You Are Not Alone
No estás sol@- por Tracy Cochran
La estación oscura está aquí en el hemisferio norte. Y tal vez esté oscuro para ti tanto por dentro como por fuera. Puedes sentirte sol@ o con dolor. Puedes temer al futuro. Puede ser un gran consuelo recordar que todos los seres, incluido el Buda, se enfrentaron a la oscuridad de lo desconocido. Dejó familia y hogar, maestros y amigos, todo lo que era familiar para sentarse en el bosque en la oscuridad. Esperando. Viendo sus estados mentales ir y venir. Sin saber lo que vendría.
En el calendario cristiano, este tiempo se llama Adviento. Adviento proviene de la palabra latina "adventus", que significa "venida". Es un momento de apertura a la oscuridad de lo desconocido, que en muchas tradiciones, incluido el budismo, es la definición misma de la fe. Resulta que la fe real es la voluntad de estar presente en lo que es en lugar de aferrarse a una historia con una conclusión fija. ¿Qué vendrá? ¡No sabemos! Pero, ¿y si nos enfrentamos a lo desconocido rodead@s de amig@s nobles? No solo amig@s reales que comparten tu deseo de una mayor plenitud y despertar (las palabras realmente no importan, deseamos una presencia más allá de las palabras). ¿Y si nos permitimos llamar a grandes y buenos seres para que nos acompañen? Pueden ser grandes seres conocidos o desconocidos, humanos o no humanos: Buda, Jesús, Tara, Totoro, una maravillosa secuoya.
No seas tímid@. Permítete imaginarte sentad@ bajo ese maravilloso árbol o trepando al regazo del Buda. Permítete orar pidiendo ayuda a Tara o Mary, e imagina cómo te sentirías estar abrazad@ por un gran amor. En medio de permitirnos sentir nutrid@s y acompañad@s de esta manera, se nos puede ocurrir que la realidad es vasta y está llena de fuerzas inteligentes. Se nos puede ocurrir que pasamos la mayor parte de nuestro tiempo imaginando que estamos sol@s ... o peor aún, completamente sol@s rodeados de fuerzas destructivas. Pero, ¿qué pasa si dejamos entrar la realidad de que también hay fuerzas benévolas?¿ Y si nos esperaran cosas maravillosas e inesperadas, más allá de nuestros sueños más locos?
Hay muchas formas de practicar cómo abrir la puerta a esta posibilidad. Sonríe un poco, no importa cómo te sientas. O prueba esto, un experimento del monje budista Matthieu Ricard: "Cada hora dedica diez segundos a desear felicidad a alguien. Es transformador".
Pero intenta llamar a tus nobles aliad@s: amig@s viv@s y amad@s maestr@s y también grandes seres. Es mucho más fácil enfrentarse a la oscuridad cuando recuerdas que no estás sol@. Y recuerda que puede que te aguarde una gran transformación. De verdad.
Aquí está C.S. Lewis: “Imagínate a ti mism@ como una casa viva. Dios viene a reconstruir esa casa. Al principio, quizás, puedas entender lo que está haciendo. Él está arreglando los desagües y arreglando las goteras del techo y así sucesivamente; tú sabías que era necesario realizar esos trabajos y, por lo tanto, no te sorprende. Pero ahora empieza a golpear la casa de forma que te duele muchísimo y no parece tener ningún sentido. ¿Qué diablos está haciendo? La explicación es que Él está construyendo una casa muy diferente a la que tú esperabas: está construyendo un ala nueva aquí, poniendo un piso adicional allí, subiendo torres, haciendo patios. Pensaste que te iban a convertir en una casita decente, pero Él está construyendo un palacio. Incluso Él tiene la intención de venir a vivir en él ".
Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te relacionas con la noción de expandir tu compañía más allá de lo que se puede ver y está vivo? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de un momento en el que pudiste pedir ayuda a seres grandes y buenos? ¿Qué te ayuda a darte cuenta de que tienes más ayuda de la que puedes ver?
Excerpted from here.
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you relate to the notion of expanding your company beyond the seen and the alive? Can you share a personal story of a time you were able to call on for help to great and good beings? What helps you be aware that you have more help than you can see?
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14 Past Reflections
On May 13, 2022 Debra wrote :
This is such an encouraging and generous article. I come back to read it periodically and upon the first reading I set up a reminder on my phone to bless someone every hour. It is a transformative practice.
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On Dec 18, 2021 Elaine wrote :
I love the phrase “noble friends†. That is a perfect way to describe the people who show up in surprising ways in time’s of great difficulty ( as well as fun times) . They are a lifeline emotionally , spiritually and aid in physical healing .
Needing help on a day to day basis for any length of time when you live alone is a much different than when you have the physical presence of another, or2,3,4 etc.
