Don't Go Back To Sleep

“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell you
Don't go back to sleep!
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep!
People are going back and forth
across the doorsill where the two worlds touch,
The door is round and open
Don't go back to sleep!”

― Rumi

To state the obvious, we are living in an unprecedented time in our history as individuals and as the human race. While the COVID-19 pandemic is not the first health crisis to plague us, it has come at a point in the evolution of human consciousness at which more people are awakening to the truth of our Oneness – our unity in Divine Life Energy, our unity with all humanity, and our unity with the entirety of creation. More and more of us are coming home to the realization that there is One Life and we are inextricably connected in it, through it, as it.

Possibly more than anything else that has occurred in our lifetimes, this virus has demonstrated that there are no boundaries between us. Our human-defined borders of cities, counties, states, countries, and continents mean nothing. While we discriminate based upon the ‘God’ we worship and our variously prescribed methods of worship, the virus does not. The virus is no respecter of any of the ways we humans have separated ourselves from each other. Even, and especially that which we hold most precious - our bodies - have proved to be borderless.

In our efforts to curtail the spread of the virus, we have been instructed and in some cases required to practice physical distancing and wear masks when in public places. I am aware, as I take my afternoon walks, that everyone is doing their best to avoid contact with others which often requires zigzagging from one side of the street to the other many times. While these are important measures to take, they can have the psychological effect of further separating us from each other.

Metaphorically, I see these as visible manifestations of the consciousness that has been at work for some time. Our response to the virus has given us a perceptible demonstration of how we have been seeing ourselves as separate from each other. We have been wearing the “masks” of our ego-dominated identities and have been distancing ourselves out of fear of our differences. We are now witnessing it in three-dimensional reality. We can no longer ignore it.

We can, however, refuse to recognize the obvious metaphor and go back to sleep. My hope is that we will not. Instead, my prayer is that will awaken to what has been the predominate energy of thought and emotion within the collective human consciousness and make conscious choices to transform it. Now is the time and we are the ones.

Let us use this time to do all we can to remove the “masks” that hide our authentic selves by discovering our own shadows of fear, judgment, blame, resentment and prejudice that keep us from genuinely loving ourselves and others. Let us do the work needed to transform our own consciousness, knowing that as we transform individually, we contribute to the transformation of the collective.

When enough of us are willing to engage in the work of self-transformation and awaken to the truth of who we are, we will shift the consciousness of humanity. We will then witness a world where people no longer were masks, literally or figuratively, but reveal their true identity. We will come together joining in unity and solidarity to co-create a world that embodies our knowing that we are a human family, here to respect, honor and care for each other. We will also know that we are one as expressions of the One Life, by whatever name or nature we know it to be, and respect each other’s traditions. Additionally, we will come together to care for our environment, our mother Earth, and all the life she supports.

Yes, many more of us are awakening and making a difference. It is evident. This pandemic crises has something to teach us if we will pay attention. Wake up! Don’t go back to sleep!