By Gillian Schutte
What will become of us in this world of overwhelming suffering? Why do we so readily accept control over the human collective by a handful of usurpers? To whom—or to what—have we entrusted our collective consciousness?
We might turn to ancient spiritual texts for insight, as they contain the timeless wisdom of ages. Sadly, much of this wisdom has been overshadowed by modern Western didacticism, with its limited approach to knowing. Western “Enlightenment” stands as an early step compared to the deeper, more expansive philosophies of the East, the immense spiritual libraries of Africa, and the experiential world wisdom of animism, paganism, and earthism.
Western Enlightenment was—and remains—a reverence of the mind stripped of the heart. Steeped in ego, it detaches us from the intelligence that resonates with nature, spirit, and our higher Self. This supposed Enlightenment brought forth anthropocentrism in the early modern era. Within a few centuries, this narrow, human-centric, patriarchal worldview ravaged our planet and oppressed all that is feminine, fluid, and yielding. It created profound imbalance—from the witch-hunts of Europe to the kidnapping and enslavement of countless African peoples to the extirpation of Indigenous peoples in lands colonised by white expansionists. Many of us have unknowingly surrendered our souls to this misguided power, thus contributing to the suffering we witness today.
What Shall We Do to Change This Reality? As well as seeking out the great historical tomes of spirit knowledge that exist in all cultures, we might begin by revisiting the heart-centred messages of the Black Consciousness movement, the Feminist movement, and the Socialist tradition. In them lie key clues to reclaiming our deep-seated egalitarian essence. To be an activist or social critic, at its core, is to long for an end to suffering—to retrieve joy, peace, and our right to love unconditionally. It is a rallying cry to notice what steals what is rightfully ours: open access to the Earth’s generous gifts for nourishment, delight, and resourcefulness. We must relearn to harness our own energy, our own strength, and collectively envision an authentic oneness.
We must lift our collective consciousness to overcome this distorted phallocratic illusion. As we shift into a new cosmic phase, we must reject the antihuman grip forged over five centuries by moralism, organised religion, patriarchy, and Enlightenment thinking—forces that led to colonialism, capitalism, sickness, and displacement the world over.
Witnessing the Present Moment As the world has already seen, Covid—and indeed imperialist wars—usher in ever-harsher restrictions, further tightening the stranglehold on our “joy in movement.” These forces also confine us to a state of uncertainty and desperation, limiting our innate right to simply be. We are called to reclaim our bodily birthright—an intrinsic joy of human freedom—before it is completely extinguished.
How Do We Fight This, and With What Resources? We do not necessarily fight with violence or destruction, though the dark forces rain their murderous artillery down on humanity. Rather, we awaken to our innate power. We are the resource. All that has ever existed also exists within us. Clinging to illusions only drains our inherent power and reinforces the projection of suffering. This may seem counter-revolutionary, but no amount of retaliation stops this wave of avarice, this insatiable hunger for power from the Anglosphere, hell-bent on bringing all into its restrictive clutches. We need to turn away from them as one unified field. We no longer want to play their blood-soaked war games. We will no longer be their fodder, their subjects gawking at the mass decimation of sovereign lands and their innocent civilians.
Yet on this journey of reclaiming our spirit, we also do not necessarily ignore the usurpers in our turning away. Raising consciousness and disengaging from their destructive systems is essential, but so is confronting their greed alongside anti-imperialist forces. To fight their avarice and domination in unity with such movements is a spiritual war, one that seeks true liberation for all.
We must remember our boundlessness, especially as the material world closes in on our consciousness. The more we allow the dark side to siphon our most precious gift—our limitless being—the more we perpetuate suffering for all. Waking up means reclaiming our vast nature. Each of us is the power that envisions a different order, that liberates our energy, that dances with life, that breaks free from the spiritual paralysis forced on us long before we took our first breath.
Increasingly, we see that the world is energy, stardust, waves, and particles. All we perceive is a collective projection. Yet, in our truest state, we are pure awareness, pure existence, far beyond these fleeting appearances.
Our most transformative act in this moment is to create a global wave of soul awareness, uniting as one in our true nature—our innate awareness—across the globe. Together, we can dissolve the “Babylon” we have unconsciously imagined into being. Let us unite in consciousness to dissolve the virus, the glitch, this antijoy plague, from our shared vision.
Let us reject the notion that resources must be owned before our humanity is validated. We are the diamonds, the gold, the very fuel of life’s cosmic fire. By remembering our unbounded selves, we remember all selves in the unity of existence.
Ultimately, all of our beingness moves toward non-beingness, that realm where we need not be anything but our original, divine essence. May we awaken to the illusions that confine us, reclaiming our right to exist in love, joy, and limitless possibility.
* Gillian Schutte is a film-maker, and a well-known social justice and race-justice activist and public intellectual.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.