Transformation

An Excerpt from a Wisdom by William Rubenstein, D.D. (Deceased)
Fellowship Minister and Board of Directors Member

Of all the themes that are discussed in metaphysics, the most difficult one is “transformation.” The reason we say difficult is because it depends on how well we have developed the capacity to understand and work through all of our emotions which include those involved with the Existential Vacuum and frustration of our personal lives.

What is not understood in terms of pairs of opposites is that fulfillment and despair go together. One does not reach the heights unless one goes through the depths. To use another analogy, the saint and the sinner go together. Saints have arrived at a point in consciousness in which they have developed the capacity to overcome many of their limitations.

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule but, nonetheless, because we each carry both of the opposites, it does demonstrate that we have the capacity to transform situations and conditions that block us from progressing on the spiritual path.

It has been said by Spirit that we are all gods-in-the making. In other words, we need to accept what we are and become more than we are. The word “transformation” means to convert, to alter, to mold, to reconstruct, to change, and we need to ask ourselves what is it within us that needs changing. Very often it is our attitude toward life that needs changing. But the question remains whether we are willing to go through whatever is necessary to change what needs changing in order to bring about transformation. Many times we are forced to change, but instead of accepting those changes we resist and rebel.

All this from a therapeutic point of view is a heavy duty task and by heavy duty we mean that if transmutation and transformation were that easy, we, as humans, would have obtained Paradise a long time ago.

Again, to use another analogy in terms of the pairs of opposites, crucifixion and resurrection go together. Recently a group of mental health specialists gathered together to share their knowledge and wisdom and found that a large majority of our young people are living in what could be called a state of Existential Vacuum.

This is a phase coined by Dr. Victor Frankel, the man who survived four concentration camps during the Nazi Regime. He wrote a diary of his experiences and what is most unusual is that he did not truly feel that God was punishing him. He survived because he was able to extract meaning from all of his experiences. What is most remarkable is that he was able to articulate his suffering.

Now what does this have to do with our young people? Simply stated, living in an Existential Vacuum means that they are bored with life and their daily existence. They are going through the motions of living, but their experiences have no meaning. When life takes on little meaning, many people try all kinds of ways to escape or they give up in despair. That is why there is much teenage suicide today.

The Harvard University did a survey on a hundred of their most successful students going back twenty years and found to their surprise that many of them were experiencing the same Existential Vacuum that Dr. Frankel talked about.

The great challenge that we constantly confront is what are we going to do with our energies and can we direct them in such a way that they become fulfilling? All of us have needs and desires and it is essential that they be satisfied. But will they bring about fulfillment? 

If we said that fulfillment represents attainment, accomplishment, and even realization, and yet we find that our inner self is not nourished or sustained, then even with the attainment of those objectives, the satisfaction of achieving those goals will be short-lived.

Perhaps we need to examine the word fulfillment more carefully. Fulfillment is associated with creativity, which is connected to that part of us which includes not only the mind but the heart. Now, it is the Soul that resides in the heart, and when we do things from the heart and Soul, we can readily see why we begin to experience some form of fulfillment.

The word “transformation” has another meaning besides change. It means conversion and conversion means regeneration, rebirth, and spiritual change. This heightens all the senses, the instinctual as well as the intuition. We begin to see, to hear, to sense much more acutely than before. We become more clairvoyant, clairaudient, or clairsentient. We truly become an instrument for good.

It has been said that the Soul needs a body, and the body needs a Spirit. Equally important, is that the eyes need a vision, a vision that touches a person with meaning and purpose for them. Meaning helps us to understand the trials and tribulations, and the reason we suffer even though we do everything in our power to alleviate the suffering. Meaning helps us recognize our weaknesses but utilize our strengths to actualize our gifts. This is what Transformation is all about.

October - December Fellowship Uniguidance