Overcoming the World and Finding Inner Freedom

This article will be rather experimental and ‘radical.’ I’m going to focus on and explore possible ways to ‘overcome the world’ and access a state of inner freedom and openness.

What do I mean by ‘overcome the world’? For any ‘explanation’ to make sense, I need to take you inside an interpersonal group process I experienced recently. It occurred during an ongoing group session focused on ‘collapse awareness’ and collapse acceptance.

Early in the session, one of our members talked at length, describing how she balances full awareness of mounting social problems and looming collapse with her inner awareness of her deeper ‘spiritual self.’ As she spoke, it became apparent that she (usually) successfully embraces full knowledge of the horrors and insane nonsense consuming our societies and also embraces the much wider, more comprehensive experience of her own timeless ‘true self.’

Without going into all the details of her spiritual life and ‘belief system,’ suffice it to say that, for her, the outer travails and dire circumstances of our world do not contradict her own inner reality or sense of self, or prevent her from accessing that deep inner peace and happiness.

In that sense, her beliefs and spiritual practices help her ‘overcome the world’ and all its endless wrangling, conflict, control games, and suffering.

An endless state of upset, grief, and anger

Her clear, honest self-expression triggered something in me. I’d felt kind of ‘off’ for a while: less centered, more irritable and frustrated, and far angrier. I’ve felt increasingly upset and angry about the bizarre, cruel, and destructive patterns escalating in our society (the U.S.) — particularly the horrid, inhumane policies being enacted by the *Bleep* administration, Elon Musk, and his empathy-challenged DOGE ‘muskrats.’

What got ‘triggered’ was the sudden realization that I am allowing these seditious cretins and social arsonists to invade my mind and in effect dictate how I think, feel, and relate to life. I’ve been voluntarily surrendering my mental processes and letting them live ‘rent free’ in my head and heart — with highly unpleasant results.

I realized that I have effectively surrendered to their stupid ideas, crappy social ‘policies,’ and far-right nonsense, merely by letting them and their hateful partisan BS dominate my thinking and my feelings. I don’t agree with or support any of these things — yet much of my emotional and mental energy is bound up with what they say, do, and instigate.

My unwitting inner complicity: a crazy way to live

I saw that much of my anger and intense sadness about our nation was actually due to my feeling of inner helplessness, which in turn gets exacerbated by my ‘inner surrender’ to these widespread social dysfunctions and the ideas and people behind them. My ‘inner surrender’ was by far the greatest contributor to my sense of helplessness, surpassing my actual, practical helplessness.

I saw that this ‘inner surrender’ was producing intense pain and suffering in my life. My mind, emotions, and sense of self were all reeling and in pain. Then, in a flash, I ‘saw’ that piling my angst and suffering on top of all the crazy oppression and suffering intensifying around us was helping no one. It wasn’t changing or improving anything, nor was it helping anybody. It certainly wasn’t helping me in any way.

Rather, it was trapping me in an all-encompassing, deadly ‘conspiracy of complicity.’ It led me to unknowingly let these destructive forces and people rule my thinking — and my life. I was adopting all their absurd, nasty, oppositional ways of being and thinking — and losing myself in the process.

I realized this was truly a c-r-a-z-y way to live.

Getting ‘unstuck’ and freeing our minds

What is the alternative? I now see that letting these super-limited, hateful, and oppressive people and their hateful, limited ideas dominate my life and my reactions to life is the ultimate mistake I, or anyone, can make.

There is no inherent ‘rule’ that says it’s impossible to be fully aware of all the bizarre, destructive BS consuming our world and also operate, within myself, from a clear, open-hearted, balanced, loving space.

Here’s how I understand this fundamental choice. We can easily get caught up in all the misery and pain of the world, get ‘stuck’ there, get ‘stuck’ in massive pain ourselves… and just add to the problems. Or, we can choose to be aware of all the misery and pain and yet also choose to separate from it somewhat, stop enabling it within ourselves, and instead embody the deeper, far healthier truths of love, openness, sharing, growth, and learning.

To be clear, I am not advising or recommending ‘giving up’ on activism or staying away from current news. In no way am I suggesting that our inner happiness depends on cutting ourselves off from social conscience and awareness and the desire to actively help our fellow human beings.

I’m just suggesting that we can keep pursuing these vital ideals and actions, while simultaneously avoiding the dangerous trap of complete mental/emotional enmeshment or enslavement.

I ‘got it’, on a much deeper level than ever before, that we can and should incorporate both ways of being into our everyday lives. Social awareness and activism are crucial… but so is full inner freedom.

My heavy inner burden… lightens

The immediate difference I felt was astounding. It was as if a dark veil had been lifted from my eyes, and my heart and emotions surged with new energy. I felt I’d uncovered a crucial secret or hidden ‘path forward.’

Suddenly, I felt free of the horrendous burden of my over-zealous social conscience and mounting anxiety about our collective future. Nothing had changed, outwardly — the U.S. and the world are still on a fast track to hell, climate change is accelerating, and multiple forms of global collapse are already intensifying — yet inwardly, I suddenly felt and knew that I don’t need or want to keep adding to the world’s misery and ‘stuckness.’

I realized that, just by making this potent shift in my consciousness, I could free myself from the dark shackles of mindless acquiescence and mental serfdom. I can stop absorbing and passively enabling the oppressive ‘forces of darkness’ that are crushing humanity and the human spirit these days.

Unknowingly, I had been supporting and strengthening these anti-life forces through the simple act of unconsciously letting them manipulate and direct my attention and perception of our collective ‘reality.’

What comes next? (That’s the wrong question.)

What comes next, now that I had this intense realization (which will likely come and go, like most realizations)? I have no idea. Nor do I have to ‘know’ in advance.

I now ‘get it.’ I see that trying endlessly to ‘control’ and ‘predict’ everything is just another aspect of our pervasive anti-life mindset. Sure, some planning is important and necessary — but just as often, it’s better to sit back, relax, and let things unfold.

So, I have no idea how I will incorporate this new ‘knowing’ into my life, or how it might change me going forward. But I trust the process; I trust my inner process.

The one thing I know for sure is that I will never again believe I am a ‘helpless pawn’ being shoved this way and that by hateful bad actors or ‘fate.’ I will never again believe I am being manipulated and controlled by vile, oppressive forces and people — at least, not without my willing or semi-willing consent.

Of course, vile, manipulative people aren’t going anywhere; the number of such people may even be increasing. That’s not my problem, in the sense that I don’t have to let their ideas, beliefs, and actions overrule my inner self and moral compass. Nor do I need to let their views and actions infect or ruin my life.

I now understand, through my own inner experience, that it is very possible to ‘overcome the world’ in this way. It’s one of the best, healthiest, and most strengthening things we can possibly do for ourselves, our loved ones, and those around us.

I invite you to ponder this and try it out for yourself.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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