Change - Meaningful or Chaotic

Change happens constantly and it is the most powerful force in the universe. We experience it all the time. Either we make things change in our lives or we experience change happening to us. Every part of our life is in a constant state of flux and most of us have a hard time dealing with it.

The older we get the more we want things to be the way they have been. Or at least we want life to have some consistency. Older people experience the constant flux of life as disturbing and unsettling. However, their strong desire to change the current direction in the world, especially in the social, political, national, environmental worlds, makes them long for change back to the “good or the great old days.” They don’t remember feeling discomfort and suffering back then.

The younger we are the more change we want. Younger people most of the time revel in the constant newness in their personal lives because they are deeply allergic to boredom. However, a regularity in their lives becomes absolutely necessary in order for them to maintain a sense of security and peace.

Even though we seem not to know what to do with change, people generally want to do something about their social or personal reality. People want to not just experience chaotic change, like what seems to be happening in the world today, with all the wars and the inequality present in the world. There is a lot of disturbance going on in reference to safety, security, the basics of life, relationships in the family or in the political world. People are publicly longing for better wages, more democracy, and more peace in their lives and their children’s lives.

The question in reference to change is “how can we make meaningful, not chaotic, change happen? How can we invent things that benefit the meaningful aspects of our life and not lead to more division and chaos?”

The difference between chaotic change and meaningful change, even in the presence of a crisis like the climate crisis is, according to yoga, the difference between a restless mind and a peaceful, compassionate, concerned mind.

The restless mind is attracted to chaos either positively or negatively. Negatively, the restless mind constantly wallows in the agony of life by burying itself in “awareness-numbing” activities like sports, television or social media. Or positively, the restless mind sees the catastrophes that are happening and rushes to do something impulsively out of fear or anger. The restless mind even begins to worry about the early Fall snowfalls that might be coming.

The peaceful mind, on the other hand, remains in the present and deals with what must be done now. The peaceful mind doesn’t fret about all the changes that are occurring, but acts lovingly in a manner that deals directly either with the personal chaos of the day or the potential chaos of the future. The peaceful mind makes the meaningful change happen. The peaceful mind is daily in meditation, bringing itself deeply into union with its divine, infinite and perfect core. Or that peaceful mind is in constant state of prayer, consciously choosing mental union with the Divine Source of Life outside itself.

With that deep resonance with the Presence of the Divine present in our lives, the person with the peaceful mind will know exactly what must be done for the highest good of self and others and will do it.

Our world needs many people with peaceful, compassionate, concerned minds so that the change in today’s world moves from chaotic to meaningful activity.

Let’s take time, right now, to rest our mind, to make our mind peaceful.

Namaste’