We’re all familiar with the term “transformation,” which is defined as the process of changing completely. It’s a simple word, but in reality, it’s a rather astounding phenomenon.

          Here are two quick examples of transformation that illustrate this remarkable process. One is from the world of nature and the other is from the world of fiction.  

          In nature, the astounding metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly is one of its true miracles. It’s hard to believe that this beautiful creature that flies through the air on gossamer wings actually begins its life as a bland little worm with tiny legs, crawling around, eating bitter leaves. This is its life for about two weeks. Then something incredible happens.

          It instinctively ceases all its activities, stops eating, and finds a suitable place to hang upside down. Within 18 hours, it weaves a strong protective coating, in which it lies dormant for another two weeks of complete isolation. Finally, after a process of creative magic that defies comparison, what was once a caterpillar emerges from its cocoon as a glorious butterfly. It has grown wings to fly, and an amazingly long tongue so it can extract nectar from the deep recesses of fragrant flowers.

           With this radical change in form, it starts living a completely different life.  It doesn’t crawl anymore, now it flies. It doesn’t eat bitter leaves anymore, now it drinks nectar all day long. And it’s become one of the most beloved creatures on earth. As a caterpillar, if it crawled onto a human being, the person would be repulsed by it. Now if it lands on someone, the lucky person will feel somehow blessed and will remember the magic of the moment for the rest of its life.

          But there’s also another intriguing factor to consider as well. While it was still in the egg, small discs were forming that it would later use to complete its transformation, which means that even as a caterpillar, it always had the tools that it needed to become a butterfly. It was just a matter of time and instinct before they were used. Although the butterfly transformation is only one of eight complete metamorphosis changes in nature, it is certainly the most striking.  

          As far as the fictional example 0f transformation is concerned, it comes from a scene I wrote in in the early 90s for a Twilight Zone-type project called, “The Unexpected Stallion.” It takes place in the afterlife and the main character, who is simply called “The Observer,” is being given a tour of the realm by someone called “The Guide.” They are both invisible to others as they watch various events unfold.

          They come upon a poor beggar, an old man in rags with a shaggy white beard, standing on the side of a dirt trail in the desert. On his shoulder is perched a large, grayish-red lizard, its long claws buried deeply into the beggar’s shoulder with a constant stream of blood trickling down from them. The old man is hunched over from the weight of the heavy lizard, which is constantly talking into his ear.  

          Suddenly, a knight in shining armor appears, riding upon a mighty steed and trots over to the beggar.

          “Why do you have a lizard on your shoulder, old man?” he inquired.

          “Why he’s my good friend and my most trusty advisor,” the beggar replied.

          “Watch out for this knight,” the lizard whispered into the beggar’s ear. “He’s dangerous and he’s come to rob you.”

          “How long has this friend of yours been advising you?” the knight asked.

          “I don’t remember ever being without him,” the beggar replied.

          “And this trusty advisor of yours has brought you to this?” the knight questioned. “You’ve been carrying it around and listening to it for all this time and this is what you’ve come to? You look pretty miserable to me, old man. Did you ever think that maybe this creature isn’t really your friend?”

          “Watch it!” the lizard hissed to the beggar. “He’s only here to hurt you. Don’t listen to him. He’s a liar and a thief.”

          “He’s all that I have,” the beggar replied. “I really can’t imagine life without him.”

          “Well, maybe you should give it a try,” the knight responded. “Why don’t you let me kill it. At least you’ll be free of it. You won’t have to carry it around anymore and you can stop bleeding. That can’t be good for you. Get rid of it. Your life can’t be any worse than it is now.”

          “Now listen to me, be careful,” the lizard cautioned. “He really can kill me. He has the power. But trust me, you don’t want that. I know things haven’t been all that great for us, but I’ve been with you through thick and thin, and if he kills me, you’ll be all alone. Imagine that! All alone with no one to talk to. We’ve had some hard times, but you know I’m a good friend. And besides, I always tell you the truth.”

          “That thing has never spoken a word of truth in its life and trust me, he is no friend of yours,” the knight responded.  “Do you really want to go on living like this until you die? Just say the word and I’ll kill it for you.”

