December 25th is almost here again. It has been preceded by a continuous string of bad news from many sectors. It has probably also been a time of frantic shopping, budgeting and worldly busyness for you. Christmas these days is overly commercialized, yet at the same time it gives you an opportunity to notice what’s rattling in the root cellar of your heart.
Whether you relate to Christmas in an introspective way or not, it’s hard to deny that the man who is celebrated at this time created a simple and profound teaching based on love. Quick disclaimer: I don’t relate to Jesus or the Divine religiously, but spiritually only, and while he was a luminary what is really important is the consciousness that he embodied, i.e., the second part of his name.
That consciousness is a way of seeing yourself, others, the world and all of its inhabitants, both human as well as flora and fauna through a divine heart and mind. A heart and mind devoid of selfishness, judgment, fear, and limitation. In everyday mind you worry, are influenced by negativity in the news, lash out at others to keep your own anxiety at bay, and generally cling closely to what is "me" and "mine." You generally go for "small" because it’s manageable, familiar and allows you to remain inwardly lazy.
What if you dared to take a moment, amongst the ornaments, mistletoe and yams, to move into that other state of being? A state of being that is without conditions. A state of being where love is as natural as your breath. Where "other" collapses, just melts and what emerges is a shared experience of humanity and spirit. Where you look at your partner, your kids, your siblings or grandparents and you see everyone’s, even strangers’ loved ones. What if?
This state is available. Jesus carried, lived and taught it. In his hour of trial on the cross he prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." This is one of the greatest examples of forgiveness and seeing good in others, of being compassionately inclusive.
Interestingly, Patanjali also enumerated an unconditioned state. In his Yoga-sutras he writes of the right attitudes: Friendliness toward the happy; Compassion for the unhappy; Delight in the virtuous; Indifference toward the wicked. First, it’s a unifying thought that someone who lived in the 2nd century BCE has similar heart wisdom to Jesus. With timeless teachings this is always the case.
Let’s look at these in order: When your heart has boundaries you may envy or be irritated by or feel less than those who are succeeding and are happy. When you come across unhappy people, you may ignore or be unfeeling toward them because your state isn’t inclusive. Delighting in the virtuous may be hard for you because it shows up your own shortcomings and torpitude. You may act aggressively with an aggressor because that is the less demanding reaction.
In all of these situations a choice is being asked of you to look in the root cellar of your heart and find there an opening, a consideration to bring its walls down and let all its beauty shine.
You can’t buy love, but you can choose it. Every moment, no matter the season.
Pamir Kiciman is a Soul Whisperer (SM) specializing in healing, spirituality and conscious evolution. He provides Reiki services (Reiki Training & Healing) for those seeking to make spirituality, healing and meditation a conscious part of their life. His approach to Reiki is that it’s a way of living with wisdom and compassion, not only a healing art, and definitely not a modality.
Very nice! "Choose Love" – great mantra. I utilize this phrase from "A Course in Miracles" quite often as a mantra, prayer and affirmation when I am dealing with people in a variety of circumstances: "In spirit you are perfect, whole and innocent. All is forgiven." And I like the phrase, "compassionate inclusion."
Thanks!
The power of choice being there is the thing. We always have choice. Choosing or not is the practice. The great thing with choice is that if you take the low road, next time choice is there once again. It's not like you're penalized to stay on the low road. As long choice is exercised in the right way, there's opportunity and growth.
Thanks for stopping by and the kind words…
I recognize the depth of your Spirit. Love is the Law…and so it is…Kay
"When your heart has boundaries you may envy or be irritated by or feel less than those who are succeeding and are happy. When you come across unhappy people, you may ignore or be unfeeling toward them because your state isn't inclusive. Delighting in the virtuous may be hard for you because it shows up your own shortcomings and torpitude. You may act aggressively with an aggressor because that is the less demanding reaction"
This is so true, Pamir. I think we have all experienced this at some time or another. When our hearts are open the choice is almost made for us already: we are inclusive as a consequence of being open. The real beauty and magic happens when our hearts are NOT open at a given moment, and we make the choice to be inclusive anyway. But rather than make this choice intellectually we can "choose" an organic path by going through a process such as tonglen. It is a way of honoring our closed heart at the moment, as well as the global community of closed and broken hearts. In breathing in our own pain as well as the collective pain, and breathing out relief and love, we can succeed in re-opening our own hearts (and, I believe, the hearts of those we have breathed in and out for) and we become new again. And the process has become as poignant as the outcome…
I wish for you all the riches that the holiday season offers, which of course lies in the richness of your heart. Thank you for your beautiful post.
Karen
~ Kay: Yes, Love is Law. It gels creation together and calls us back from our errors, material obsessions and unending ignorance, until we finally embrace, embody and be our Divinity.
~ Karen: By choosing love continuously it becomes a practice which leads to a state of love that we become. There "open" and "not open" really don't factor in. At least, that's the aspiration. In the meantime, tonglen is quite powerful.
Thank you for putting words to what was forming in my mind: a way of seeing and being during the next few days. Much appreciated, and will certainly carry forth into the new year as well. Blessings!
The moment of truth is holding these values close to your heart so when that moment flares and you really really know you have that moment to choose which way to respond and you take a deep breath and you do the better thing and keep doing it because sometimes one soft answer does not change the course of things it takes repetiion. ( I'm probably talking to me ok)