A New Breed of Activist

Oran Cohen
Oran Cohen

Imagine, if you will, a wave, a movement of youth who walk this planet and feel a deep urge to change it. This wave of consciousness is made up of individuals from every corner and every faith of Mother Earth. They live with a certain sense of reverence, respect, and love for all sentient beings that transcends the boundaries of countries, cultures and traditions.  They feel, somehow, that they have a responsibility to humanity and to themselves to impact their world.

They believe that action alone will not save humanity from it's present trajectory.  They also know deep within their hearts that sitting in a candle-dimmed meditation room or place of worship and praying for world peace is great, but still, not the whole picture. These individuals believe that to truly transform this world for the better, a future of unity and collective conscious evolution, the way forward is for those who are spiritual to dare to become active, and those who are active to dare to become spiritual.

They’re starting NGO's (non-governmental organizations), occupying the streets, and they are self-organizing, balancing spirituality with potent and deliberate acts. Learning to walk in both worlds. They are strategists, mediators, pioneers, system breakers and system makers who can sense that the status-quo is ready to be challenged! Oh, and a large majority of them also happen be under the age of 35.

Welcome to the new breed of activists. This is the new paradigm of thought. More and more individuals understand that to fundamentally transform the culture of war, physical measures will never be enough. If they truly wish to shift this planet, they need to shift their inner warring nature as well -- on behalf, and as part of, humanity. They know without a shadow of a doubt that their world mirrors their beliefs, judgements, values and perceptions. No one knows this better than these new activists. In fact, more and more people are awakening to this realization everyday!

They are learning that waving peace signs and marching won't change the world, but spiritual and conscious action taken with discernment and long-term planning just might. These individuals realize the need to deepen their spirituality and then transform that beingness into action.

They feel that the more we, as humanity, look at ourselves as the cause of our external experiences, the more we can stand accountable and learn to change our world. They know that by changing themselves, they can re-write their social script, and they use their writing tools with passion and determination -- compelled and inspired by something deeper, by an internal call from the genius inside themselves. They are aware that every thought, emotion and belief takes them closer or farther away from unity with themselves, their community and their world.

We are in critical times, and the movement is at a critical stage. On the surface, you might call one face of this movement Arab Spring or Occupy Earth. However, something deeper is stirring underneath the contempt and the call for change. A movement that takes us closer to our divinity is under way, and our most prized possession during this shift is bringing our individuality AND our indivisibility into play.

For humanity to thrive in the transformation that awaits it, we have to realize the truth about our nature on an individual, communal, and global level. We need to bite the bullet, and own up to the fact that humanity is an organism. It's a system in a sea of systems, a player in the grand orchestra of life. We are now being called to learn to see our world as systems rather than live under the illusion of separateness. And the destiny of a thriving system is fueled by the mechanisms of collaboration, decentralization and constant inner-vation.  The new activist knows this intuitively.

Our role is to listen to what emerges, see what is needed, and act as facilitators rather than dictators -- as collaborators and students of the future. Our part is learning to create conditions conducive to life! These "New Activists" are the Mapmakers of the future. They carry the pin-code for the change humanity is destined to undergo. They represent the new order of freedom that is emerging! This "movement" has no borders, no criteria, no categories and no dogmas. So, all are called to join this growing force! It is about the freedom to love and the love of freedom. It is about awakening to our highest truth, whatever that may be, and uniting as humanity to fundamentally transform ourselves and our world. It is about living our highest values of love, truth, unity and peace.
Our only undoing is our inability to see the trends and signs that lead to the new positive, supportive ways of being in the world.  There is a call now to re-imagine the way we relate to ourselves, to one another, to our world, and to the mechanisms to which we choose to engage.  We are being asked in no uncertain terms to rethink our thinking and use tools that relate to the monumental times of exponential shifts that we find ourselves in.

Our most valued tool is our hearts and our ability to listen. Our gift is our uniqueness, our individuality -- our personal genius. We can only do this by listening with intensity and humility.  And we can only change things by acting with intelligence, discernment, passion and reverence. This is the path of the spiritual activist.

This, I suspect, is our mandate. It is not an option, but the very foundation of the future we constantly say we desire to experience. The ‘new breed’ knows this and walks that path as a daily discipline.

If these words move you, then, my friend, you are one of those activists.

Your work is to learn this new way of being while simultaneously conjuring up new systems, paths and visions, to expedite your desires and ideas, many of which are still waiting to be born. Our work is to create places of refuge where magnificent souls, just like yourself, can safely explore mew models for the future --dreaming, loving and daring to-get-there, romancing ideas out of the collective wisdom and finding the clarity to act on these treasures. The more outrageous and courageous, the better!

Within each individual is the indivisible. Your mission, if you choose to accept it young grasshopper, is to unearth the song that rumbles in your heart, to uncover and discover your genius, and to courageously bring it to the world with audacity, imagination, passion and grace!  Know that through doing this, you'll inspire others to do the same. That's

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