Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people. The healthy man does not torture others-generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.
Until we make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
Carl Jung
As if on cue another beautiful video came into my perceptual field today...into my conscious awareness. It was a video that took me farther on the journey I spoke of being on yesterday...trying to transform judgement into seeing clearly, fear and hate for those who hate and fear into empathy, and judgement and punishment into compassion and loving kindness. The title of the video did not give away the teaching that was so in sync with what I was thinking about the last few days.
The Art of Suffering
The Art of Suffering was the topic in the first half, and the teaching spoke to how the energy of mindfulness and looking deeply can transmute the energy of suffering into joy and happiness. We must accept and see our own suffering...even when we look at others who are suffering and acting out on that suffering. We must recognize that that energy and that tendency is in us. ...that we too , if given the same circumstances, same past history, could unconsciously project our suffering out onto others as the people we tend to judge as "violent offenders" do. We need to recognize, accept this truth and then look deeply into their suffering and our own. Suffering is brought on by unconsciousness. As Maya Angelou said, If they knew better, they would do better.
The Healing Energy of Mindfulness
Becoming mindful, aware, and conscious is a way to understand suffering and then transform it. Al suffering is a shared because living is a shared experience. When we look deeply we begin to understand the root causes of suffering as well as the consequences of suffering in others and in ourselves. This understanding leads to compassion and loving kindness...and these two energies have the power to heal and transform suffering into joy and happiness for all.
Chanting for Compassion
About thirty minutes into the below video...a chanting practice is offered specifically aimed at bringing the light of compassion and loving kindness into suffering so that light can shine the darkness away. It is so beautiful. I encourage you to try it. It is not prayer or some manifesting technique. It is just a practice of mindfulness and concentration gently wrapped and assisted by the collective mindfulness of the sangha. In this practice, instead of the habitual tendency to resist or close up to suffering with judgement , we look deeply into it. We think of someone we know who is suffering, or we think of our own suffering as we are mindful of each breath we take in.That's all. We allow compassion and loving kindness take over.
I focused my attention on all the people around me who are suffering and the tears just poured down my face. My mind just jumped from person to the next...focusing for a few moments on all those I have been praying for over the last little bit I held each of them in my mind's arms until they and I were engulfed in the wonderful soothing arms of compassion and then my mind just took me to the next person. There were some I had a hard time opening my heart fully too...so I took myself back to my own resistance , and my own suffering maybe related to these individuals and I sat with that for a while before I could eventually open up to them. I often brought them down to children in my visualizations. That helped tremendously. I could feel the tension I was holding in my body leaving with the flow of tears. I found myself full of compassion and loving kindness for those who seemed "easy" to love and for those who weren't so easy. It was lovely.
Anyway...want to share that with you.
All is well!
Plum Village (July, 2013) Our Address Is Here and Now. / dharma talk with Thich Nhat Hanh. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNWv9biEGKY
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