Interview with Gary Zukav and Linda Francis

Resisting Change

Let’s face it, we are living in accelerated times in which most of us simply do not understand the complexities in which we find ourselves. Not only as individuals, but society and the planet itself are going through transformations of energy unlike anything in recorded history. We are finding ourselves in unknown territorym making it manditory that we re-create our worldview and our relationship to each other, and that included the relationship we have with ourselves.

 

Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide

 

Lotus Guide: When you say, “Change is not stressful. Resistance to change creates stress,” are you saying that all change is good? And if not, is there a way to not resist without feeling like you are giving up and being a victim?

 

Gary Zukov: There’s a lot in that question.

 

Linda Francis: Yes, great question.

 

GZ: What I would say is that every personality has frightened parts and loving parts. And by the frightened parts of the personality I mean those parts that are angry, jealous, resentful, vengeful, that feel superior, that feel inferior, that need to please, that need to dominate, and so on. And every personality has loving parts as well, and by loving, I mean those parts of the personality that are grateful, and patient, and kind, and caring, and content, and when change happens, and it always happens, the frightened parts of the personality are those that resist, and that resistance takes the form of all those things that I’ve just mentioned, anger, jealousy, resentment, superiority, all of which are stressful experiences.

So when you encounter stress, or any of these emotions that are painful, you can use them as an indication that the frightened part of your personality is active. And that’s good to know, because when you act on a frightened part of your personality it creates painful consequences. And the absence of stress, the joyful appreciation and acceptance of something, you can use as an indicator of the loving part of your personality being active.

 

LG: Linda, in today’s world, with all of the change going on, it seems like a lot of women I talk to that start getting in touch with the oneness, with their power, also get in touch with a lot of residue from centuries of suppression and pain from the collective feminine nature on this planet. How do you, as a woman, heal that? Within yourself? Eckhart Tolle calls it the “pain body.” How do you process that in such a way that it heals?

 

LF: Something happened a couple of days ago that I can refer to. I felt that someone had done something that was very hurtful to another person. And what I noticed was that I felt a lot of pain and I had a reaction to it. What I always know if I have a reaction to something is that there is some work I need to do inside myself to change what is going on in me, rather than trying to change the other person, or judge the other person. What I do is I allow myself to feel my reaction fully without a judgment and without getting angry at someone else. I know that it is my work to do if I’m having a reaction. It’s one thing to see something that’s unjust and do what you can to change it. It’s another thing to see something that’s unjust and try and then get angry about it and judgmental about it. That’s a reaction, and it comes from frightened parts of my personality. In this way I can continue to send love to the world and be love in the world.

 

LG: This is where we go beyond believing and enter into an inner knowingness that we are all part of one being. If it wasn’t for the fact that it is so deceptively simple, you could just say, “Be present, and be conscious.” Because that’s what it seems to boil down to-we lose our presence and we lose our consciousness in the moment through reaction instead of taking action.

 

GZ: I would add one more thing to being present and conscious and that’s to be responsible.

There is something else when it comes to judging something we see as just or unjust. We don’t know enough to judge. For example, we see one person abusing another. We don’t know what is coming to conclusion in that action or what is being balanced. We don’t know if the abuser and the abused are perhaps exchanging roles that they played in another time and in another place. So we can’t judge what we see. If we judge what we see, we create negative karma for ourselves. This doesn’t mean that we don’t protect the one who’s being abused or support the one who’s being oppressed, but if we judge it, then we contribute what would create painful karma for ourselves.

 

LG: What do you mean when you say “living courageously in difficult times”?

 

GZ: Well, to create authentic power requires courage. If you are someone who’s angry, before you respond, that’s the time to stop, and put your attention inside your body, put your attention on each of your chakras. For example, your heart area, your throat area, your solar plexus area, and allow yourself to feel the physical sensations that you’re feeling. And if the threatened part of your personality is active, those sensations will be very painful. Beneath anger is physical pain. Painful physical sensations in your body, and if you want to heal this frightened part of your personality, it’s necessary to experience those painful, physical sensations. That’s how you challenge a frightened part of your personality. And as you challenge it that way again and again and again and again, it begins to lose its grip over you, its power over you, and as its power over you diminishes, eventually it disintegrates, and that’s how you create authentic power. That requires courage. It doesn’t require courage to be angry or jealous or vengeful. It requires courage to feel the painful physical sensations underneath those emotions, and challenge them. Challenge that frightened part of your personality by not acting on them. That’s one way it requires courage to live in the world. It requires courage to become aware, emotionally aware, the courage to make responsible choices.

 

LG: In your workshop that you and Linda give, what is it called?

 

LF: Well, the workshop that we’re giving in Grass Valley is called “Making Your Life Count.” That’s Friday night. And then the weekend, actually the daylong workshop that we’re giving, is called “Authentic Power in Action.” The workshop is an experiential gathering that will give tools and guidelines to support them in creating authentic power.

It doesn’t matter what tradition you come from, it doesn’t matter how much you’ve been doing your work, it’s always good to get these basic tools and guidelines to support you in deepening your own spiritual growth.

 

GZ: It doesn’t matter where you start, it doesn’t matter what orientation you have. If you’re open, if you want to become aware and present and responsible, this workshop will help you. It will provide you practical, grounded, useful, accessible tools to apply to your everyday experiences so that you can use them to grow spiritually; creating authentic power is using all the experiences of your life to grow spiritually.

 

See the ad for details about their workshop in Grass Valley on September 11 and 12. For more information visit: www.zukav.com.