“Breakdown to breakthrough” has been a mantra in spiritual circles for decades. Around 2005, even mainstream media started using the phrase. We need to understand and embrace the process of breaking down to break through if we are to maintain our spiritual perspective of change.
Planning a new society is like designing and building a new house. If you have an old, decaying house sitting on a great piece of property, you know it has to be torn down before a new house can be built. Not only does the house have to be razed to the ground, but the foundation also has to be removed as well because it is old and does not fit the new house’s design. You have to tear it all down to build something totally new.
For more than twenty years, I have listened to people eager for the breakdown. Many had a “lollipops and rainbows” vision of creating a new world. They seemed to believe that Spirit was going to wave a magic wand over the planet and instantly change people’s hearts to create a peaceful change of society. That is not how it works.
If you have been wearing your rose-colored glasses, remember the warning to be careful what you wish for. The breakdown is here and it is not going to be pretty. However, if we remember who we are as spiritual students, we can not only survive but also thrive.
The Breakdown of Self
The evolution from our lower levels of consciousness into our divine consciousness is about the transformation of the lower-self. Those of us who have been consciously going through this process know that it is not always easy. We have to take an honest look at our issues. We have to own them as ours alone, take new action, and allow them to heal. The “breakdown to breakthrough” of our spiritual process is the breakdown of the lower-self. We have to demolish all the old beliefs, emotional attachments, and low-frequency behaviors if we are to step into our true spiritual identity. It is not always pretty and it is sometimes very hard.
We also know it is worth the patience and the strength to persevere through the breakdown to arrive at a new beginning. The perception of “no pain, no gain” does not have to be our truth. We have the choice every day to allow the breakdown or fight it. When we persevere long enough to finally let go, the rewards are great. The beauty of the expansion into a new level of love, light, forgiveness, and wisdom is worth the journey through the process. Allowing the breakdown is the only way to the other end of the tunnel.
The Dark Night of the Soul
All ancient spiritual practices have a version of the dark night of the soul. In some religions, it is a crisis of faith in their form of God. However, the dark night of the soul is facing our greatest challenges. These nights include our deepest fears, the beliefs and emotions we have created to “protect” our perception of ourselves and the way we want the world to be, and the doubt in ourselves as good enough.
A dark night of the soul is a crisis of faith in ourselves. Passing through a dark night requires thorough self-examination and the willingness to face everything that we have denied.
The Lord’s Prayer in Psalm 23 of The Bible teaches, that “even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” This is not about walking through Hell to battle Satan. It is not about battling what or who we want to blame for evil. The dark valleys hold all the thoughts and feelings we are afraid to address.
But we are unconditionally loved and supported by our light as we look into the mirrors of our darkness. We are the power of Source and if we have the courage to persevere, we will know ourselves as pure love and can step into our full power. The road to mastery always passes through the dark nights of the soul.
Changing a Society
The process of breaking down a society to create change is not only the same challenge as healing ourselves, but it is also more difficult because so many people are involved. How do we get one hundred people to look at their issues, own them, come into understanding and compromise with each other, and agree to change? Amplify that to one hundred million people or to one billion people. We are not just talking about small changes to a society. We are talking about an entire restructuring of a culture.
The breakthrough to a divine community requires the demolition of everything that separates us from each other and from Source. We need not only years but lifetimes of self-examination and healing to achieve full enlightenment. How can we expect the transition of a culture, a nation, or a planet to be quick or easy? I am sure we would all love to simply click our heels together three times and find ourselves home in our full light. I know I would! However, that is not the way it happens.
The process in our country alone is multi-faceted. We do not have a few issues to address, we have a long list. While divine truth is simple, human psychology and sociology are not. Watching a human being break down can be challenging. Watching a nation break down can be overwhelming. However, just as we must go through those dark nights of the soul on our personal journeys, we must go through the dark nights of the soul as a nation to achieve healing. Those who know history know that we have already passed through several of these dark nights and have come out on the upside. As we persevere, we will do so again.
Surfing the Waves of Change
Like all phases of our spiritual evolution, the breakdown to breakthrough is an inside job because it is always about us and never about them. As Ram Dass said, “The spiritual journey is not about acquiring something outside yourself. Rather, you are penetrating the layers and veils to return to the deepest truth of your own being.” To return to the deepest truth of your own being requires walking through the dark valleys of the dark nights of the soul.
The rediscovery of our true selves is not about what we do. It is about who we are, meaning it is about the energies that we resonate. We become who we want to be by raising our frequencies and holding the energies of the divine. Surfing the small waves of change can be relatively easy. Surfing the big ones that we are facing now is much more challenging.
While we each have a list of divine resonances for our healing, I recommend focusing on these as well to help you stay on your surfboard as you ride through the dark nights ahead.
- Divine Hope (knowing that there is light at the end of a long, dark tunnel)
- Perseverance
- Courage
- Patience
The breakdown will continue personally, nationally, and globally until we have faced all the issues we need to heal to return to the deepest truth of our own being. It will not be pretty. The process will be challenging. Remember that we are being tested. Do we swing with the energy of Buddha’s pendulum or Newton’s Cradle? We must choose to look within and we must choose our words and actions wisely. The breakthrough awaits but only on the other side of the breakdown.
Feature photo by Joe Kniesek from pixabay.com
Newton’s Cradle image by3D Animation Production Company from pixabay.com