“The dingo took my baby!”
- Meryl Streep as Lindy Chamberlain in "A Cry in the Dark" Warner Brothers, 1988Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2K4 16:30:10 -0400
Sent to: GrassRootsReiki@yahoogroups.com
At 11:51 AM 8/30/2004, Lorraine wrote:
Pain By Reverend R Clark <clark@acceleration.net>
Hi. I have not asked for healing for some time but I am today asking for healing to be sent.
Someone sent me a message with links on pain relief.
- ROTW
- I didn't and here are some thoughts you might care to consider, and to qualify my answer to you here, I have chronic pain and Am validating your feelings, and pray for you to gain from what follows (and then release any "spin" on it for a particular outcome) and I also pray you don't feel in the least trivialized by my response here.
- In a nutshell... pain is inevitable, suffering I witness, is purely optional.
- It is a delicate matter speaking to folks that are suffering as you seem to be, so I won't <grin> much further. It seems that I can say anything I want with impunity if I put quotation marks around it and a citation of who said this bit o' wisdom underneath and this is how I choose to handle being compassionate with you at this time. The quotations and order the selections are presented in below, as always with me, are carefully chosen and are ones that resonate with and help me.
An Honest Being-With
Being with a friend in great pain is not easy. It makes us uncomfortable. We do not know what to do or what to say, and we worry about how to respond to what we hear. Our temptation is to say things that come more out of our own fear than out of our care for the person in pain. Sometimes we say things like “Well, you're doing a lot better than yesterday,” or “You will soon be your old self again,” or “I'm sure you will get over this.” But often we know that what we're saying is not true, and our friends know it too. We do not have to play games with each other. We can simply say: “I am your friend, I am happy to be with you.” We can say that in words or with touch or with loving silence. Sometimes it is good to say: “You don't have to talk. Just close your eyes. I am here with you, thinking of you, praying for you, loving you.”
- Henri J.M. Nouwen (1932 - 1996)
“You desire to know the art of living, my friend?
It is contained in one phrase: "Make use of suffering." ”
- Henri Frederic Amiel, philosopher and writer (1821-1881)“The planet is in fact one interwoven web of life. I must love my neighbor as I do myself, because my neighbor and myself are interwoven. If I hate my neighbor, the hatred will recoil upon me. If I treat my neighbor's pain and grief as foreign, I will end up suffering when my neighbor's pain and grief curdle into rage. But if I realize that in simple fact the walls between us are full of holes, I can reach through them in compassion and connection.”
- Rabbi Arthur Waskow“As some of you will evolve in your lives to be healers, let me remind you that there are some souls that do not wish to be healed. "You must be healed," is so often the message that is given with the healing. No, they must not be healed, only if they want to [be healthy]. And you are not the authority on that. Do not inflict your will. Just give Love. The soul will take that love and put it where it can best be used.”
- “Emmanuel’s Book: A Manual for Living Comfortably in the Cosmos” Rodegast, Pat and Stanton, Judith [Compiled by] Friend’s Press, 1985, p. 166.“A person who believes . . . that there is a whole of which one is part, and that in being a part, one is whole: such a person has no desire whatever, at any time, to play God. Only those who have denied their being yearn to play at it.”
- Ursula K. LeGuin“If our habitual conditioning is to overcome our pain, we will have a tendency to feel overwhelmed when things don't go the way we wish. We may even feel a need to "beat" another's pain. We will find it difficult to connect with them just where they are. We won't be able to touch them with love because if we want anything from somebody, even for them to be out of pain, they will be an object in our mind rather than the subject of our heart. If we can open to our own pain and explore our resistances and long-held aversions, there arises the possibility of touching another's pain with compassion, of meeting another as we meet ourselves with a bit more clarity and tenderness. We see in such instances how the work we do on ourselves is clearly of benefit to all sentient beings. Each person who works to open his heart touches the heart of us all. When we are no longer recreating the problem, we reaffirm the solution. We discover from day to day how the healing we do for ourselves is a healing for us all.”
- Stephen Levine, "Healing into Life and Death"“Everything that is manifest begins in the spirit: every evil that is manifest to us is there because we refused to conceive of causing it, or denied someone else the freedom to conceive of it. The way out, as hard as it may be to believe, is not by resisting further, by moving the furniture around, but by being willing to conceive of it - by loving it, in short. As we should have done in the first place. Unfortunately, most people with good intentions are trying to deny or eliminate what is already manifest. And many spiritual revivals are a deeper denial of the facts of our vibration level. What can we do about evil? A great deal, if our heads are clear. My catch-all phrase is: "I wouldn't deny ’that’ experience to the One Mind." Once you have cleared your head on the matter, then do whatever feels right to you. Evil occurs as a secondary reality, after you have withdrawn to a low vibration level. The seduction of evil is precisely in that it involves us in trying to get rid of it. "What am I doing on a level of consciousness where this is real?" That is the first question to ask yourself when you become aware of something ugly or evil or stupid.”
