Peace in the Heart
by Guru Rattana, Ph.D. - Issue #48, September 11, 2002
If we had not noticed it before, the events of 9/11 woke us up to the fact that something is wrong in the world. Something is seriously not working. How can people kill others and themselves and justify it in the name of God? Why is there plenty of money to bomb the terrorists in Afghanistan and no money to send Afghan children to school? How can the country change with kids begging on the streets instead of in the classroom? On and on.
Why?
Why do we have so little quality time for ourselves, our friends and our spiritual practice? Maybe our daily sadhana is the answer. Maybe if we were able to keep our experience of the Divine, instead of our fears and anger, in our minds we would have peace in the world. Maybe if we could open our hearts and feel Divine love pulse through our being, we would make different choices in our lives.
Many of us agree and then nothing changes. Why? We would rather spend more time connecting with Spirit and sharing good times with our family and friends, but the demanding work week that supports our life style and pays the bills doesn't leave much time or patience at the end of the day.
Structural Violence
So what has to change? The system has to change. Structural violence is built into our economic and political system. The global economic system perpetuates itself through violence. Violence keeps the economy going. Violence gives people jobs, and guess what? The system is not going to change itself. They system does not do sadhana. We can't wait for the system to change itself because it won't. We have proof of that. The system may even destroy itself, and we have proof of that too.
And guess what else? We are the system. We are it! To quote Pogo, "We have met the enemy. And it is us". Friends, we are the ones who have to create a new system, based on peace instead of war. This transformation is not going to just magically happen while we drive to work one morning. There is no magical Poof the Dragon who is going to save us from ourselves and the crazy world we live in. We have to transform ourselves and work together to build a just, equitable and peaceful world. This is what the Age of Aquarius is all about - individual responsibility and accountability, and collective cooperation.
Life is Short and Precious
9/11 taught us many things. It reminded us that life is short. We all die. We are all vulnerable at every moment. It taught us how precious every day is. 9/11 taught us to reach out and share love with others. Perhaps today is a good day to reach out and share a special feeling with someone you may have not had time to communicate with. But first, reach into your own heart. Make sure you are guided by a sincere desire to connect with another heart. Make sure there is no feeling of obligation, guilt, motivations of payoffs or hidden agendas. In other words, really connect within yourself with what it feels like to be true to yourself.
When we are authentically in our hearts, we can truly share love with others. We are able to synergize to create a heart-centered world. When we really join hearts, the illusion of our separation disappears. Sounds easy? Yes and no. We have been programmed to lie, to pretend, to act out of obligation, to beg and barter to get our needs met, and to make excuses to protect ourselves. We have to retrain ourselves to be honest with ourselves, to not betray our own truth, and to follow our own heart. We have to experience the feeling of being in integrity with our soul, and choose to follow the guidance that springs from these feelings.
We have to go deep to reach the place where no stories, shoulds and heartaches exist. We know we are at the doorway when we experience a heartfelt smile, a tender tear, and a sense of forgiveness and gratitude. How do we know we have arrived in our heart? There is no discussion in the heart. There is only a non-verbal experience of peace. Our mind and body can finally rest in this place of peace; and then what do we do once we find that place? Love that feeling and just keep on loving it!
Joined as one, heart to heart, we will bring peace to the world.
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