Change is not made without inconvenience.
--Richard Hooker,
16th-century theologian
Midway through its life, the caterpillar withdraws into a chrysalis. After weeks of hidden transformation, it emerges as a butterfly. We might imagine it slowly growing wings. But what happens is far stranger.
The caterpillar dissolves. Tail, limbs, head, and body break down into a pool of cells.
And yet, within that dissolution, small clusters survive. Biologists call them imaginal cells. They have been there from the beginning, carrying the pattern of the butterfly. From these cells, a new winged body takes shape. The butterfly emerges and takes flight.
Perhaps our true self has always been there, hidden within us. Awakening is the remembering of who we really are, transcendent and beautiful.
--Mirza Inayat Khan,
March 4, 2026
Image source 1: https://a-z-animals.com/animals/butterflies/how-does-a-caterpillar-turn-into-a-butterfly/
Image source 2: Phoebe Anna Traquair, Progress of a Soul, detail (1895-1902), https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/progress-soul-phoebe-anna-traquair/
Quotation source
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