Transformation sometimes can be drastic. There is no better example in nature to reflect this, than metamorphosis. This is exemplified best in the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly - an incredible transformation in functionality, appearance, organization of components, and purpose - where a gross-looking voracious, clumsy crawling worm, turns into a subtle, gracious, flying creature of beauty.

Biologists tell us that in the tissue of a caterpillar there are embedded cells that they call imaginal cells. They resonate at a different frequency. They are so totally different from the other caterpillar cells, that the immune system of the worm thinks they are enemies and tries to destroy them. But the new imaginal cells continue to appear, more and more of them! Eventually the caterpillar's immune system cannot destroy them fast enough, and they become stronger, they connect, and connect, until they form a critical mass that realizes that their mission is to bring about the amazing birth of a butterfly out of the voracious caterpillar!

In 1969 Margaret Mead said: "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has". I firmly believe along with many others, that there is an evolutionary effervescence within the tissues of the established society of today. That despite the prevailing clamor of fear, greed, over-consumption, and violence, expressed through the tissues of society, there is a coming together of these “imaginal cells” who are visioning a different world, a transformation, a metamorphosis.

Uruguayan poet Mario Benedetti wrote “What would happen if one day when we wake up we realize that we are the majority?” – I say - The imaginal cells would rule and would make out a butterfly from a caterpillar world.

This is the time of waking. Clusters of “imaginal cells” are beginning to gather everywhere, they are beginning to recognize each other, they are developing the orchestration tools for enhancing connectivity, to drive the next stage of our human society into manifestation, to bring about a news society that would compare to the present one as a butterfly with a caterpillar. A new dimension of life, a compassionate and just society, a humanity rooted in joy and mutual understanding.

I believe that deep within our hearts we all will see the beauty of the universe, experience the wonder of consciousness, and learn to love and share in the commonality of our fragility and compassion. Gradually, we learn that selfless service and love are inseparable, that only one who loves, can truly serve, and that if you really love you have to serve. The expression of the heart is vitally necessary, to quench the need of the spirit.

I see a new world-culture of humanity emerging a culture with an integral vision, independently of existing traditions and conserved values. It calls for love in all actions taken, and for the expression of felt love into action. It initiates a new way of thinking in terms of an indivisible totality, and it discards all the relative values of comparison in favor of the recognition of the intrinsic worth of everything and everyone. I believe that are beginning to understand that the source of our misery lies in our own false perception of life, that we are opening our eyes to the fact that we are all a continuum of being, and as we begin to share this perception, we realize we must connect and act, to manifest this love in action, so that change can ensue, and a new world can emerge.

Unbeknown to daily headlines of crisis, the world is full of constant happenings of transformation. These are some examples of real incredible stories of love and change.

  • An artist in South Africa, meets a young woman in South Africa, a part time student in her ceramic studio, who one day brought in a beaded doll her mother had made; it captured the attention of the artist who then sponsored the dissemination of the beadwork skills and the marketing of the crafts. Today more than 450 people make their livelihood through beadwork which is marketed world wide and helps support not only the artists but a program that provides healthcare, nutrition and yoga classes for HIV positive bead artists.
  • A young middle-class woman in Guatemala convinces a Mayan community suffering from extreme poverty to plant denuded surrounding hills with a fiber producing plant, then convinces a major distillery of rum to change the packaging of their bottles to create a market for the wicket products created by the Mayan women. Today several communities earn their livelihoods making these wrappings for the rum bottles and have improved their nutrition, schooling etc, and recovered their dignity.
  • A young woman ceramist in Mar del Plata Argentina undergoes a moment of tragedy in her life that wakes her up inwardly and she starts perceiving the world and her fellow beings in a different light. At about the same time several women suffering from breast cancer and recently operated started to come to her ceramic shop. She decides to teach them, how, through art, they can express and heal their pain, and initiates on her own, without any organization, a workshop, to help women with breast cancer heal their emotions through art.
  • A man wakes up one day feeling that he needs to find purpose in his life; he started taking meditation and yoga classes and discovers a world within that he was unaware till then. His life changed, he became more appreciative of life, and of the things he had and becomes more compassionate towards others. He starts talking to his friends about his new outlook on life and motivating them to recognize their inner spiritual forces.
  • An elderly woman concerned about her peers organizes a community of seniors to aid each other and give company to each other.

All these people belong to a new humanity, they are imaginal cells. Once they connect and reach a critical mass they would move forward and precipitate a just, peaceful, and sustainable world, accelerate a cohesive global movement of personal and social transformation, reflecting the unity of humanity.

Anyone, who like those mentioned above, transforms his/her perception of the world from one of me against “the other”, of “us” versus “them”, into a unified perception that recognizes the interconnectedness of all life, and that love is the expression of this oneness in a world of diversity; the bonding force of consciousness, belongs already to this global movement.

Many individuals arrive at this inner transformation through a personal epiphany in their lives and relate to their transformation through different conceptual definitions that depict their cultural, religious or social origins. Some relate to an urge to serve others without paying much attention to their own reflective process, something just triggers spontaneously within, and the service to others imperative is more important than self-reflection. Others are awed by their transformation and seek deeper reflective modes, hoping to alleviate the pain of fragmentation by just imagining and projecting the beauty they perceive in the unity of all.

This imaginal emergence is happening everywhere, unsung heroes are courageously demonstrating that a change of heart, a unified humanity and an improvement of the quality of life for all, is possible. And that it is linked to a new conception of life. As Ernesto Sabato said during the Peace in Peacetime Conference in 2012; “They are united in giving to others, and in their absolute desire for a more human world, they have already started to generate change, taking risks in experience as profound as love and solidarity. And the Earth will become impregnated with their perseverance.”