Acknowledging the Suffering in "Namaste"

 Namaste

means that my soul

acknowledges yours -

not just your light,

your wisdom,

your goodness,

but also your darkness,

your suffering,

your imperfections.

It is a recognition

and acceptance of

the inexplicable

divine absurdity,

the miraculous woven

into the ordinary,

light and darkness

intimately entwined

in magical, messy

humanity.

It means that I honor

all that you are

with all that I am.

So, namaste,

my fellow travelers.

I'm so glad we're on

this trek through

the universe together.”

― L.R. Knost

                                                        https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/namaste#:

 

 

 I think of this today as I read the wise words of Wayne Dyer and as I meditate over everything I have been experiencing.  I sit with suffering, the suffering of others mostly, and I hold it in my mind and in my heart .  I mean, my "self-protective" mind wants me to do the opposite of sit with it...it wants me to run as far from it as I can.  It wants to squish it down and shut it out because it makes me feel so powerless, ashamed, guilty, sad and uncomfortable.  

My wise Self knows better. I sit then, when I do,  with my resistance to the reality that others suffer, that suffering exists. As that resistance softens somewhat I can tap into suffering in a healing way.

So as I sat for a good forty minutes today ( pretty good for a resistant monkey mind) the word Namaste kept coming up repeatedly.  It is a perfect word for this...if we have to reduce all this down into a mere word, that is.  

And the quote above is a perfect quote.When I sit with the suffering of others, I am remembering our connection at a deeper level. My soul recognizes their soul...and seperate souls become one soul. I see the light in them as well as the darkness and suffering...seeing all as fibers woven together to create the Life we know as our "messy humanity". I  acknowledge our connection (not just on the familial level...most of those I think about are my children and family) but on a global level...I move from them to others and to the world at large in my confrontation of suffering. To bow to the light in others is to bow to and honor the "all" in others, the "all" in Life. Hmm!

What a beautiful word Namaste is. 

All is well.

Wayne Dyer (post humously) (2020) The Power of Awakening. Hay House. Kindle Edition