Michael Meade: The Problems We Face Cannot Be Solved at the Same Level They Were Created

As a friend has wisely pointed out, it also needs to be clarified that in sharing this, and regardless of where we are in our own personal inner work and growth, we need to be careful to not use our spiritual path as a justification for a focus on individualism, on waiting till we're "evolved enough" before we engage in collective action, or in justifying that all we need do is focus on praying for and visualizing a peaceful world while we neglect diving into the courageous messy middle of embracing our role in actively contributing to the great universal struggle for racial, economic, social, and environmental justice. Both have long been needed — to engage in both our inner growth while simultaneously engaging in some form of activism aimed at creating the radical systemic changes that are vital to the well-being of it all. On my own path of awakening, I have discovered that this inner work absolutely coincides with being compelled to take action on the outside to alleviate, not just the suffering of those I know and love, but also to alleviate the suffering and injustices which plague our nation and world. This is the work that cannot just be prayed or visualized away. We need to be brave enough to roll up our sleeves and really dive in — into the places we've neglected in our hearts, into the wisdom of our souls, and into the messy, active, brave work of coming together to birth the world that is so urgently needed if there is to be a future for our children and grandchildren and all the children of all the species everywhere. — Molly

Ultimately, the problems we face cannot be solved at the same level at which they were created. The current problems of the world are bigger and more complex than the institutions established to deal with them. Meaningful change requires a true transformation that shifts the levels of understanding and opens the realms of possibility. Yet, there is a poverty of imagination when it comes to facing the size and depth of the problems we all face. In mistaking appearances for the real thing, people wind up with the appearance of strength, the appearance of leadership and the appearance of meaning while suffering a loss of all that is truly meaningful in the end. Genuine change, whether it be in the hearts of people or in the culture at large, is more difficult than changing the appearance of things and therefore can be a more rare occurrence. In hard times, inner changes must precede changes to outer circumstances. 
 

— Michael Meade, From Awakening the Soul: A Deep Response To a Troubled World