Topic
started: 12/10/2008
Have you ever been fearful in a situation that led to a new opportunity? Describe what that was like. How can you recognize the difference between something radically new wanting to emerge and a situation that is essentially harmful?
I have to say it is like the difference between the realization of one fear and an opening to all possibilities, which is to say having a heart open to love. One kind of love can be possessive and clinging, which is of course just attachment - but when our heart is open what won't we love? We may suffer a broken heart in some sense if a fear came true, but how much is an open heart worth?
Thanks for pointing out the importance of using the heart as a compass, and having the courage to stay open to its guidance. You say "...when our heart is open what won't we love?" Do you think its possible to ever have too open a heart? Is there a risk of losing our discrimination in the face of real danger?
True discrimination comes from a complete openness, but of course this openness is not a naive perspective based on emotion or sentimentality. The answer lies in the question, what is essentially harmful can only make sense in terms of what takes us away from our essential nature, away from our heart. Even when something is unfamiliar, there may be a recognition that what is emerging is an authentic expression of that essence. So perhaps it is more accurate to say that, in essence, our heart IS that openness - the experience of a heart opening is actually our feelings playing catchup and is secondary to the source of the movement.
Two years ago in Goa i was suddenly full of fear when i walked past people from east germany..this was very traumatic bringing to light fears deep from childhood and i would sense ancestral as my Mother is jewish. This event was a happening that surprised me as the fear was paralysing..all i could perceive was hostility and this created instance programmes to emerge about how i felt about myself.
This went on for a couple of weeks..then i met a man who was in the jungle with his spiritual master who was teaching him how to go beyond the fear of tigers and cobrahs! i returned to my banmboo hut that looked over the sea..and realised that the fear that was terrifying for my mind was really nothing when compared to the fear of possible death by a tiger..then from absolutely nowhere i could see that all my fear was purely memory and had absolutely nothing to do with this present moment..and this huge cloud suddendly dissolved into nowhere..and for sometime i experienced freedom. This crisis of fear really was a great teacher i am truly grateful. thank u for listening. Bodhipriya
That is a great story, Bodhipriya. It's very clear how you ultimately discovered, and chose, growth over staying in old, even intergenerational, conditioning, and were taught by the crisis. Thank you for sharing it!
Recently, I broke my ankle and being a new entrepreneur and alone, I couldn't make time to be sick nor could I afford not to be working.
It was really a stressful time and fearful time.
Yet, those few months of handicapped allowed me to see the beauty of those around me. Many gathered around me to help. I could have resisted due to pride or afraid to ask for help. But some friends pulled resources and time to assist me.
It was very healing emotionally and mentally. The gift of affirmation to me as a person is more influential than material rewards.
Now, with my cast off, I'm still here! I'm not any poorer but mentally and emotionally am richer from the love and sacrifices of those around me. I'm also learning that when we pull together what we have, there is so much more to give. And we are all richer either giving or receiving. And what I was fearful of and anxious about is not real at all.
T.A.N coffee
Marilyn, your experience makes me smile. What an outstanding experience. I imagine it might have taken some courage to ask for assistance, but I'm also guessing that your friends truly appreciated the opportunity to be of service. It's amazing how "pulling together, as you say, can give rise to something greater than the 'sum of the parts'.
A breakthrough requires a breakdown, and for most of us in this culture a breakdown is dreadfully frightening. Today, the psychological profession recognizes the difference between a "spiritual emergency" and a schizophrenic episode which can look alike to the untrained observer.
In my experience, what differentiates a psychotic episode from a spiritual emergency (the emergence of a more encompassing consciousness), is our willingness to open ourselves fully - and fearlessly - to the process.
Fear tightens the body and narrows perception. Surrendering to the experience allows an opening to what it has to offer. Surrendering to, rather than fighting, the current global - and personal - crises is the pathway to a personal and cultural breakthrough.
I think you're right on, Riversong. It's sobering to me to think of the scope of the challenge facing us when it comes to reframing our circumstances to discover the opportunity within the crisis.
However, as you say, a breakthrough requires a breakdown, at least to some degree, and it certainly appears that we're moving headlong towards one. How easy for any and all of us to give in to paralyzing fear...and what a blessing to be able to "open ourselves fully - and fearlessly - to the process".
I've always appreciated the saying "the mystic swims in the waters of unconscious while the psychotic sinks". Surrendering, staying present, and recognizing that what is coming apart is not our true selves, but the trappings of our conditioned selves, seem important parts of the equation to help us swim as we move further into these uncharted waters of flux.
Ultimately, in surrendering, we're trusting in something greater. And the miracle certainly seems to be that as we do so we're not abandoned to chaos but indeed guided by our deeper nature. How opposite this is to what we fear...and how critical it is to the "personal and cultural breakthrough" we seek.
How do we cultivate critical thinking and a sense of discrimination when we're faced with so many voices, so many options competing for our attention and allegiance? How does one tell danger from opportunity?
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