Life Lessons
April 11, 2021
In her book, “Welcoming the Unwelcome”, Perma Chodron writes:
“Bodhichitta, the awakened heart, begins with the wish to be free from whatever gets in the way of our helping others. We long to be free from confused thoughts and habitual patterns that cover up our basic goodness, so that we can be less reactive, less fearful, and less stuck in our old ways.”
I have been taking Cancer as a wake-up call, an opportunity to look at where am I still stuck in my way of being, what else can I let go? What is the lesson the universe is giving me here? If this experience came to visit me so that I can learn something I need to learn, then what would that be?
It has been interesting to discover, that with all the tools I have acquired over the years, and with all my commitment to letting go, being non-judgmental, and being forgiveness, my ego still gets in the way at times. It still wants to be right, to make others wrong, and sometimes it just cannot help it but be judgmental in certain situations. At least I can see it, watch myself being a certain way, be with it, think about it, and work on letting go of whatever situation or reaction that comes up. It has been interesting for me to watch what it is to be a human being, being a human being. We are programed a certain way, and we bring with us everything we have learned or made up from the time we appeared in this world till now, and it all comes up automatically in certain situations. The trick is to watch, see, and get off it as quickly as possible. Cultivate love and compassion, so we can operate from the heart rather than our ego, or automatic reactivity. It seems it takes a lifetime to learn this. There is always another level to go through and learn, another challenge we did not experience before that brings up ego response and reactivity, another opportunity to learn and practice.
I am committed to be happy and to live from the heart. I am committed to have compassion for myself and others. I am committed to forgiveness for myself and others. And yet, at times, my own self gets in the way. Perhaps its not about being non-reactive at all, rather, it’s about the process of watching myself not being my commitment, and letting go, or forgiving as fast as possible.