Photo: A birdseye view overlooking the bay at sunset - Seattle, Washington (2018). Copyright SJPhotography.
One Love, One Heart, One Destiny
One love, one heart, one destiny.
I often find myself overwhelmed by current events, and wondering what to focus on and think about first. How do I transcend this mortal body, and bring love and compassion to those I cannot see, hear or hold? How do I make an impact and reach another human being with my intention and heart alone? There are so many people, places, and circumstances that I want to give my attention to yet I am overwhelmed by all of it, and the endless cruelty and senselessness of so much. I think about my ability to hold space for others and just sit with that action. I am stymied by the broader question of how have we forgotten our one love, our one heart, our one world, and our one destiny. How do we come back to knowing that we belong to each other – that we stand on the same planet – breathe the same air – drink the same water?
As much as I want to, I can’t wave a magic wand or make things better in an instant but I can relinquish my need to fix it and figure it all out. I can stand back and hold the situation, group, or person in my heart as a symbol of our shared love and being; as a mirrored reflection of myself. I can extend care and kindness to whomever I wish and to whatever place, community, animal, nation, or being no matter how far away. This is not always our first response or the most desired as we want something tangible to hold onto or something material to see or interact with. We think there is more power in the physical response in time and space. We strive to do something that matches the measure of how the world seems to exist in the physical realm, yet we might not be able to be in Syria or Turkey physically to help with the earthquake and those in pain. We can’t be in Ukraine to assist people in need, in pain, or in despair or stop the senseless violence and war. We can’t fix what is broken in the fearful minds of others and heal the wounds of hate, division, and injustice here in the U.S. But what we can do is bear witness and take notice, extend compassion and understanding, and send love, and more love.
Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.
The frustrating part about life is the chaos, uncertainty, and feelings of duality and separateness that pervades experience. The sense that I am here and you are over there. The world looks so big – a huge expanse of people, places, happenings, exquisite beauty, mystery, and uncertainty. The space of all that is external to me feels vast and seemingly beyond my control or ability to change. My mind reels at what is out there, and excites feelings and turmoil within me, creating stories and an endless stream of thoughts that take over and take me with it. Yet, what is inside me is just as vast and expansive – even more so. I close my eyes and look within and find an infinite expanse of emptiness. There is no end to my internal landscape. No boundaries. No limits. No wars or devastation. Nowhere to go or be here in this space. There is only vastness and peace. Quiet and calm. How can I bring this tranquility, this infinite potential and immensity to the external? How can I know the internal and external world of form in the same way? Albert Einstein explains that:
A human being is a part of the whole called by us ‘universe,’ a part limited in time and space. She experiences herself, her thoughts, and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of her consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
Meditations and prayer have been the practices to guide, bridge, and help us meet the need to share and extend love and compassion. It is our ability to move from sound to silence, from action to stillness, and let go of our limited external identity for the limitless internal space of love, belonging, and oneness.
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