“When you learn to love hell, you will be in heaven.”- Thaddeus Golas, "The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment"
“Fear is a marvelous motivator. It is never a solution. It is always the cause of any discomfort, of any pain, of any illness.”
- Emmanuel’s Book II: The Choice for Love Rodegast, Pat and Stanton, Judith [Compiled by] Friend’s Press, 1989, p. 113.[I am asked] What is the use of suffering and pain?
[To which I respond] Pain reminds you that pain is not your truth. Suffering reminds you that suffering is not your reality. The moment you know that, you begin to transform the illusions of pain and suffering into the remembering of love and joy.
- Emmanuel’s Book II: The Choice for Love Rodegast, Pat and Stanton, Judith [Compiled by] Friend’s Press, 1989, p. 114.[I am asked] How do we deal with pain?
[To which I respond] Pain is given form and shape. Yet it is not a thing. It is an experience. As with all experiences, it can be held or released. But it must not be given shape and it must not be given space and it must not be given time. Rather than let it become a bulky, solidified block of consciousness labeled *pain,* perceive it as a message running along the nervous system. Let it continue its movement, its flow. When pain is perceived as solid, it becomes agony. When pain is perceived as movement, it lessens. Therefore, softens. Liquefy. Nothing in your human world needs to remain in concrete. As pain is released into movement, it transforms. You might start to deal with pain by picturing it as a solid piece of ice. Next envision bubbles of warmth being addressed to that block of ice until it begins to melt and the bubbles are allowed to go through it. Release all concept of what will result. Focus on the process taking place.
Pain does not exist except in history and anticipation.If one could remain in the moment of NOW, there would be sensation – without pain.
- Emmanuel’s Book II: The Choice for Love Rodegast, Pat and Stanton, Judith [Compiled by] Friend’s Press, 1989, p. 115.“Your suffering is the pain of holding onto that which no longer serves you.”
- Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)“Do not fight to maintain what you believe is the necessity of a physical capacity. The moment you truly release it, it returns to you whole. Release fear and love is there. Where love is present, all things are possible. I do not speak just metaphysically - I speak practically as well. Look to where fear lies and choose love. That is your work. That is how your body is serving you now.”
- Emmanuel’s Book II: The Choice for Love Rodegast, Pat and Stanton, Judith [Compiled by] Friend’s Press, 1989, p. 119.
I Truly Wish You, Well! One Love, R
“The human mind never framed an aphorism containing a more important truth than this one:
"All seeming misfortunes are blessings in disguise."There is but one qualification necessary to render this an aphorism of universal validity; namely, one must have performed [her or] his whole duty on the premises. That is to say, if (s)he does all that (s)he can, honestly and honorably, to avert a threatened calamity, (s)he will find that if (s)he yields not to discouragement or despair when the catastrophe comes, it will invariably prove to have been a blessing. Seeming calamities are often the result of one's having mistaken [her or] his calling; and it frequently happens that the best part of one's lifetime is spent in a vain search for the work which the Lord gave [them] to do. But if courage is not lost, and [one's] career is characterized by industry and integrity, (s)he is sure to find it at last. (S)He can then look back upon [her or] his past life and see cause to thank God for every seeming misfortune as fervently as for every season of prosperity; for (s)he will then realize that each has constituted a step in the pathway leading to [her or] his true sphere of usefulness.”
- Thomson Jay Hudson in "The Evolution of the Soul"“Whenever you meet miserable conditions or obstacles, you should immediately and effortlessly recognize them as good. The thought of liking problems should arise naturally, like the thought of liking ice cream or the thought of liking music. When a person who likes music very much hears music, the thought of liking it arises naturally, without any need to consider the reasons.”
- Lama Zopa Rinpoche“When unfortunate things happen in our lives there are two possible results. One possibility is mental unrest, anxiety, fear, doubt, frustration and eventually depression, and in the worst case, even suicide. That's one way. The other possibility is that because of that tragic experience you become more realistic, you become closer to reality. With the power of investigation, the tragic experience may make you stronger and increase your self-confidence and self-reliance.”
“The unfortunate event can be a source of inner strength.”- His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso (1935 - ) "The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom," 1995
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Copyright (c) 1998-2011 R. Clark - clark@acceleration.net .
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For Those Coping With Illness
“I envision all those who are suffering in the body with disease.
I see your light. I feel your pain and your sadness.
Now with the power of the universe you are free of this disease you are once again whole and alive.
If your spirit is meant to be set free then may you go with love and dance in the light of the heavens.
May you know Peace as never before.
I envision a spiral of white light enfolding you and lifting you up carrying you across the doorway to your paradise home.”“With arms outstretched you are welcomed and Loved.
If you are weary and wish to depart may your journey be swift and easy.
If you are clinging and wish to remain may you be made whole again.
All through the power of the white light of the universe.”
“Blessings unbounded...”
- Beliefnet member Lotuslady
