Witness the Destruction. Hold the Center. Breathe kindness. A Teaching from Manjushri

Greetings, dear friends, at this auspicious moment of Equinox and the Days of Awe.  My heart’s prayer is that we may recognize our many failures as citizens of this blessed earth and find our way to building communities fit to live in, even to flourish in!

                                    Witness the Destruction. Hold the Center. Breathe kindness.

Good morning, beloved Sir. I come to you this morning, so aware of the deep silence all around me, and such grief pouring in. Deep grief, without name or shape, followed by tears and trembling. I turn to you this beautiful fall morning, at the very hinge of the seasons, to ask for guidance and clarity. What is happening in our world? How can we be skillful, open-hearted, and calm, in all this turmoil and destruction, all this hate-filled language and intention?

Yes. You name the true pandemic, the contagious spread of fear and hate, for they are twins. There are many choices for a response, and certainly some are more skillful than others. Most aim at relieving the pressure, the discomfort, and the fear. Most of those attempt to do so by sending it “out” onto others, both the intimately near and the distant faceless ones, created by mind precisely for the purpose of carrying the shock and rage. And while an explosion of angry energy may give some short-term relief, its real consequence is to spread the virus of fear and rage.

Americans are spreading this terrified, raging, angry energy at an extraordinary rate, even for them. They are drowning in it, barely able to breathe. Fires burn and the hurricanes flood. Your homes and your landscapes are destroyed. Your elders languish in endless isolation, and your children long for school and their friends. The Covid virus spreads ever more relentlessly, bringing with it despair and death. And many mourn the death of the wise Justice, as the voice of the near archetypal figure of the Feminine has been stilled.

How could you not be drenched in grief?

Neither denial nor blame is helpful, though those two responses are closest at hand. Again, we recommend a different way: Cease judgment. Return to the deepest center within you, which you are able to access. Flood yourself with kindness as you witness such suffering and destruction. Nourish that center, so you are able to calm your outer self and become the compassionate witness. Listen, then, for the inner prompts, of what you might do, day by day, to halt the wild spread of the pandemic of fear.

Remember, there are literally millions of you, all around the world, deepening this practice. Awakened by the pandemic, hurricanes, and wild fires of the seething planet, and alerted to the emergency, more and more people come to powerful realizations about their reality. It is a profound moment of unimaginably complicated transformation.

The new ways of being human are emerging. Look, and you will see them- small and unobtrusive now, and gaining visibility everywhere.

Again we say: Witness the destruction. Hold the center. Breathe kindness.

 I bow in gratitude, and ask again for the support of all the Teachers and G

12 thoughts on “Witness the Destruction. Hold the Center. Breathe kindness. A Teaching from Manjushri

  1. Don’t be distracted by emotions like anger, envy, resentment. These just zap energy and waste time….Ruth Bader Ginsburg

  2. Thank you for these words and for this timely teaching. Joining with all of you to hold this center going forward in this perilous time.

    In gratitude,
    Sue

  3. Yes, breathe deep and feel the ugliness in all it’s forms and then if possible release it. Transform. Move to love. This is from Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee:
    “But for those whose hearts are open there is a seed of a new way to be, and this is what draws my attention: holding a connection between the worlds, the outer world of form and the inner world of spirit, bringing them back together in a dance of love.”

    1. thanks, Marnie, for that beautiful quote. That is indeed “the work,” to hold together form and Spirit, in our very depths. So good to encourage each other in this.

  4. Thank you so much Penny.
    I’ve been thinking about the center, the courage we must stir in ourselves to lovingly and fiercely defend our democracy.
    I hope you can ask this question and share any response.

  5. “And while an explosion of angry energy may give some short-term relief, its real consequence is to spread the virus of fear and rage.”

    Thank you for reminding to center, breathe and consider intention. I often rationalize an argumentative response or retort as a way to share my voice rather than opting to muzzle my response to “maintain civility.” It isn’t an either/or proposition when intent is honestly considered and the response is lovingly rendered.

  6. Thank you beyond what my words can hold for this wisdom medicine, Manjushri and Peggy.

    “ Return to the deepest center within you, which you are able to access. Flood yourself with kindness as you witness such suffering and destruction. Nourish that center, so you are able to calm your outer self and become the compassionate witness.”

    Amen.

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