For a person who is on a spiritual path, politics is an aspect of life that can be particularly difficult to navigate. Some people believe that paying attention to politics is “beneath” their spiritual status. More common are those who take sides with a certain political candidate or party which closely aligns with the spiritual values of love, respect, unity, and non-violence (or at least, appears to do so). At the same time, there is a tendency to be strongly opposed to politicians who are seen as non-inclusive and “conservative”, with the latter word viewed as a synonym for “intolerant”.
Although it’s important to be mindful of politics, it’s also important to make sure your heart is in the right place. Supporting a candidate who you genuinely believe will make a difference in the world is one thing. Opposing any candidate, or simply supporting an opposing candidate because you dislike a certain politician, is another thing altogether.
In the Bible, Jesus said to love your enemies, and to do good to them that harm you. This includes politicians that you do not like. And there is a reason for this: you cannot love and hate and the time. If you share posts on social media about why a certain politician is bad, then you are spreading hate.
A common expression states that “the road to hell is paved with good intentions”. This is because people commonly delude themselves about their true intentions. Anyone who feels compelled to defend a certain action is most likely in denial about the true intent of an action. Note that the “good” intentions of the ego are justified with logic. The loving intentions of the heart, on the other hand, do not need justification. In short, I would advise to constantly check your intentions to ensure that your actions are truly aligned with the spiritual values of loving not just your friends, but also your enemies.
The World is A Reflection
A concept that I have mentioned before is that the external world is merely a mirror of the internal world. This is not a “new age” concept: the idea of “as within, so without” is ancient wisdom. In short, whatever frustrates you in life is simply a signal that there is a related internal matter that needs to be addressed. This isn’t too hard to understand, but I think many people fail to realize just how completely accurate this reflection is.
We can’t change the external world directly, as it is simply a mirror of (in this case) our collective internal states. Any political divide in our physical reality is nothing more than a symbolic representation of a divide within.
Even when people understand this, there is still a strong tendency to believe that any internal conflict is someone else’s conflict. “I’m not the problem: you are!” is one of the ego’s favorite mantras. But there is an easy way to determine where internal strife exists: if you personally take sides in politics, then your internal world must be in conflict. This is not a judgement, it’s simply a reality that would be helpful to recognize.
Changing The World
There is a popular saying about having the courage to change the things you can change, and accept the things that you cannot. As was previously mentioned, the outer world is a reflection of the inner. Therefore, from a spiritual perspective, this concept is not correct. Let’s examine what happens when we try to change outer circumstances.
When you try to change something, it is because you are unhappy with the way things currently are. This discontent has the effect of lowering your energetic vibration. And your vibration can be thought of as a measure of how much you are in ego-consciousness and separation vs. in a state of unity and love for mankind.
A low vibration is a result of negative emotions such as anger, jealousy, bitterness, and hate. It shouldn’t be hard to admit that when you are sharing negative posts and comments about a certain politician on social media, that this is lowering your energetic vibration. Additionally, you are also spreading this negatively to others.
Every time you criticize a person, you lower your vibration. In other words, the negative aspects of the person you don’t like results in you lowering your vibration to his/her level. Even just thinking about the politician will lower your vibration if your thoughts lead to negative emotions.
When you think about something negative, you are literally “feeding the negativity beast” by lowering your vibration and giving energy to the negativity. And as more and more people become opposed to each other and divided, whether it be along the lines of politics, race, or national interests, the vibration of the entire world is dragged lower down as well.
Positive Vibes
The way to deal with negativity is to cultivate positivity, gratitude, and love (while still being able to hold space for your negative emotions). Be careful not to misinterpret these words, however. I did not say “respond with positivity”. Any response to negativity cannot be positive because it is a judgement. A so-called positive response to negativity is simply an exercise of self-righteousness.
A positive attitude comes from the heart. One example of a positive attitude would be to pray for a politician you dislike to make the best possible choices. (And if this produces pushback in yourself, then question what would be the harm of praying for someone? Are you afraid that this “evil” person might actually do something good, ruining your perception of him or her?).
Another method would be to visualize the politician acting in ways that are fair and just. As you do this, feel your heart with love for the person you are visualizing. In this way, you are literally helping to create a new reality. Another option is to use positive affirmations, such as “this person always makes the best decisions”. A word of warning about affirmations however: you can’t just say the words. You have to feel that the words being spoken are true. No matter how you choose to cultivate love, it is not the actions, but the feeling in your heart, that is important.
At first glance, these ideas may seem like nonsense and a waste of time. Or they might be seen as a denial of reality. So it must be made clear that you are not trying to deny what is happening, nor are you making any attempt to ignore the frustration and anger you feel toward a particular person. Instead, what you are attempting to do is take the energy that you are currently using in a negative way and channel it into something positive instead.
Every time you are able to keep love and positive intentions in your heart, you are raising your own vibration. This in turn helps raise the vibration of the entire planet. And the more people that raise their vibrations, the more we will find our leaders responding to the positive vibrations by making choices based on love rather than fear.
“Try not to change the world.
You will fail.
Try to love the world.
Lo, the world is changed,
Changed Forever”
-Sri Chomney
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