Journeying Inside Out
Keys to inner transformation and outer manifestation
Historically, there has been an understanding that the complexities of the living world cannot be resolved at merely the material or physical planes. These points to a need to widen the non-material pathways that shape our being-in-the-world. It could be the reason that many scholars and practitioners increasingly highlight that the outward focus of transformation needs to be complemented by the psychological, cultural, artistic, and spiritual dimensions (inner world) of human life.
In this context, inner dimensions like consciousness, values, worldviews, beliefs, spirituality and human–nature-connectedness are seen as inevitably important for relational transformation.
To this recognition, this article brings together the wisdom traditions and manifold discoveries in modern sciences. Also, evidenced from the experiential practices, and my wide range of engagements in this field, it makes a brief discussion concerning some keys to inner transformation, which are seemingly fundamental for outer performances and manifestations. I have called it an inside-out journey of transformation.
Let’s make a brief observation of it.
A beginner’s mind is a mindset to see people and things as if you have seen them for the first time; as if there are yet many mysteries to unfold. I have brought this insight from Zen wisdom traditions. In Zen, there is a word called shoshin, or the beginner’s mind. It suggests that the beginner’s mind allows you to remain flexible and open. It allows you to see many colors of ideas, people, and things. It enables you to become more fluid and more flexible in your understanding.
In my inner transformation workshops and seminars, my very first question to the participants is- have you ever thought about the space in your cup? I strongly believe that the very first prerequisite for inner transformation is ensuring that the cup you have held is not full; that it is still ready to get filled. This is what I call the journey beginning with the beginner’s mind.
The beginner’s mind sees things with an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions. They perceive things just as a beginner would.
Cultivating a beginner’s mind, you are likely to recapture the sense of excitement, curiosity, and wonder when trying or learning something new. You demonstrate the same excitement even if it’s no longer new to you.
Seeing in this way, a beginner’s mind is a living mind. It is an ever-emerging mind with infinite possibilities and freshness.
On the contrary, one who is boastful that the cup is already filled doesn’t entertain these infinite possibilities of the beginner’s mind. Thus, here as well my very first question to you is- is your cup with enough space to get filled with new ideas and insights? Do you see every encounter with the beginner’s mind?
Fostering awareness of things and phenomena is the second key. Awareness is a state of being conscious- conscious of the self and the others; of all beings and the non-beings. Self-consciousness is also about self-awareness- a condition of being aware of the self. In other words, self-awareness is the ability to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values. Who am I? What does it mean to be me?
It seems, self-awareness can be viewed from two perspectives: intrapersonal and interpersonal. Intrapersonal means ‘within a person’. Likewise, interpersonal means relating to or involving relations between persons.
So, you may ask- how can I be self-aware? There are manifold suggestions to foster self-awareness. Among them, Upanishads suggest four powerful means to cultivate self-awareness i.e., swoadhya (self-study), susma dristi (attentive observation), chintan (contemplation), and manan (realization).
You may also think about mindfulness. Complete and non-judgmental awareness of the present moment is practiced in mindfulness. It’s the conscious act of bringing one’s complete awareness into the present reality, which allows us to see the world in a way we’ve never seen it before.
So, in your transformational journey, what space have you given to foster awareness? Arriving at this stage, I suggest you to bring your beginner’s mind and begin to observe the extent of self-awareness you have. Also, I suggest you to come up with your own relevant ways to foster self-awareness of the things and the phenomenon.
The third key of inner transformational journey, as I have discovered is authenticity. It is all about being aware of your innate nature; living in harmony with the innate nature; carrying your own bag; and let the world see what your original nature is; who you really are.
A self-aware, authentic individual doesn’t let outside sources to define her. Buddha once said, suffering usually results from a search outside for someone who is supposed to know a way to get rid of the suffering. It is where ends the journey of the beginner’s mind; where ends the journey of self-discovery; and therefore, the authenticity of being alive.
Our tendency to passively wait for others to suggest us the ways possibly make us dependent, a second-handed jerk. We become less reflective. We begin to live others’ expectations. In other words, we begin to move beyond our innate nature. We become an imitation.
