Do You Have to Go Out and Change the World?

Why do you aspire to be a spiritual teacher? Is it your life's purpose to lift others up or is it because - subconsciously - you want to be better than other people? Do you really feel as happy or peaceful as you always proclaim? Why is it difficult to show other people your real face, the way you really feel beneath the surface.

When Christian was a graduate student in economics he and his room-mates discussed what they would do if they had to choose a different profession; his response was psychotherapy. His room-mate said that the first question she would have for the therapist: " What unresolved issues do you have?" We don't really see a problem with that set-up. Let the teacher learn as much as the student in the interaction. The important thing is only that she is authentic and knows deep down inside that we are all one.

We write when we are peaceful and do something else when we don't. So you as a reader must get the impression that we are always connected to the Tao whereas a matter of fact we aren't. There certainly are times when we are neither happy, peaceful nor loving.
But this isn't really a problem. The only problem would be if we weren't willing to admit this to ourselves and to others that we can be disconnected as well. Along the Tao, whenever you are able to face your interferences honestly, you will always be given clear instructions how to reconnect. It can only rain for so long, sooner or later the sun is going to come out again.

We have seen often that celebrities need to hide their dark sides. They only want to show the world their positive sides. However, the world is intrigued to find out what goes wrong in their lives. That is how you get the ugly rumors and nasty headlines. That is also the reason why the cleaner you tend to appear in public, the darker your shadow tends to be. We are all the same.

Think back to the psychotherapy discussion from the beginning. It is ok if the therapist himself has issues to figure out, but if he truly cares about his patient, he will be willing to tear down the walls inside himself with the same intensity as his patient is and both get changed in the process. A Tao master knows that his brothers and sisters make him whole. How can there be any hierarchy. The miracle worker knows as well that the miracles are there to heal the world just as they are granted to lift her fears. Giving and receiving are one; there is never any hierarchy.

Life - the situation you are in - makes you a Tao master. The Tao is the path of the middle. The superior always happy and loving guru is as much an extreme as the depressed disciple who is venturing out to find the stone of wisdom. Neither perspective is balanced. Along the Tao you don't have to prove anything. Not to yourself and certainly not to others.

We certainly have aspirations, the aspiration to put our best foot forward when life shows up and the aspiration to stay connected to the divine force moment by moment. So you don't have to go out and change the world, just allow the world to change you, that is all there is really.

By Su Zhen and Christian