I try to write this article over and over again and nothing seems right to me. How can it be necessary to write the obvious?
Since the intensification of the massacre of the Palestinian people, especially in the first few months, virtually every person who steps foot in my office feels anxiety, anger, infinite sadness, helplessness, despair. I always tell them that we owe them at least to move forward, we who can, at least don’t allow them to win the battle in each of our minds, our hearts, our lives. Hope and contentment with life as a form of resistance, the bare minimum.
Because perhaps not all of us are in a position to be activists, we are not here to judge what each of us is capable of doing and sustaining. However, we cannot conceive health, mental health, and even less personal growth and spirituality, without having a social conscience.
To clarify terms, spirituality is awareness of oneness, recognition of the whole of which we are a part, and that our individuality is only a mirage, a tool we need in this life. Spirituality is embracing the Reality of who we are and standing up for the Truth, whatever it may be, at least in our hearts.
Personal growth is acknowledge our values, rescuing them from the layers of emotionality and ego that hide them, and cultivating the courage to act on them. To stop living on autopilot and be who we really are. Give up the comfort of self-deception and embrace responsibility.
No, spirituality is not neutral, because, although in the world of the spirit there is no duality, there is here and now, and it is a duty to take a stand with truth and justice.
Yes, we must take care of ourselves in order to take care of others. Nevertheless, castling and taking refuge in practices to feel good and avoid the uncomfortable is another deception of our ego so that we remain focused on our navel.
The truth can be painful, and running away from it does not make us spiritual, it makes us cowards. We can understand, even comprehend, but never justify. We can know our limits and not go beyond what our capacity allows, but we cannot deny reality so we do not feel guilty.
If your spiritual and personal growth practice doesn’t make you revisit your life concepts,
If it doesn’t benefit anyone but you
If it always makes you feel good
If it doesn’t make you empathize with others
If it doesn’t make you face your ignorance
If it doesn’t make you acknowledge injustice
If it doesn’t make you rethink your privilege
If it doesn’t make you get out of your bubble and connect with other people’s realities
If it doesn’t break down your prejudices
If it doesn’t help you realize that every person in this world is your family, and deserves to live in peace just like you do,
That’s not spirituality, it’s self-centeredness, it’s washing your conscience, it’s staying exactly where you were while hiding in a construct that makes you believe you’re evolving and protects you from the guilt of selfishness.
Society will not change until we change.
There is no individual freedom without social awareness. There is no activism without deconstruction and inner-activism[i]. There is no enlightenment without service and surrender.
No one will be free until we are all free.
Free Palestine!
[i] Inneractivism is a term coined by Maria Angeles Nvumba Mañana @Psicoterapiamnm, it refers to the personal growth and knowledge necessary to perceive how the system impacts in such a way on people harmed by systems of oppression, that their actions can continue to feed that same system against which is fought, affecting at an individual level, oneself, and also the group of which it is a part, or even repeating the same pattern in other groups.
