Transformation is the process of a person becoming increasingly more aligned with the fullness of reality. This is experienced within by the person themselves, observed externally and experienced within others.
When our beliefs about our current reality mismatch with the way reality truly is, we experience suffering on an emotional level. In an attempt to manage our difficult emotions, we often work very hard to change the external world to match our beliefs, rather than to shift our internal world to see things as they truly are.
Even when we are able to more fully see reality as it truly is, the truth is not always initially pleasant for us as we challenge our beliefs around ourselves, others and the world.
Transformation happens, when we place our attention consistently on the work that is required internally – not only our thoughts and feelings but also at the level of our values and our beliefs – and then bring that work out into the external world – take new actions and notice the new impact based on our new self-knowledge.
As our beliefs about reality align more fully with the truth of reality, we gain in self-awareness and we see ourselves more clearly. We describe this as “becoming alive to yourself, awake to others”.
We see transformation happening at its best when it is done through relationships and the power of conversation. However, it is clear that we can only help others to be transformed when we, ourselves, have been through this process and recognise the suffering that can come with transformation. Since North Point Academy’s purpose is to “build transformational communities of people living from the inside-out” then our desire is to have communities of people who are committed to their own transformation and also that of others.