I liked the house building story . People in our world need concrete jobs for college graduates to make a living ( when they do not know someone as a connection into a company. Complex…. Keeping opening hearted and faith is an important part …. Reality of bill paying in the process is where the real balancing act exists…
Walking in faith…..
Needing help on a day to day basis for any length of time when you live alone is a much different than when you have the physical presence of another, or2,3,4 etc.
I liked the house building story . People in our world need concrete jobs for college graduates to make a living ( when they do not know someone as a connection into a company. Complex…. Keeping opening hearted and faith is an important part …. Reality of bill paying in the process is where the real balancing act exists…
Walking in faith…..
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On Dec 15, 2021 Lynda wrote :
When I lost my husband some years ago I examined the story I told myself about “the cold cruel world.†If “the story you tell is the life you bring forth†(Leslie Marmon Silko) I knew I needed to change my attitude about the world I faced alone, without my best friend. During my early transition time, I began to notice coincidences that bordered on miracles in my mind. With enough time and perspective, as I look back upon that disorienting period I realize that there were unseen energies creating opportunities for me to grow into my transformed existence, step by step, day by day. I wasn’t alone. And, there were my family and friends, “great and good beings†who helped me through the difficult times, feeding me—I had lost weight, loving me each step of the way, supporting my new belief that it is a “kind, caring world!â€
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On Dec 14, 2021 Martha Ross wrote :
It is immensely possible to Sit. To sit. To sit. To be alone with the spirit of God is a relief, if we choose to sit with it and embrace the solitude. Think of it as a Tesla moment: recharging for the trip now, and going forward. I loved this piece...thank you.
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On Dec 14, 2021 Annette wrote :
Gee..........I wonder if all the folks in Kentucky and elsewhere who've lost their homes, pets, stuff, and even family members to the tornadoes this past week can feel all this abundance of love coming from a great tree or noble others. I'm too jaded for this woo-woo stuff and prefer to deal with real life happenings as I pray for these heart-breaking humans who have lost so much. I'm outta here.
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On Dec 14, 2021 Bob Greeney wrote :
We try to understand our feelings with our minds. Perhaps we need to just feel - just be present in feeling and respond without so much mental intervention. It seems we favor thinking over feeling. But even these words are mental analysis. perhaps our communication of feelings needs more body language and natural sounds rather than mind mediated conventional speaking. What do you think? HaHa ...
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On Dec 14, 2021 David Doane wrote :
Rahul, I appreciate what you wrote here and remind us of. I'll read it again. I find it valuable to be aware of and reflect on. Thank you.
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On Dec 13, 2021 rahul wrote :
The ego is always more or less alone since it is the boundary we set up to define ourselves. The extent to which we feel alone-- or try to avoid feeling alone-- is a good indicator of how often we identify with our ego. Initially it seems that stepping out of this is a feat of imagination, yet we know that our 'togetherness' is a true fact at every level. The non-human cells outnumber the human ones on & in the thing I call 'my body' by 10-to-1. Every cubic meter of air contains 50 carbon molecules that have literally been the body of every single person alive on earth at this very moment. What was the body of all living beings enter my own body with each breath, and are in turn eventually touched by each breath of mine. When we consider the great beings like Jesus and the Buddha, what are they if not ones whose consciousness is wholly merged with a basic substrate of all consciousness itself? The great love or compassion that they are is also in us, even if we are only able to... [View Full Comment]
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On Dec 12, 2021 David Doane wrote :
I very much believe in life that is beyond the seen and the humanly alive. I believe Life is, and it manifests in a zillion different forms, living and not living, including human form. I am often aware that I live in an Infinite Ocean of Being that carries me and does to me, and I and the Ocean and all that is of it, seen and unseen, are thoroughly interconnected. I also believe (I don't know but deeply believe) that evolution and growth in and of Being and all that is in and of it is inexorable. Those beliefs help me be aware that I have more help than I can know or see. Sometimes that help gets called good luck. I also believe that sometimes the help doesn't feel like help though it is, and I think that because the help is for much bigger than just me.
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On Dec 10, 2021 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
Facing the unknown with an open mind and an open heart is exciting with a little terpedation and uncertainty of what will be unfolding. Here is the place for unflinching faith. When I place my self in the hands of the unkown and unseen noble forces with faith something will emerge that will heal my emotional scars and will make me whole.
Whenever I have felt cracks in my life I have placed myself in the forgiving and saving hands of the Divine Being by letting go of my ego-built house. It has not been easy to let go of my attachments and to let my heart open with the hope and faith in the advent, coming of the liberating hands of the Divine. The unshaken shraddha otr faith dispel
my self-created darkness and wakes me up to see the rays of Divine light.
What helps me wake up from my slumber of ignorance is faith or shraddha in the everpresent and never forsaking light of the Divinity within me. and all around me. It gets manifested when I become still and open to receive bless... [View Full Comment]