Healing yourself is connected to healing others.
-Yoko Ono
Really want to help diminish suffering in myself and in others. Can you tell? lol
I have been on this kick for quite some time and it has led me into many strange and marvellous places in my mind. I have so many questions about humanity and the more I think I discover, the more questions arise. This seeking is never ending, isn't it? No beginning and no end. :)
I am discovering much from ACIM, Buddhist philosophy(mainly from Thich Nhat Hanh, Pema Chodron and other dharma teachers I tap into on line or through their books), from studying all I can about Yoga , the teachings from Eckhart Tolle(and other secular teachers) , and from my own Christian background. I see these teachings as pointing fingers ...only.... so I go in the direction they point...inward. I then determine what the learning feels like inside and accept that which resonates. I let go of the rest. There has been so much learning and so much letting go of learning that my world feels like it has been turned upside down.
In order to teach others I have to understand. In order to heal others I have to be healing. Am I healing? I don't know. I think so. I am realizing how much emotion I have stuffed inside me over the years of my life. How much energy remains trapped in memories I cling to of my life events. I supressed so much that I don't even remember what I remember lol. These memories and emotions are coming to the surface and I know I must finally sit with them. That is a big healing step.
I am also seeing what healing is really all about. This body I am in, that sometimes feels like it is falling apart lol, is simply manifesting what needs to be healed inside. I think I am ready. I am ready to sit. I know I can't help to heal another until I have healed myself.
Right now I am stuck on the letting go part. There is so much I have yet to let go of, stuff that keeps me stuck and trapped by this idea of suffering. One of the key factors in healing from this idea of suffering, according to Buddhist doctrine, is letting go. The Heart sutra and the Diamond sutra speak of four things that need to be thrown out. From Thich Nhat Hanh's dharma talk, I see that letting go involves many things including throwing away some ideologies we cling to. We need to let go of many of the 'wrong perceptions' we hold on to that lead to suffering. (Of course wrong and right are one of the things we do not want to get too hung up on).
These things include:
- our idea of happiness
- our idea of self
- our idea that we are the bodies we are in
- the idea that we as humans are distinct and separate from other humans
- the idea that we as humans are distinct from other beings
- the idea that we as human beings are distinct from non-beings
- the idea that life has time frame
- the idea that we go from non being to being and than to non-being
- the idea of birth and death.
- the idea of extremes
I want to learn from this so I can teach; to teach from this so I can learn. I want to heal so I can be healed; to be healed so I can heal. He who needs healing must heal. Physician[therapist, teacher], heal thyself. Who else is there to heal? And who else is in need of healing? Each patient who comes to a therapist[teacher, physician, healer] offers him a chance to heal himself. He is therefore his therapist. And every therapist must learn to heal from each patient who comes to him. He thus becomes his patient. (ACIM:Psychotherapy:2:VII:1:3-11)
Of course, I am not the real teacher here. Check out the dharma talk below if you want to hear it from an expert who so eloquently explains what we need to hear that even a big ego like mine is quieted enough for me to hear and understand.
All is well!
References
ACIM(2007) Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice. ACIM: Combined Volume. Foundations for Inner Peace.
Thich Nhat Hanh.(May 2012) Letting Go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Kph9R6y1E
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