interactions of all creation with the individual person led ancient Chinese
healers and teachers to believe, as I do, that it is impossible to become a truly healthy
individual in an unhealthy society. An individual and a society she lives
within seem to be two separate entities but they are in reality one and inseparable.
So if we wish know ourselves and achieve meaningful self-transformation we cannot ignore or
trivialize our relationships with the various environments and societies we exist within. Therefore if we make a commitment to self-discovery and transformation it must inherently include a commitment to understanding and transforming our societies.