          “Maybe you’re right,” the beggar said, feeling a little confused. “But I don’t want to be the one to tell you to kill it. I still feel too close to it and I don’t want to cause its death. If you really think it’s best for me, why don’t you just go ahead and do it on your own.”

          “It doesn’t work that way,” replied the knight. “The only way that I can have the power that I need is for you to tell me to do it. It has to be an act of your will, not mine.”

          The lizard dug its claws deeper into the beggar’s shoulder and began pleading for its life. The putrid smell of its hot breath became sickening to the beggar, who finally looked up, into the knight’s eyes. They were steady and strong, but there was also a kindness in them, along with a certain hint of promise. With a sudden flash of intuition, the beggar finally knew what he had to do.

          “Go ahead and kill it!” he said.

          Without hesitation, the knight immediately drew his long sword.

          “No!” the lizard screamed. But with one mighty stroke, the knight cut the lizard’s head off and the creature fell over dead, bleeding in the dust. Then, as though they were somehow connected, the beggar fell over as well, lying in the path next to it. The knight just sat on his steed and stared at them both.  

          As the Guide and the Observer looked on, suddenly, the body of the lizard and the body of the beggar both began to twitch and shake. In another few moments, the lizard transformed into a mighty white stallion with a saddle and bridle, and the beggar transformed into a strong, young knight in shining armor. He mounted the stallion and the horse and rider quickly became as one. He joined the first knight. They looked at each other for quick moment in comradery, then galloped away, over the distant horizon.

          “Surprised?” the Guide asked the Observer. “Don’t be. It happens all the time.”

          So, a bland caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly and a sharp-clawed lizard turns into a strapping white stallion. As I writer, I see powerful symbolism here, which to me, brings up an intriguing question – Is there such a thing as human transformation? Can we radically transform ourselves into a greater being than we currently are?

          Well, according to authorities from ancient wisdom to modern neuroscience, we can, and we’re closer to this great change than we know. Mainly, it has to do with our relationship with our ordinary mind.

          Let’s take a quick look at our situation. In our first few months of life, before our ordinary mind is formed, we live in a truly elevated state. Take any three-month-old baby in the world. If it’s not under any physical duress, not hungry, tired or uncomfortable, it lives in a natural state of magical bliss. Everything amazes it, often bringing it joy. Indeed, it’s estimated that the average infant laughs over three hundred times every day.

          Then, at some point, things begin to change. Our ordinary mind begins to take form, gathering all of its opinions, it’s likes and dislikes, its happy and sad memories and the millions of other neurological imprints that it will carry with us for the rest of our lives. Then, before you know it, it’s actually running the show and our overall happiness becomes, to put it bluntly, a real crap shoot. And as we age, the situation often gets worse and worse.

          But what if we can change things around? What if we can take the ordinary mind out of our driver’s seat and put our greater awareness behind the wheel? Maybe we can transform into a larger being that is filled with the joy, wonder and innocence of a happy child, yet still retains the wisdom, competency and discrimination of a mature adult.

          Perhaps, like the butterfly, we already have the makings of this greater being within us and if we follow our higher instincts, we can begin to transform. Then at some point, instead of living our life crawling through dirt and tasting bitterness all day, we can soar freely through the air, drinking the sweetest nectars of creation.

           Or if we’re like the beggar and our ordinary mind is the lizard, we can use our will to transform the situation and turn this vile creature who is draining the life out of us, into our trusty companion, a mighty stallion, that we can ride as a champion, tall in the saddle, with the reins finally in our own hands.

          The funny thing is, we all have dreams of this greater life, this higher destiny. It’s because the seeds of it are already within us, but we all have it. It’s part of our deeper nature.  

           Sometimes, as a little joke, I like to imagine a caterpillar patient going to a caterpillar psychiatrist because it keeps having these crazy dreams that it can fly. And for some reason, it suddenly wants to drink the sweet nectar of fragrant flowers. But there’s no way it that it can do that. It’s impossible. But this strange thirst just won’t let up and it can’t imagine where it’s coming from.

          “What’s it all mean, Doc?” it wonders.  But the doc doesn’t answer, because the same thing is happening to it as well.

          Well, as a writer, I like the idea of having that little ending serve if as the end of this episode.  So, as always, keep your eyes, mind and heart opened. And let’s get together in the next one.