SPIRITUALITY
Am I growing spiritually, by meditating, surrendering to some higher source, call it God, Nature, Divine Mother - if afterwards I go out into the world to blame and hate others, forgetting everything I may have realized in meditation? What a vicious cycle. There must be more than just this constant neurotic thought that I'm okay, no matter my actions.
Narcissism runs rampant in our culture, it is a sickness that we all have to some degree. Every time defenses come up and we refuse to take responsibility for our actions, then we have chosen hatred over love, this is called narcissism. This narcissistic process is the very thing that creates dis-harmony in relationship with ourselves and others.
We are designed to convert hatred, but in order for it to work, we need to love everything, even our so called ego, which is really our pain. (We must stop using the word ego to describe pain. The original definition was not intended for this use. And further to this point, when I say someone is coming from their ego, I have no empathy. But if I say they are coming from their pain, or they are in pain, I have empathy.
When we consistently bring our awareness back to the truth of our childhood hurt the emotional pain that covers it, then there can be an emergence. This emergence is what puts us in tune with our true nature; a loving nature. We need to love all aspects of ourselves and others, including the pain and then, if there is some kind of divine spark within us, surely we'll have a much better chance of discovering it.
When confronted with life's challenges, make a vow to be aware of the blame you have for others or yourself; make the choice to not act from your pain and instead take ownership for everything by saying the words, "I'm Sorry - will you please forgive me"?, even if you feel you haven't done anything wrong. Remember to do this work with yourself too, when you are alone, in a safe place. Ask forgiveness for the false perception that you are flawed and not enough. When we separate our childhood hurt from the pain, we are separating our true thoughts and feelings from that which is false.,This separation creates sanity.
We unconsciously believe our pain equals success and survival, so in this way, we don't want to stop the pain. But the act of forgiveness is what stops pain in its tracks. This is why it's so hard to practice forgiveness - we think we'll loose our ability to succeed and by proxy our ability to survive. But our pain consists of feelings and thoughts of self-hatred, so how could this possibly equal success? The act of self-hatred, whether for ourselves (inward projection) or for another person (outward projection) is not intrinsic; it does not belong to our essential nature. Health is the essential nature of humans - health is a state of physical, mental and emotional well-being. Pain is a distortion: control, hatred, defenses, murder, etc., and it wreaks havoc on our health and well being.
So if pain is not intrinsic, where does it come from? It comes from external oppression. It is not who we are, it is merely a learned response to life; how we are taught to survive. But once we become aware, we can release this layer of pain and make choices from the intrinsic part of ourselves, our true nature, which is love.
We are designed to separate from the pain and release the hurt from childhood; then we are able to practice forgiveness. Look to the babies and children - this is what they do on a daily basis. And when forgiveness is incorporated in this process, the we return to love; love for ourselves and for one another. Love is our true nature. When we practice forgiveness on a consistent basis, the heavy weight and sadness from hatred begins to lift, allowing us to move freely and willingly in loving ways.
So let's delve deeply into the depths of our pain so we can love ourselves and discover our capacity to love others. Let's do this every day, not by faking nor pretending as though we are some enlightened being who understands it all and therefore has a right to control. Nor by putting ourselves down and pretending as though we are not worthy. This is all driven by pain. When we make use of our intrinsic qualities by practicing understanding, empathy and forgiveness, we regain hope. Hope dictates our desire and will-power, both of which are needed to shift our perspective in the most positive ways. This shift is success because when we are in the positive, we thrive as well as survive.
Am I growing spiritually, by meditating, surrendering to some higher source, call it God, Nature, Divine Mother - if afterwards I go out into the world to blame and hate others, forgetting everything I may have realized in meditation? What a vicious cycle. There must be more than just this constant neurotic thought that I'm okay, no matter my actions.
Narcissism runs rampant in our culture, it is a sickness that we all have to some degree. Every time defenses come up and we refuse to take responsibility for our actions, then we have chosen hatred over love, this is called narcissism. This narcissistic process is the very thing that creates dis-harmony in relationship with ourselves and others.
We are designed to convert hatred, but in order for it to work, we need to love everything, even our so called ego, which is really our pain. (We must stop using the word ego to describe pain. The original definition was not intended for this use. And further to this point, when I say someone is coming from their ego, I have no empathy. But if I say they are coming from their pain, or they are in pain, I have empathy.
When we consistently bring our awareness back to the truth of our childhood hurt the emotional pain that covers it, then there can be an emergence. This emergence is what puts us in tune with our true nature; a loving nature. We need to love all aspects of ourselves and others, including the pain and then, if there is some kind of divine spark within us, surely we'll have a much better chance of discovering it.
When confronted with life's challenges, make a vow to be aware of the blame you have for others or yourself; make the choice to not act from your pain and instead take ownership for everything by saying the words, "I'm Sorry - will you please forgive me"?, even if you feel you haven't done anything wrong. Remember to do this work with yourself too, when you are alone, in a safe place. Ask forgiveness for the false perception that you are flawed and not enough. When we separate our childhood hurt from the pain, we are separating our true thoughts and feelings from that which is false.,This separation creates sanity.
We unconsciously believe our pain equals success and survival, so in this way, we don't want to stop the pain. But the act of forgiveness is what stops pain in its tracks. This is why it's so hard to practice forgiveness - we think we'll loose our ability to succeed and by proxy our ability to survive. But our pain consists of feelings and thoughts of self-hatred, so how could this possibly equal success? The act of self-hatred, whether for ourselves (inward projection) or for another person (outward projection) is not intrinsic; it does not belong to our essential nature. Health is the essential nature of humans - health is a state of physical, mental and emotional well-being. Pain is a distortion: control, hatred, defenses, murder, etc., and it wreaks havoc on our health and well being.
So if pain is not intrinsic, where does it come from? It comes from external oppression. It is not who we are, it is merely a learned response to life; how we are taught to survive. But once we become aware, we can release this layer of pain and make choices from the intrinsic part of ourselves, our true nature, which is love.
We are designed to separate from the pain and release the hurt from childhood; then we are able to practice forgiveness. Look to the babies and children - this is what they do on a daily basis. And when forgiveness is incorporated in this process, the we return to love; love for ourselves and for one another. Love is our true nature. When we practice forgiveness on a consistent basis, the heavy weight and sadness from hatred begins to lift, allowing us to move freely and willingly in loving ways.
So let's delve deeply into the depths of our pain so we can love ourselves and discover our capacity to love others. Let's do this every day, not by faking nor pretending as though we are some enlightened being who understands it all and therefore has a right to control. Nor by putting ourselves down and pretending as though we are not worthy. This is all driven by pain. When we make use of our intrinsic qualities by practicing understanding, empathy and forgiveness, we regain hope. Hope dictates our desire and will-power, both of which are needed to shift our perspective in the most positive ways. This shift is success because when we are in the positive, we thrive as well as survive.
