A New Golden Age or A New Golden Cage?

Is it really a spiritual awakening?

I’m angry. I’m raw. I’m weary.

For the past several months—perhaps even years—I’ve watched two realities play out at the same time. Entire communities, groups of people, and belief systems, each convinced that their way is the right way. From where I stand in the middle way—observing instead of attaching—I can see how people on all sides are fully immersed in their own version of reality, believing it to be the truth. And in a way, it is—for them. Each perspective has its own logic, its own justifications, its own proof.

Yet, while I can see these perspectives, I also see how certain choices, certain narratives, are moving us in a direction that carries far greater risk, far greater harm.

I watch as the world shifts, and I see people rising together to create community--protecting each other and standing in solidarity against harm, recognizing that true change can’t come at the cost of our shared humanity. And yet, at the same time, I see others celebrating destruction—people who claim to be awake, people in the spiritual community who insist that the suffering we’re witnessing is necessary, that the policies being enacted are paving the way for a new world, that this is all part of some divine plan to usher in a new Golden Age.

But at what cost? And for who?

I believe that the world can be better. It’s all I’ve ever dreamed, and I see the threads of our collective ascension everywhere. I see how our individual spiritual journey ripples out to affect the whole. I see how we’re walking through the proverbial fires of transformation, light shining on the shadows of corruption and abuse that have ruled our society for far too long. We’re witnessing the dismantling of everything broken, everything that has held humanity in chains for centuries.

I agree.

I agree that the systems we live under are corrupt. I agree that they must be dismantled. I agree that the structures built on oppression, control, and greed can’t stand if we’re to create something better.

But I can’t celebrate the pain that comes with it.

I can’t ignore the hypocrisy surrounding it.

I know that old systems must crumble for something new to emerge. Kali-Ma once taught us that from destruction comes creation, and our sacred union teachings show us that the old foundations have to collapse in order for new, stable ones to take their place.

I don’t deny that deep change is happening, that shadows are being exposed, and that we’re in the midst of an unprecedented shift. But does that mean I have to celebrate the suffering that comes as a result? Does that mean I have to accept that the means justify the end?

Because I can’t.

I won’t.

I can’t ignore the pain that’s being caused in the interim. I can’t see executive orders that strip people of their rights and dignity and call it “progress.” I can’t look at policies that harm the most vulnerable among us and call it “awakening.” And I certainly can’t accept that just because this is all part of a bigger picture, the suffering in the present moment doesn’t matter.

I don’t care about political parties. To me, they’re all part of the same system—one designed to control, manipulate, and divide. Birds of a feather, corruption runs through both sides, and I don’t subscribe to the illusion that one is inherently “good” and the other inherently “evil.”

But I do care about humanity.

And when I see such a lack of empathy for those who are affected, when I see cruelty being justified in the name of some higher plan, I can’t help but wonder—are we really stepping into a Golden Age? Or are we just building a new, shinier cage?

A cage where questioning is condemned as ignorance, and blind faith is praised as wisdom.

A cage where division is rebranded as liberation, and detachment is used as an excuse for indifference.

A cage where morality is measured by ideology instead of compassion, and being "awakened" matters more than being human.

A cage where the very same fear, control, and judgment is repackaged as enlightenment.

Illusion has been carefully crafted to keep us fighting, to keep us believing that one side is good and the other is bad, as if those aren’t two sides of a spectrum. I see how people—spiritual people—are falling for this narrative, choosing their allegiance and calling it awakening.

People claim to be “awake” because they recognize that our food is poisoned, our media is controlled, and our government is corrupt. And yes, these things are true.

But if you think that’s all awakening is, you’re still asleep.

Because awakening isn’t just about seeing the corruption. It isn’t just about uncovering the lies we’ve been told about food, medicine, and media. It definitely isn’t about feeling superior because you’ve “figured it out.”

Awakening is humbling. It’s heartbreaking. It doesn’t make you feel more powerful—it makes you feel everything. Only when you’ve walked through the crucible of your own reckoning—when you’ve faced your shadows, your darkness, your deepest truth—do you begin to wake up to the full reality of the world. Because true awakening isn’t just about seeing the world clearly.

It’s about seeing yourself clearly.

Real awakening isn’t just about breaking free from the system. It’s about breaking free from illusion itself. It’s not just seeing that we’re being controlled. It’s seeing that the entire way we think about the world has been shaped by division, by fear, by the belief that we’re separate from each other. And separation doesn’t come from the system itself—it’s a result of how we’ve been trained to disconnect from our own hearts and each other.

The real cage is the mind that still believes in separation.

If you think you’re awake because you’ve rejected one side of the illusion but you’re still caught in the same patterns—still choosing sides, still reinforcing division, still seeing the world through an us vs. them lens—then maybe it’s time to look deeper.

Awakening isn’t about proving who’s right and who’s wrong. It’s about recognizing how deeply we’ve all been conditioned to see opposition where there could be understanding. If we continue to divide ourselves, even in the name of truth, then we’re still playing into the very system we claim to have shed.

If you’re truly awake, you don’t justify suffering as a necessary step towards something better.

You don’t dismiss the pain of the present by telling yourself the future will make up for it.

You don’t stand by while people are harmed and call it part of some divine plan.

And you don’t place your faith in an outside savior to fix what only we can change.

Real awakening means you care too much to ever be comfortable again.

It means you will never be able to close your eyes and pretend you don’t see.

It’s also so much more than that…

Awakening isn’t just about seeing the truth—it’s about what you do with it. It’s about using your voice, your presence, and your actions to create real change. That means stepping up and speaking out. It means calling out injustice. It means amplifying voices that are being silenced. It means offering support to those who are hurting.

And it always means choosing love—over and over again, even when it’s inconvenient, even when it’s hard.

I continue to fight an internal battle as I watch what’s playing out, particularly in the spiritual community. I don’t want to get caught in my own cognitive dissonance. I don’t want to reject something just because it doesn’t align with what I’ve believed before. I want to stay open, to keep learning, to allow my understanding to expand.

But I refuse to be deluded into a belief system that demands I ignore my own inner knowing—especially when it goes against the grain of what’s widely accepted as “spiritual.”

Because my heart tells me that caring about people isn’t propaganda.

That standing in integrity, refusing to be complicit in injustice, and protecting what is sacred isn’t being trapped in the matrix.

That questioning—even when others claim to know the truth—isn’t a sign of confusion, but of true discernment and awareness.

I don’t know what the full picture looks like yet. Maybe time will reveal things I can’t yet see. I could very well be wrong. But it’s not about being right or wrong for me—it’s about staying true to what I know in my heart. And what I know is that I won’t ever abandon compassion in the name of awakening.

If this is truly a new era of consciousness, it can’t be birthed from indifference to human pain.

If this is truly a new era of awakening, it can’t be built on suffering and fear.

And if we are truly creating a new Golden Age, then it can’t be led by those who refuse to feel the weight of what it really means to be awake.

So I’ll continue to question.

I’ll continue to care.

And I will always stand on the side of humanity.