Let's continue this morning's post. If you want to change the world, first you must change the collective consciousness that creates it.

How do we change consciousness?

After all, we cannot force change upon anyone, not even ourselves. It can only come from within. That within starts with us and the beliefs, perspectives and practices we bring to our lives.

We each see things from our own respective points of view. That is the benefit of differentiation and individualized personalities, for when seen as a whole it makes up a diverse mosaic of contributions and experience that is impossible from any one person, group or even area of the world.

Within the mass consciousness those individualized perspectives are merged into the undifferentiated mass of conflicting interests, fears and desires that are most often resolved only through conflict of wills.

In short, "peace" within our outer world is a function of how well we are able to balance the inherent conflicts within the components of the collective.

Human civilization to date has been based upon the assertion of will to advance individual and group interest. And when those interests conflict with the interests of individuals or other groups, often those who are less powerful are forced to take a back seat in getting things their way.

Some countries within our world civilization have tested systems of governance based on the sovereignty of the people, like here in the United States. Even here, however, the party in power rams its will down the throats of those who don't want the same or see things the same way, causing our march toward a better tomorrow to be more of a zigzag path through the obstacles reality sets before us (and to which we contribute).

We have never addressed these seeds of conflict within the collective consciousness. Instead, we jump head first into our battles with each other over who will get to set course through the obstacles at hand and benefit most of the conditions of the moment.

Change, then, has to date been defined by whoever has the strongest will and amasses the most power to get what they want.

Reality in turn creates even more situations over which we can fight, and in turn brings greater and greater struggle and risk to the game. It is in essence a self-perpetuating system in which true peace is never possible, but is only a momentary respite when one side temporarily weakens or defeats its opponents until they can regroup and try again.

If we want to move away from this fighting with each other over every little thing, we must find other ways to create what we want without having to engage in these battles of will to get it.

That change can only happen within each of us individually. As it does, it will seep over into the collective consciousness until it reaches a tipping point and the outer obstacles and opportunities to fight begin to subside.

So how can we change? How can we move beyond our own self-interests and the practices we've developed to advance them?

It is only to know ourselves better, and in so doing to begin to realize there are other, better ways to create than through force of will in pursuit of desire or avoidance of fear, pain, oppression or whatever.

As we learn more of who we are and what we're about, we begin to dissolve the many inner conflicts and conditions that mar our personalities and cause us to us treat each other less than kindly. More importantly, we begin to align more with our souls and draw down into this life the spiritual energies at our core.

This is why there are so many teachers of new ways of creating these days. They are providing us different ways to see and use these energies so that we can grow in our ability to wield them without the conflicts our world has known.

But knowing and trying these new practices is not enough, for if they are wielded without first dissolving the inner distortions, the result will be even greater havoc wreaked upon our fellow beings.

Your objective as an awakening soul is to look at how you create your life and contribute to the creation of the outer world. Use your life constructively to understand what you've been doing, why, and how you might go about it in a different way.

In order to find the one that's right for you, don't be too quick to grab hold of some new teachings or approach. Instead, try to shift into different perspectives and try many on for size. Make sure the one you pick is not reinforcing your own inner weaknesses and setting you up for greater conflict down the road.

But don't be afraid to engage the outer world as it now stands. You don't have to wait until you see yourself as a spiritual master to affect the world around you. You can work on it as you work on yourself, and trust that the very process of doing so will cause both to evolve that much faster.

Just remember to do so through illumination and offering the opportunity for others to examine themselves and the ways they go about their lives. Don't fight or judge them trying to get them to change, for that will only make them hold more tightly to the very things that will need to be changed.

You are key to our world's evolution. Your individualized personality is evolving, and as it does it carries with it the hope of changing the collective consciousness and giving birth to the Golden Age that has been promised for so long.

But if you keep on going the same old way, don't expect anything to change. That's insanity. Then again, looking at the state of our world, we all seem a little insane.

Maybe now is the time we can take some steps toward regaining our sanity and building a better tomorrow for us all. I know that we can.

Godspeed, and God bless you indeed.