Dear Being Energy Community,
It has been shocking to read some of the stories in the news again after spending five days in our retreat in Hawaii. We have been inhaling pristine pure air, eating organic foods, celebrating mother nature, and connecting deeply into our souls while in different parts of the world hundreds of innocent civilians were killed in an ongoing battle amongst ego-centered identification groups of fixed beliefs.
I couldn’t hold back my tears when reading about the sixteen civilians killed in Gaza while looking for refuge in the one place they presumed would remain safe, a United Nation’s school. The conflict between Israel and Palestine touches me deeply. The grief inflicted on both sides is so deep and long lasting, sometimes it seems it will never end.
I didn’t sleep for days after finding out about the three Israeli teens killed by a Hamas terrorist group. I thought about their families, the unbearable sorrow, and the unfairness of it all. In a second I was transported 30 years back to when I was living in Argentina under a dictatorship. I was also a teenager and had witnessed dead bodies in the streets. The Argentinian army took over the government and killed more than 30,000 innocent people labeled as “different” or “subversive.” College students and teachers were tortured and killed. For more than a decade I lived under fear.
Other news stories were about the conflicts in Syria and Turkey, the Sunni militants in Iraq, the violence in Honduras, and the Ukraine disaster of the Malaysia plane with 290 passengers. I put down the paper. I wanted to run and scream, how can I reconcile all the suffering and the contradictory feelings within me?
I did what I have been doing for years. I brought a hand to my heart and breathed; I closed my eyes, and stayed with the agitation that the news stirred in me. I kept breathing and connecting with the feelings until it got quiet inside, and somehow I was able to hold it all. I didn’t deny it, and “get busy” doing something else. I woke up to it.
How can waking up help to build a more peaceful world?
In our retreat in Hawaii we reflected on how we identified ourselves with our roles, with our economic and socio-political position in society. Instead of saying “I practice medicine,” we say, “I am a doctor.” Instead of saying, “I get to enjoy taking care of you,” we say, “I am YOUR mother.” We fall asleep in the safety of what a particular status may bring. We stop thinking clearly: we act on autopilot, believing that we are what we think, without questioning it.
On a larger scale, this ego-centered self-identification creates a psyche that contributes to building cults, extreme political parties, unbalanced religious factions and terrorism. When we succumb to self-identification and labels, we become sleepwalkers. When we stop questioning, we end up hating anyone that is different from us, anything that contradicts our unquestioned belief system. Cult leaders and dictators feel superior and tend to separate themselves and their groups from the rest. They behave in ways that create fear designed to dominate people, limiting individual freedoms of self-expression. These leaders like to intimidate and dominate through fear.
A path with heart, a place within ourselves where we can take a moment to really look at our actions, our self identifications, our fixed ideas and sit with them, is a path to a different state of consciousness.
Every second, every minute we can dedicate to sitting or moving in silence, meditating on our actions, questioning our belief system, is a step towards peace. We find, as we did in Hawaii, that we are much larger than our thoughts, than our self identified roles. We find that there is a web of energy or love that connects us all. And that is not just a catchphrase, it is scientifically proven.
We invite you to join us and practice:
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- 3 minutes of silence every day
- Recapitulate your day
- Look at each person you meet in the eyes. When someone is talking, put your cell phone down, and really connect with that person, even if it is for a few seconds.
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We don’t know how much time we have left. The only time we have is NOW. Use all of your energies to awaken and start building a more peaceful and interesting world.
In Being Energy, our prayers this week go to all people suffering to find relief in meditation and in silence,[separator top=”40″]
Aerin & Miles
