My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all.
I was very happy to see so many known and unknown love warriors at the Kindness Temple. It felt like a concentrated doses of soul force and the circle of sharing evolved accordingly. I felt compelled to share a story about the Awareness of the Love of Our Ancestors.
I chose to commute from Memphis to Atlanta in a Greyhound bus. As I was seated, I start feeling a great sense of appreciation. The gentle kind warm voice of the driver who was giving us all kind of instructions and information to have a nice and safe trip: from the location of the bathroom to WiFi, from security tips to consideration to our fellow passengers.I sensed something genuinely beautiful in the voice of the driver: It was a joyous and secure tone. It wasn't a play-it-again-message but an authentic greeting that facilitated a welcoming atmosphere.
The driver was a woman. All of the sudden, I was aware of the thousands of women who have been the backbone of many social movements: the Emma Goldman, the Rosa Parks, the Dolores Huerta, the Krishnammal of the Planet. This is what Gandhi had to say about the Feminine Divine:
"I learnt the lesson of nonviolence from my wife, when I tried to bend her to my will. Her determined resistance to my will, on the one hand, and her quiet submission to the suffering my stupidity involved, on the other, ultimately made me ashamed of myself and cured me of my stupidity... in the end, she became my teacher in nonviolence."
“Woman is the incarnation of ahimsa. Ahimsa means infinite love, which again means infinite capacity for suffering.”
“Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?”
“A woman’s intuition has often proved truer than man’s arrogant assumption of superior knowledge.”
“I have mentally become a woman in order to steal into her heart.”
“To call women the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman… If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior… If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman.”
As I was connecting deeply with the inner Feminine Divine, a rush of soulforce ran through my veins and my heart couldn't stop to celebrate: the driver who was gently driving the bus was not only a woman, she also had black skin. Something flowed through me in that invaluable moment:
from Memphis to Albany to Birmingham to Montgomery to Atlanta...
the echoes of the South
soothe and warm the soul
with the balm of courage
but still fierce winds, tornadoes and rough roads
need to be challenged
the Sun and the Moon
will continue to shine...
How much unconditional love and courage from our ancestors had to flow to reach this awareness? How many centuries for this moment to happen? The satyagrahis in India had to made an ocular demonstration with a nonviolent resistance for decades. What was the impact in a little kid in Atlanta, named Martin or M.L., caused by Gandhi and that peace army when they were leading an independence movement in the other side of the Planet?
I was aware of the slow and steady (r)evolution and the infinite love and sacrifice of our ancestors. While we are faraway from living in a post-racial society, we have walked enough to see this woman moving from the back of the bus to the driver seat.
May all become compassionate, courageous and wise.
Pancho
On Nov 15, 2010 Pancho wrote :
My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all.
I chose to commute from Memphis to Atlanta in a Greyhound bus. As I was seated, I start feeling a great sense of appreciation. The gentle kind warm voice of the driver who was giving us all kind of instructions and information to have a nice and safe trip: from the location of the bathroom to WiFi, from security tips to consideration to our fellow passengers.I sensed something genuinely beautiful in the voice of the driver: It was a joyous and secure tone. It wasn't a play-it-again-message but an authentic greeting that facilitated a welcoming atmosphere.
The driver was a woman. All of the sudden, I was aware of the thousands of women who have been the backbone of many social movements: the Emma Goldman, the Rosa Parks, the Dolores Huerta, the Krishnammal of the Planet. This is what Gandhi had to say about the Feminine Divine:
“Woman is the incarnation of ahimsa. Ahimsa means infinite love, which again means infinite capacity for suffering.”
“Who can make a more effective appeal to the heart than woman?”
“A woman’s intuition has often proved truer than man’s arrogant assumption of superior knowledge.”
“I have mentally become a woman in order to steal into her heart.”
“To call women the weaker sex is a libel; it is man’s injustice to woman… If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man’s superior… If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman.”
As I was connecting deeply with the inner Feminine Divine, a rush of soulforce ran through my veins and my heart couldn't stop to celebrate: the driver who was gently driving the bus was not only a woman, she also had black skin. Something flowed through me in that invaluable moment:
the echoes of the South
soothe and warm the soul
with the balm of courage
but still fierce winds, tornadoes and rough roads
need to be challenged
the Sun and the Moon
will continue to shine...
Pancho