When we see tragic incidents out in the world, it is too easy to join the mob mentality. Our need to connect with others can send us down the wrong the path if we don’t stay awake. It is understandable to have strong reactions when we see others hurt or attacked. We long to connect with them and let them know we stand with them; that we feel their pain. This need to connect and share other’s pain can unite us and often does. A universal truth becomes tangible in those moments of crisis: that we are all one. And we are driven to act from this truth. You can see that loving connection most easily after a natural disaster when communities rush in from far and wide to aid another hit by a flood or tornado. It offers us the opportunity to discover how deeply we love and our ability to have empathy and compassion for one another. It reveals the best in humanity.
The trouble comes when we let hate and fear be the uniting energy. When we are in fear and pain, it is typical to want to identify the enemy or cause of our pain so that we can lay blame at their feet. Our hate can make us feel powerful. We can be filled with a sense of purpose: to destroy those that hurt us with as much, if not more, pain and fear as we can produce. We can see ourselves better than the “monsters” (whichever new “monster” is the flavor of the month). We can begin to see our hate as justified and our harmful actions as righteous. In essence, we can quickly become the very “monsters” we are so self-righteously condemning if we don’t stay awake.
You can never combat or stop hate or violence with the same energy of hate or violence. It is impossible. The universal truth: like attracts like, doesn’t stop being a truth just because we feel justified in our hate. It is our job as spiritual beings to offer up a different energy, not add more fuel to the fire of hate. The energies of love, compassion, and empathy are the very energies that keep hate from thriving. They are also the energies that when missing in society, cause hatred and violence towards one another. So you have a choice when you see violence out in the world, to either jump on the bandwagon of hate or choose love. It is your choice.
If you choose love, you can use the crisis or tragedy to learn from and grow. If you have been on the spiritual path, you are aware of the concept of our outer world is just mirroring our inner world. So if that is true, and I believe it is, rather than wasting time with your ego getting you all riled up to stop those outer “monsters” with the hate, go within! Dare to look at your own inner “monsters” and begin to ask yourself the life changing questions. Where do I bully in my life? Why do I bully? Own your inner terrorist. You may never act from that energy, but you can discover that you too have that capability. What fear or pain makes me force myself, or my views on others? When is it more important to me be right rather than to be kind? Where do I judge people who are different than me? How do I move through the world when I am feeling powerless? How does my behavior change when I am feeling less than others? If you have experienced prejudice, remember how it felt? And then ask yourself if that is the energy you want to put out into the world knowing that it will be mirrored back at you.
It is easy to stay in the light when the world looks safe. The real work comes when we are afraid and see darkness around us. But it is also at those exact times of darkness that we have the ability to make significant changes deep inside of ourselves and to become the light that the world is so hunger for and needs. We just have to make the decision to stay conscious and to choose love. Let a tragedy like Paris change you for the better then it will have served a higher purpose – your growth toward love.
Until next time, be the light the world needs and stay in love for all!
I had meant to write about meditation in my second post, but with what happened in Paris on Friday, I felt the need to address it from a spiritual viewpoint and perhaps help others stay on the path of love.
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