“Our Hearts are Broken”

President Obama opened his heartfelt speech in Tucson, Arizona with this phrase.And, it is true. Our hearts are broken by what happened this past Saturday in Tucson, Arizona.

This confirms a universal Truth - that what happened is wrong. We agree on that. There is nothing good about a disturbed individual shooting innocent others.

On the other hand, the individual responses to the violence, and to those who were hurt by the violence, is recognized by all as good.

These two self-evident truths sum up our purpose in life.

The recognition of what is good and the healing of what is not. In every moment of our lives, this is the task.

God did not plan this tragedy, nor was it anyone’s destiny to be hurt or killed in this untimely violent manner. Neither was it anyone’s goal to heroically charge the violent attacker or in anyone’s dayplanner to sacrifice themselves in an attempt to save the one they loved.

Yet, the choice between violence and peace, fear and love, happens everyday in an infinite amount of ways, large and small, and this is our purpose – to choose love over fear; to respond to real needs over reacting out of personal frustration.

A Glimpse of the Eternal

In every life there will be at least one moment when ongoing grind of daily life blinks - revealing the timeless harmony of existence. In that moment a glimpse of true being is revealed; without words, without action, without description. Those who know this moment recognize it always, even in these clumsy words.

When the moment passes and ordinary life faces us again, our thirst is both quenched and heightened. The reality of completeness is complete, and, at the same moment, it has disappeared behind the open-mouthed monster mind on the search for something to have or someone to be.

After the glimpse, everything in the ordinary world is tainted with the recognition that it is a sham – a poor second to the glorious ever-present, yet ungraspable truth.

The bottomless pit of wanting is confronted by the infinite wholeness of being.

Albert Einstein described such a moment as “the religious paradise of youth,” as he recalled the recognition of universal harmony when he was first introduced to Hebrew teachings. As a young man, he wrote simple hymns he sang and prayed to himself while walking to school.

When introduced to geometry in math class, his view of God was challenged. While he did outgrow religious ideas, it seems to me that he was fueled by his naïve recognition of universal harmony to search for a mathematical and scientific language to understand it.

All of us are on the same quest through a unique route. For some the original “glimpse” may have been overshadowed by the traumas and tribulations of early life or possibly smothered in comfort and indulgence. Like looking for lost keys that “we know were left somewhere around here,” universal harmony seems lost just beneath the daily relentless routine.

Universal harmony cannot be lost – it is impossible – but our attention can get focused in other directions. And, as when looking for lost keys, the more agitated and anxious we get about finding them, or universal harmony, the harder it is to find.

Is it possible to find something that isn’t really lost? For that matter, is it possible to lose something that is ever-present?

Perhaps when Albert Einstein was singing his hymns to God someone else was thinking that he was wasting his time.

It reminds me of one of my daughters screaming: “Mom! I can’t find my sweater. . .” or whatever. Within 30 seconds of my coming into the room the “sweater” magically appeared – on the bed, under the bag, or on the floor of the closet. It became a joke as it occurred every time.

It wasn’t that something was lost – it was that she, or you or I, can’t see what is there when our minds are cluttered.

Intuition to Enlightenment

Intuition begins the path Home. At least it did for me.  Every individual is on a journey from being asleep to being awake. Each journey is unique where the circumstances of life continually reveal the next steps.

Like a treasure hunt, once the code for reading the map of life is discovered, all of the challenges become clues to the whole puzzle. And, as this treasure hunt unfolds, the treasure is available every moment, piling up the blessings that arise from being awake as the clues are understood.

Once bitten by the intuitive bug – the capacity to know without any doubt - the answer to a problem, the solution to a puzzle, the direction to take in a complex situation - there is no turning back. The inner genie has been seen. It may be ignored, but it cannot be denied. It’s being in the zone – like hitting the golf ball just right – the “ping” of hitting the tennis ball right where it needs to be.

Intuition is the mental ‘zone’ where harmony, insight, joy and clarity all come together. And even though we practice – practice – practice – it cannot be mastered – in can only be received. The first intuitive flash is to the spiritual seeker what watching the Olympics is to a budding competitive athlete. Once that moment of insight has occurred – we’re hooked – we’ve found the direction of life – the pearl of great price to be gained at any cost.

