Even though I still have my daughter's cold, it was a joy to be back in school, re-connecting with old friends and making new ones.
The day also started off well: I was reading (in the latest issue of Shambhala Sun) an article about our inner wounded child, written by Thich Nhat Hahn. He believes that if we feel anger rising within us, or some other destructive or constrictive emotion, we have only to also call forth mindfulness of that emotion. Mindfulness, he says, is not there to suppress or fight against the emotion, but "to recognize and take care of it -- like a big brother helping a younger brother... so the energy is recognized and embraced tenderly by the energy of mindfulness."
Because mindfulness and the troublesome emotion are both part of us, in embracing the emotion we are embracing nonduality; refusing to demonize parts of ourselves. In embracing the emotion, we are also embracing the wounded child from whom the emotion spills; "the energy of mindfulness is the salve that will recognize and heal the child within."
It's truly amazing how freeing these practices are when we take them to heart... It really helps me realize how much of the suffering in our lives is our own creation.
The beauty, though -- well, that's God's great gift to us...
1 comment:
Stunning image, that red sky and such still water. That sense of stillness in the image complements well your post, mindfulness itself being stilling.
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