Where Revolution Begins

There is this belief in most people that revolution has to do with violence, that it is full of action, that it begins with large scale changes on the material front which then spill over into one’s private life and begin to change people’s attitudes everywhere. Agents of revolution are further seen as either energetic, dapper looking businessmen or gun slinging/slogan shouting rebels brandishing words and statements to fire people’s imaginations and desire for victory.

I believe that there is an aspect to revolution which hardly anybody really sees, because it is silent, it is almost invisible and doesn’t care to dress itself up in fancy words and notions. I believe that the true revolution starts with something inside oneself that says, I want to listen, I need to listen.




Learning to listen to ourselves and to each other is actually the core of the internal revolution. It is what eventually leads us to wisdom, because wisdom doesn’t come from the books you read or borrowed statements, but it comes from an innate capacity to apprehend the world directly, without an intermediary. In a way this process is more a kind of re-learning, a way of re-educating ourselves, because what we have mostly learned till this point, is how not to listen, how to fight off others if not with guns then at least with a barrage of words, how to hone our arguments in our constant attempts to prove how smart we are. We are seldom able to listen because listening brings us into direct contact with reality against which we spend our lives protecting ourselves, it brings us in contact with pain, our own and that of others, which we are constantly defending ourselves against. Listening brings us closer to the truth, which we mostly want to run away from.

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But if we were to start afresh, and to learn to be quiet inside, to make a space in our minds, for ourselves and others, a space in which we could give ourselves time to look at the world as it was rather than jumping to conclusions about it in seconds as we normally do, a new kind of movement would take place.

Out of our preparedness to simply look, whether at others or ourselves, at the outside world or our inner truth, out of a simple readiness to stop the merry-go-round in our heads and to listen, would emerge a new form of understanding. This understanding would come from an awareness which would enable us to actually feel and experience our connection with the world. Finally, what makes one feel alive and can help us to function in a state of dynamic equilibrium, is this sense of connectedness. Action on the material level would come, not from an idea or concept “of how it should be”, but from an organic intelligence, a feeling for what needs to be done, pretty much the way a mother senses when her baby needs to be fed and when it needs to be cleaned, without having to refer to a book of rules about it.

To gain access to this basic wisdom - the wisdom of nature, which we are a part of - is the backbone of transformation. To help people to identify the core of true revolution is our goal. Because without it, projects started with the best of intentions are in danger of disintegrating or ending in conflict and power struggles. We end up losing our energy in petty quarrels which make us increasingly cynical. The proof is in the unending battles being fought on a daily basis, not only between political or religious parties but between so many institutions and organisations which claim to have humanity’s interests at heart.

We realise that the task we have on hand is a huge challenge. At the same time, we see that to compromise on the quality of our work and on the truth will only lead us to a dead end, and provide us with a few moments of illusionary happiness and peace. If you happen to be among those interested in taking part in this process get in touch!