EMPATHY
“You have to reach people’s hearts first – THEN their minds!” – so says my teacher whom I vacillate between loathing and loving! <3
The people in our lives are all teachers whom we learn life lessons from: some good, some not. The teacher I’m referring to is Milena Origgi, a guru in the truest sense.
I get it. If I’m closed off emotionally because of some invisible mental barrier I’ve constructed over a lifetime to protect my self, I’m not coming from a place of empathy, and thus, I can’t be as effective as a teacher/healer.
So this damned nuclear-resistant mental wall of mine (which would give Little Fingers a hard-on) has to come down. I literally have to change my view of MYSELF – to embrace and love myself – if I’m going to help others do so; in short, I need to walk the talk – though in this case, the walk conjures up images of walking the plank!!
INTROSPECTION
At our essence, we are EACH miraculous.
The entire purpose of meditation is to tap into something deep within us: an aspect described as indescribable, immutable, intangible, eternal, compassionate, curious, impelling, pervading, impelling, aware, intuitive, and blissful.
The only way to reach people’s hearts is to speak from our own – and the only way to do that is to come from a place of empathy and compassion (to be truly selfless).
One way to foster compassion for ourselves and others is through meditation or introspection: consciously and benignly observing our otherwise sub-conscious fears and desires, effectively, reverse-engineering our behavior at an intuitive level, and in the process, venting the underlying emotions triggering our behavior.
When we meditate, we lovingly and non-judgmentally accept, absorb and release the energy triggered by our negative memories – consciously, embracing and accepting that energy for what it is: something which has been affecting our body/mind, but which CAN’T affect the essence of who and what we are: our consciousness. Without awareness we wouldn’t even realize we were alive – so wtf would be the point?!!
LEGEND OF OUR DIVINITY
Milena also shared the following old Hindu legend with me this morning:
“…there was once a time when all human beings were gods, but they so abused their divinity that Brahma, the chief god, decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found.
Where to hide their divinity was the question. So Brahma called a council of the gods to help him decide.
“Let’s bury it deep in the earth,” said the gods. But Brahma answered, “No, that will not do because humans will dig into the earth and find it.”
Then the gods said, “Let’s sink it in the deepest ocean.” But Brahma said, “No, not there, for they will learn to dive into the ocean and will find it.”
Then the gods said, “Let’s take it to the top of the highest mountain and hide it there.” But once again Brahma replied, “No, that will not do either, because they will eventually climb every mountain and once again take up their divinity.”
Then the gods gave up and said, “We do not know where to hide it, because it seems that there is no place on earth or in the sea that human beings will not eventually reach.”
Brahma thought for a long time and then said, “Here is what we will do. We will hide their divinity deep in the center of their own being, for humans will never think to look for it there.”
All the gods agreed that this was the perfect hiding place, and the deed was done. And since that time humans have been going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring-searching for something already within themselves.” – Author unknown