Have you ever reflected on your purposes and possibilities? While talking about purpose, my question to you is- what’s your why? Aligned to the purpose (your why) is the consistency between values and actions; between words and deeds. Seen from this side, the authentic self means a true self. If so, discovering the authentic self means discovering the true self that is consistent with personally owned values.
In this state, we don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect our decisions. Thus, authenticity is not only about ‘walking the talk’ but also about ‘talking your talk’ and ‘walking your walk’…
In my observation, relationality is the fourth key to inner transformation. In appreciating relationality, we begin to see and experience the things and the phenomenon relationally; that every one thing is related to other things; that everyone being is related to other beings; that every beings and non-beings are interrelated.
In other words, it is a widening movement from self-authenticity to communal authenticity; a movement to appreciate the world in terms of the give-and-take relationship in every sphere of the lifeworld.
Relationality refers to connectedness; a mutual resonance, and attunement. It is a view of the world that underlines how no person or thing exists in isolation. In relational thinking, existence necessarily means being ‘in relationship’. The very first observation is ‘I’. Now, you begin to see others’ ‘I’. This observation widens the relationship ‘we’; that your ‘I’ is the part of universal ‘we’.
As seen from this, relational thinking is thinking like a web rather than thinking like a box. Seeing things and phenomena in terms of relationships and patterns is not only a living practice but also a responsibility; a responsibility not to disturb others’ ecology while embracing one’s ecology since we all are the members sharing ‘one widened ecology’.
Agency and resilience are the fifth keys. You are continuously emerging, and you continuously support others to emerge. You begin to demonstrate yourself as a change agent. In the process, you may encounter manifold adversities, and therefore, the agency is also an ability to withstand adversity. We can understand this ability in terms of resilience.
Agency can be observed either at individual or collective levels. Individual agency is intrapersonal in nature. It questions all the limitations, and makes advocacy for the progress. To this observation, I stress that agency and resilience are always integral to inner transformation and professional growth.
A resilient person is one who is able to bounce back in the face of adversity. Bounceback doesn’t mean returning to the same state as before. Instead, bounce back is all about understanding the boundaries within which a system can operate, adopt a stressful context, and become more mature than in the previous state. When you turn sixty, my question to you is not like- how old are you? Instead, it is like- how mature are you? In every case, celebrating the sixtieth birthday doesn’t mean sixty years of added maturity. It’s all about the extent you lived with agency and resilience.
It seems that the flow of art, play, and playfulness is the sixth key. You need to step into your authentic flow so as to own your authority. Stepping authentic flow means to make a living by doing what you love, and serving those you love. Here, your love and passion become your artful and playful vocation.
Instead of reducing your vocational experiences to ‘data’, you begin to look at the experiences through the lens of art and artfulness. In exercising art and artfulness in your vocation, you begin to nurture every dimension for moving beyond intellectual understanding.
Your vocation now is an embodied art; everything you do is now a flow of embodied play and playfulness. Here, your beginner’s mind now begins to see things and phenomena through artist’s eyes- colorful with full of mysteries. Also, the agency and resilience in you now begins to play; it begins to dance the rhythm of divine play and divine dance.
Arriving at this stage, you begin to appreciate living as the flow of art and artfulness; play and playfulness. Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make a beautiful art from this life called ‘living’.
And there, you continuously live the discovery of insights and wisdom. You live with the realization that an unexamined life is not worth living. Also, you live with the realization that the unlived life is not worth examining.
A transformative journey, thus, is a journey of continuous emergence. In this journey of continuous emergence, it is your own responsibility to discover authentically relevant ways to live narrow and deep.
Constant and daily effort of deepening into all that life offers is seemingly important and necessary in moving narrow and deep. As your path deepens over time, a reciprocal interaction takes place between our inner subjective experiences of contemplation and self-inquiry. To what degree you internalize the insights from these interactions are, in one way or another, demonstrated in your outward practices and actions.
Living narrow and deep, in other words, is living an abundance with an inner compass. Also, living narrow and deep means living ‘your’ life to the fullest to this realization that you cannot walk all the paths that you see on your way, and that one day, at some point, whether you like it or not, you literally will experience the end of your walk. Of all, celebrating this ‘final truth’ is seemingly the most powerful means for inner transformation and outer manifestation.