At first we are temped to just take the pearl and own it, master it as something we can possess. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to take out the pearl of intuitive wisdom whenever it was needed to get through a difficult situation? Like having a secret weapon to defend against the harshness of living.

But the true cost of the pearl of wisdom eventually reveals itself. Everything. Everything we ever thought we knew about ourselves, how life works, what we are alive for.

As it turns out, as the “everything” of life is gradually given up, “every thing” of life improves. Go figure!

Intuition leads the way to the Reality of life that is glorious freedom from want, worry, and woes. And, like the ferry that takes us to the other side of the river, once we’ve arrived, intuition is no longer necessary. The larger wholeness of life of which intuitive wisdom is a slice, has filled the space.

Are You OK?

We hear and say this phrase over and over again, especially here on the East Coast after Storm Sandy, but what are we really saying? 

Sometimes when the question is asked the answer is a superficial “everything is OK” in an attempt to relieve the anxiety of the questioner. Other times the questioner is overwhelmed when the answer comes back filled with troubles and losses that are unsolvable. Sometimes we “tune out” and ignore others rather than face the anxiety of not being able to help someone who is suffering,

In its most pure and universal form “Are You OK?” is an expression of love. Rather than a question, it is really a statement: “Even though it does not seem like it, all is well. We are with each other right now in this moment.” 

Love is a quality of being that is attentive. It is our capacity to listen in order to understand. 

Problems can arise with the question “Are You OK?” when it is translated into “How are you feeling?” or “What’s wrong?” Instead of a statement of assurance, it becomes anxious concern and an invitation to dwell in fear.

Even when we are frightened, the question, “Are You OK?” can be asked and answered with the awareness that one is reaching out to another with love and compassion.  Not necessarily with answers and action.

We don’t know what we will hear or what we will say. Beyond the thought that we “should” be able to help, have the answers, or know what to do, is the capacity to listen – to ourselves, to another and to Divine Inspiration. 

The truth may be that in that moment we do not know what to do or say or what action will be helpful. Knowing that we don’t know, and that we don’t need to know relieves the anxiety of thinking we “should” know. This allows love to listen. And if there is a helpful response beyond listening, it will become clear.

How can I be helpful?

There is a commonly heard adage that if you give someone a fish they will eat for a day and if you teach someone how to fish they will eat for the rest of their life. On the surface it seems intelligent and loving – provide tools and education then voila! A desperate situation is healed.

If we look a little closer we see the change from giving fish to teaching fishing as a paradigm shift within the “giver/teacher.” Yet, does the new paradigm go far enough? It still implies that one individual needs to do something to help another who nowhere in the story actually asks for help.  What if the “student” is not interested in learning to fish? What if they see the attempt to teach them to fish as humiliating and interfering?

All of a sudden a simple adage that has been accepted as wise puts us in another dilemma.  What does it mean to be truly helpful? Is it possible to ease the suffering of others?

Who is suffering here?

"We suffer from what we want and what we don't want; from what we think should be and should not be."

-Dr. Hora

The paradigm shift from giver to teacher is not enough as it is still based on what one individual wants for another. It is the suffering that sees others as suffering that needs to be healed.

When we find ourselves suffering from wanting the suffering situations in the world to change – we can focus on healing our own suffering. Instead of wanting the world to be the way we think it “should” be – we can turn our attention to “being the good we would like to see.” In Metapsychiatry we call this beholding. Seeing that in the broadest, infinite context everyone and everything is already all right – what we see with human eyes is all the ignorance blocking the view.

The enlightened first grade teacher who sees her students struggling with learning new skills does not see the struggling as a problem or an indication that there is something wrong with the child – she can see the beginning steps on the path of understanding taking place right before her eyes and she can appreciate the importance of the struggle that she is witnessing. She can then respond to what is needed to guide each student. That’s beholding.

We can continue to get better at “fishing” within our own lives in whatever form that may take. We can then be open to sharing the fruits of the “joy of fishing” with anyone who is interested.