When you are walking Spiritual Path consciously it is very important that you understand the difference between "Change" and "Transformation" and focus on Transformation and not change.
The word "change" itself means it can change, can change back, it's a continuous process, it is a movement which is mostly due to changed circumstances, events in life. If you have someone around you who expects you to behave in a certain way you will change yourself accordingly when you are around that person. Suppose you are a compulsive talker and a person whom you like is a quiet one, then around him/her you will change yourself to stay quiet, but the moment you are away from him/her you will be back as a chatterbox. If a person around you is Spiritual and doesn't involve himself/herself much in the useless mundane then just to stick around with them you will listen to their Spiritual talks and will ask questions accordingly, but the moment you are away from that person you will be back to your mundane and useless world as you belong there and that's who you truly are. If you are with a Truthful person, you will try to be truthful, but the moment you are with others you are back to your throne of lies. In a nutshell, you become like Chameleon, who will change color according to the circumstances and will adjust for the time-being but very soon will be back to the Original.
When this Original goes through an "irreversible, radical change" then it is called as Transformation. Transformation is not continuous, it is not a process, it happens once for a kind/type and it's done. It's like how a Larvae becomes a Butterfly and once it becomes a butterfly there is no going back, it cannot become Larvae again. It cannot go back to the cocoon and be pupa again. Transformation is not a process, it doesn't take long, it can happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye.
Change is an activity by your Mind, while Transformation happens through increased Awareness, it's a permanent change in Consciousness. Change is like modifying the architecture of a building, but Transformation means changing the building blocks itself. The mind is unstable, the mind is clever, and mind keeps on moving like a pendulum and will cause misery. By changing yourself you will not find Peace within, because the moment you change you are under a lot of pressure to not change back to your old ways, to your so called adopted originality. When you are Transformed you are at Peace because the change was not circumstantial, it wasn't forced from outside, it is permanent and there is no one inside you to fight against its stability. I have heard many saying that - I changed so much due to life, due to circumstances, for him or for her, but still there is no Peace, no comfort within. Yes! true! how can there be? Because you are changing yourself and not transforming yourself. You are changing yourself according to society, according to your friends, family, relatives, loved ones.
When external circumstances are "causing" the change then the moment those external circumstances changes to something else you will change again, so there is no permanence at all, no peace in your heart.
A lot of you come to me claiming that you have changed, yes I agree you have changed your way of life because you found new concepts of living, you found something that excites you more now, you found something which seems more important, meaningful, purposeful to you now. But within yourself, there is a constant struggle to not go back to your old ways and you want to make those external circumstances permanent, which is not going to happen in this ever-changing world. So you are continuously at war with yourself, your inside plane is a battlefield and fight is always on. Therefore despite changing yourself, you are not at peace.
And when you are so busy changing yourself, you are also busy either expecting or really trying to change others around you. It becomes a hyper-reactionary world, causes more misery, more suffering. Next time you try to be chameleon see if it is truly, deeply making you happy? Learn to notice and see the futility of your chameleon efforts.
So then, how should one go through Transformation? How to make it happen?
First and the foremost thing is to acknowledge and accept the way mind tries to be clever and forces you into the change according to the circumstances. Witness it, accept it and let it go. Stop being a chameleon!
Second and the last step is to increase your Awareness, by changing the quality, level of your Consciousness which cannot be achieved without achieving the Meditative State. Hence there is so much focus on breathing practices (Pranayama), Yoga, just to cultivate the Meditativeness in you. You cannot be meditative just by sitting and closing your eyes and focusing on Mantra or Yantra or music or something else. Most people need some Pranayama for few months or years before they can actually begin to truly be in the meditative state. So start somewhere from some practice and see where it leads you. Not everyone has to go through every step in the same sequence, it's a very personal and unique journey and steps given to you by your Guru/Guide are just for you, don't go on re-prescribing them to others around you.
~ Adiguru
The word "change" itself means it can change, can change back, it's a continuous process, it is a movement which is mostly due to changed circumstances, events in life. If you have someone around you who expects you to behave in a certain way you will change yourself accordingly when you are around that person. Suppose you are a compulsive talker and a person whom you like is a quiet one, then around him/her you will change yourself to stay quiet, but the moment you are away from him/her you will be back as a chatterbox. If a person around you is Spiritual and doesn't involve himself/herself much in the useless mundane then just to stick around with them you will listen to their Spiritual talks and will ask questions accordingly, but the moment you are away from that person you will be back to your mundane and useless world as you belong there and that's who you truly are. If you are with a Truthful person, you will try to be truthful, but the moment you are with others you are back to your throne of lies. In a nutshell, you become like Chameleon, who will change color according to the circumstances and will adjust for the time-being but very soon will be back to the Original.
When this Original goes through an "irreversible, radical change" then it is called as Transformation. Transformation is not continuous, it is not a process, it happens once for a kind/type and it's done. It's like how a Larvae becomes a Butterfly and once it becomes a butterfly there is no going back, it cannot become Larvae again. It cannot go back to the cocoon and be pupa again. Transformation is not a process, it doesn't take long, it can happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye.
Change is an activity by your Mind, while Transformation happens through increased Awareness, it's a permanent change in Consciousness. Change is like modifying the architecture of a building, but Transformation means changing the building blocks itself. The mind is unstable, the mind is clever, and mind keeps on moving like a pendulum and will cause misery. By changing yourself you will not find Peace within, because the moment you change you are under a lot of pressure to not change back to your old ways, to your so called adopted originality. When you are Transformed you are at Peace because the change was not circumstantial, it wasn't forced from outside, it is permanent and there is no one inside you to fight against its stability. I have heard many saying that - I changed so much due to life, due to circumstances, for him or for her, but still there is no Peace, no comfort within. Yes! true! how can there be? Because you are changing yourself and not transforming yourself. You are changing yourself according to society, according to your friends, family, relatives, loved ones.
When external circumstances are "causing" the change then the moment those external circumstances changes to something else you will change again, so there is no permanence at all, no peace in your heart.
A lot of you come to me claiming that you have changed, yes I agree you have changed your way of life because you found new concepts of living, you found something that excites you more now, you found something which seems more important, meaningful, purposeful to you now. But within yourself, there is a constant struggle to not go back to your old ways and you want to make those external circumstances permanent, which is not going to happen in this ever-changing world. So you are continuously at war with yourself, your inside plane is a battlefield and fight is always on. Therefore despite changing yourself, you are not at peace.
And when you are so busy changing yourself, you are also busy either expecting or really trying to change others around you. It becomes a hyper-reactionary world, causes more misery, more suffering. Next time you try to be chameleon see if it is truly, deeply making you happy? Learn to notice and see the futility of your chameleon efforts.
So then, how should one go through Transformation? How to make it happen?
First and the foremost thing is to acknowledge and accept the way mind tries to be clever and forces you into the change according to the circumstances. Witness it, accept it and let it go. Stop being a chameleon!
Second and the last step is to increase your Awareness, by changing the quality, level of your Consciousness which cannot be achieved without achieving the Meditative State. Hence there is so much focus on breathing practices (Pranayama), Yoga, just to cultivate the Meditativeness in you. You cannot be meditative just by sitting and closing your eyes and focusing on Mantra or Yantra or music or something else. Most people need some Pranayama for few months or years before they can actually begin to truly be in the meditative state. So start somewhere from some practice and see where it leads you. Not everyone has to go through every step in the same sequence, it's a very personal and unique journey and steps given to you by your Guru/Guide are just for you, don't go on re-prescribing them to others around you.
~ Adiguru
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Thanks!