My very sweet teacher posted a link on his Facebook page about bullying. I read the article and was interested to see the web address having a .gov at the end. It must have been put out by a gov’t agency I guess. Which makes me feel good.
The country is a psychological, emotional mess at the moment. There’s a lot of fear. A lot of uncertainty. There’s just been catastrophe in Japan with an earthquake and the nuclear meltdowns. The Gulf of Mexico is still poisoned. It’s just gloomy gloomy.
What concerns me is the kind of energy coming from the extreme Right. There’s a lot of finger pointing and though the Conservative platform does have some valid points, the kind of rhetoric coming from the extreme Right is downright violent. It’s almost as though the fanaticism of terrorism has an echo or a resonance of some sort here. Like when I sing very loud and hit a certain note and my guitar chimes in without even being played.
I really want to keep my heart and my mind open but compared to what many people in the world have to live with on a day to day basis, there is just no ground to be as upset as they are. I would just ask for them to slow down a little and take some deep, healing breaths and let’s figure out what needs to happen.
I’m angry about what I see as bullying. Bullying one’s wife. Bullying one’s flock. Bullying one’s children. Everyone’s a reflection of God so I know the dangerous, bullying like behavior is an archetype that we all participate in unconsciously at least. I would bet that deep down a lot of my more fanatical countrymen are really good people. Maybe they just haven’t been given some of the tools that can bring wholeness and happiness to them. Crikey! I’ve been doing spiritual practice, and SEVA and fasting, and chanting for so long its just a part of me, and I don’t even know how to create that space sometimes. As my Irish mother would say, “there but for the grace of God go I”.
Maybe I’m wrong but perhaps bullying is unconscious modeling. Forcing someone to conform to how you want them to be. If you could have an authentic and compassionate, conscious appraisal of your need to change people or your need to change your world maybe you could be a model. You could actually be the change you want to see. Blaze a path. A conscious path, and people will follow. If not, you’d just be hammering on people until they submit. It’s the weaker path. Weaker because it’s less conscious. Less complete.
The remedy is space. Consciousness. Breath. Everything will be alright. Just breathe. For now just a little space in your mind. Depth in your breath. Moon in your throat. Softness in your heart.
