This month we find ourselves bathed in the energies of the constellation Libra that promotes and supports the establishing of right human relationships and the ultimate equilibrium between soul and form. It especially provides a propitious influence on the domain of Justice, Law and Governance – something that is urgently needed in these times of imbalance, turmoil and unrest as we rapidly approach Election Day here in the USA.
Witnessed from a detached and non-partisan viewing point, politics is simply how we choose to live together and govern ourselves. However, when there are wildly differing and fixed beliefs about what this should look like we find ourselves locked inside the familiar realm of rancor, polarization and party politics.
The great gift of Libra is the opportunity to make clear choices and to achieve dynamic balance and equilibrium on all levels. This is reflected in its spiritual motto: “I choose the Way that leads between the two great lines of force”. This statement describes the upper Middle Way of Buddhism where we are invited to navigate the Noble Path through a landscape of dualism without being conditioned by any opposing forces. This upper Path is not an escape from the realities of daily life but a skillful passage that has found a higher point of synthesis between the pairs of opposites. It is said that as the traveler proceeds along the Middle Way with an ever-growing realization of the Mysteries of Life, the path becomes narrower and narrower until it becomes the ‘Razor’s Edge Path’ of the initiate. Upon this Pilgrim Path, there is no room for deviation – no choice other than to follow the guiding light of the Soul so that the outer journey is wholly lived in integrity with the deep essential core of our spiritual identity.
This Libran period is therefore an excellent time to pause, take stock and recalibrate our way of thinking as well as reconfigure the many structures through which we expend our life energy so that we may liberate ourselves from the prison of polarization, refocus our forces and stand at a higher point of synthesis.
In a few weeks from now, the USA will elect a new President and choose a form of government that the majority believe serves the best interests of the country. Much has been written regarding the requirements of a good leader but what could leadership look like through the eye of the Soul and the lens of Libra and how do we actually define ‘good leadership’ in simple holistic terminology?
For me, leadership is a naturally occurring and necessary function within any conscious organism that imbues and suffuses its ‘sphere of being’ with a sense of meaning and belonging. Leadership ensures that the group’s innate promise will be activated and quickened and that its deep purpose and destiny be fulfilled over time.
Leadership is sensitive to and ever-mindful of the cycles, seasons and psychological state of the group with its various developmental needs, and thus compassionately and skillfully cultivates the right psycho-energetic conditions in which the collective promise may unfold and eventually flower through the synthesis of every person’s unique contribution.
Leadership stimulates and maintains a sense of coherence in the overall group field so that each part understands and profoundly senses that it is part of the whole and that the ‘whole’ can only fully express through an integrated and aligned group field. The role of leadership in time and space is to help precipitate the promise and potential of a preferred and pre-destined future into the matrix of the Now. Leadership wholeheartedly and unconditionally supports the ever-unfolding process of revelation and reminds the organism of its unique place within the greater scheme of things.
However, seen through the lens of the Ageless Wisdom teaching, Leadership is more than a function, it is a fiery Presence of constant regeneration. If we view the energetic geometry of the group field, we have the vertical component that determines purpose and direction together with a horizontal component that ensures the interpersonal cohesion of the field. The vertical axis embodies the Masculine aspect while the horizonal outreach is a function of the Feminine aspect. When these two intersect we have a Cross imbued with creative tension. Leadership requires a dynamic state of equilibrium between the Feminine and Masculine Energies and therefore leadership stands at, and serves from, the center of this Cross.
The Rosicrucian teachings, for instance, indicate that the Soul truly begins to flower on Earth once we learn to stand steadfastly at the center of the Cross in all that we do. A powerful and traditional Rosicrucian greeting asserts, “May the Rose bloom on your Cross”. In Western Mysticism the rose is synonymous with the Soul. True leadership thus has an important task of nurturing and calling forth the qualities and presence of the Soul within all who inhabit the organizational field.
In addition to the Cross, there is another symbol that may help illustrate the required dynamic equilibrium of Leadership in action. Imagine a Circle (or Sphere) representing the permeable membrane that bounds the group’s ecosystem with a focused point at the Center. In this way, the Leadership Presence stands both at the Center as the bearer of the Fiery Seed of Purpose (Masculine Energy) as well as holding the periphery of the sphere and the space inside it in the Fire of Love (Feminine Energy) that nurtures and sustains the whole living system. In a healthy and thriving organism, the Masculine and Feminine aspects of leadership stand and act together in dynamic equilibrium as a combined Creative Force. Without the fiery Seed nothing new is possible and without the warm and all-embracing love of Mother Earth nothing will be quickened, brought to term and finally flower.
Leadership is also charged with another responsibility: namely, that of connecting the sphere of the group’s ecosystem to the greater sentient system in which it ‘lives and moves and has its being’. No individual, group, nation or system exists alone and separate and thus a vital leadership role is to remind the organism that it exists within a nested universe of evolving lives and is an integral aspect of a continuum – spanning the microcosm and the macrocosm – often referred to as the Great Chain of Being.
In many people’s minds there may appear to be a large and unbridgeable gap existing between the tenets of the Perennial Philosophy and the world of politics and yet, in the end, it is all about how each of us exercises our God-given right of the freedom of choice. In holding the present and future generations in mind, we have an ethical duty and civic responsibility to rise above any polarizing beliefs and willingly choose to work together across any differences to build a society that works for all.
Here at Meditation Mount, we firmly believe that this preferred future requires a solid ethical and soul-infused foundation upon which to be anchored. In addition to all that has been said so far about the requirements of ‘good leadership’, we are proposing that three Universal Principles be incorporated to ensure that whatever form of governance and choice of leader is determined to be the best way forward, it is in alignment with the deeper dimensions of our ‘better Angels’. These are the Principles of Essential Divinity – affirming the sacredness of all Creation; Goodwill – acknowledging the inherent goodness of the soul of humanity as a fount of love and Unanimity – the scientific reality of interdependency and complete coherence of Life.
These founding Principles are anchored in the pragmatism of daily life through the three Pathways (aka Laws) of Spiritual Approach – the upward path of striving to our highest potential, Right Human Relations – the natural urge of the soul to connect and commune lovingly and respectfully with all life and Group Endeavor – the honoring of our interdependency through concerted and wholehearted efforts in support of the Common Good. We believe that leadership in the future will naturally embrace these Principles and Pathways in order to create a more wholesome milieu in which the individual Soul, together with the Soul of a Nation, may flourish and thrive.
During this turbulent time in human affairs, you and I are being urgently called to wake up and show up in our communities as a force for good. It may be useful for those who are citizens of the United States to keep this in heart and mind in the coming weeks as we evaluate and vote. May we create a ‘more perfect union’ with each other and with all spheres of the One Life.
Michael Lindfield
Board President
Meditation Mount