The process of transformation is akin to dying to our old self and the progressive emergence of the new from within. The New is already there within us a seed, just as the butterfly is there in the caterpillar and the child is already there in the fertilized cell that has bound itself to the womb of darkness. For a long time, the change takes place within this womb of darkness just as a seed grows inside the earth unnoticed by anyone since it is yet to emerge to the surface. But the gardener who has prepared the soil and planted the seed knows the inevitable destiny. He waters it patiently with Love and spreads over it the light of the sun to quicken the process. So too the mother who holds the fetus in her womb feeds it with her heart’s strength and blood until it is strong and ready to emerge. This is the sacrifice that the Divine performs while we are still labouring in the darkness. We may not know it or understand it, others may not even be aware that something is happening within the soil or the womb but the changing seasons will bring out what is held back within.
This is the journey of man. It takes place first under the shroud of ignorance. We live mechanically as it were knowing not what purpose our serves or where is the caravan of life taking us. We know not our destiny nor our aim. We live according to the plan imposed upon us by our equally ignorant surroundings. Our physical parents bring in their own ambitions, the society has its own expectations, the school teachers have their own assessment and judgments. But each plant must blossoming according to its own inbuilt design or programming. Our wants and desires and ignorant hopes cannot decide whether a seed will bloom into a thorny beautiful rose or the tall and shade-less palm tree that yet quenches the thirst of a desert traveler. So too the world and ourselves when plunged in a state of ignorance know not the purpose for which we are born. But a time comes when we wake up to the call and start packing our backs for intended purpose and the great adventure and climb that summons us from the summits of nature.
The right moment has arrived, the season has changed and slowly or suddenly there bursts out of the soil of human nature a new shoot, tender and small yet carrying within it hope and new possibilities of the future. It is yet a hint, still misread by the ignorant eyes but the trained observer sees the secret and knows what fruits or flowers and leaves the plant shall bear. This emergence of a new consciousness out of the old is called in yoga a new birth.
