The time has come for us all living through uncertain times to give peace a chance and clear the path for hope and happiness
There are two schools of thought about how we ought to be in life. One, be aggressive and strike first before somebody attacks you. Two, be generous and keep giving; be kind and forgiving. The first option has definitely been very popular, and it’s dominated human thought in society for many hundreds of years, if not thousands. It’s all to do with the survival of the fittest: you’ve got to be tough to be successful; you better look out at every turn for trouble, guarding against people who want to take advantage of you. In fact, just keep your barriers well in position.
The second option “turn the other cheek” is based on a Christian doctrine generated from Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, recommended by saintly people. But a lot of them [saints] seem to come to a not-so-happy end―so is this option a viable proposition?
Motivation by Kindness
It’s not just a philosophy. It is a concrete idea that if you find kindness in your heart and let yourself be motivated by that, allowing that to manifest in your world, then you’ll be a better person. It’s the same kind of principle that says, if you’re angry with somebody and if you can’t forgive them for something then you hurt yourself far more than you hurt the other person.
You are the one that carries that great emotional knot of hurt inside yourself and for your own sake, you have to let go. Even letting go of the things you have a justified right to feel bad about is important for your own inner peace.
Or, Rise Above?
And so it is, I suppose with this whole idea that if you do your best, if you give your best, think the best of others, then somehow it will bring out the best in them. It is what happens, and it is an important thing to be aware of now particularly because so much seems to be growing so intense in our lives―so many challenges seem to be arising and there are so many difficult choices we seem to be facing all the time.
Choices like “do I over-dramatise this” or “do I find the fault with it” and “do I get on my high horse and allow myself to rage against unfortunate circumstances”―or complain, fight battles, the list goes on. Or, do I somehow just rise above it all?
Which is not to say that if there are injustices, they shouldn’t be addressed. Or that imbalances shouldn’t be redressed. Of course they should. Of course you’ve got to function. And of course part of functioning in the daily world is part of being aware that there are some battles you just can’t walk away from. But even battles that you have to be fighting, you can fight with kindness and you can fight with gentleness and some sensitivity to the person who’s on the other end (who probably doesn’t want to fight any more than you do).
That’s the most important thing to be aware of now. Where it seems we’re up against antagonism or conflict or a contentious issue, what you’re actually up against is somebody else’s fear. Where you can bring pleasantness to a situation that seems relatively unpleasant, you can actually bring down a barrier that looks as if it’s impenetrable.
Divine Forces at our Disposal
The forces you do have at your disposal now are charm, gentleness, sensitivity and kindness. They are the forces of the Divine Feminine. Bringing them into play can be a primary channel of change in our world. We can draw upon this to our advantage in the backdrop of the world emotional climate at the moment and the collective need of humanity for balance and harmony.
It’s the Zen “way of peace” and it enables us to bring forth what might seem like almost super-human qualities. They come from within ourselves, because our true selves are our god-like selves, transcendent and human at once―so “super” and “human”.
The time has come for us all living through uncertain times and seeming world chaos to just give it a go or “give peace a chance!” Let there be light, let there be hope, let there be happiness. Let there at least be an attempt to bring all of that into our individual unique personal world―and you would be amazed by the results!
Thirty years in her own practice and teaching meditation now for more than 25 years in Ireland, Susan Ni Rahilly’s Hatha Yoga teaching is inspired by Zen.