Repairing the Web
By Therèse Tappouni
I write in the aftermath of a memorial service for a thirty seven year old. A
friend of my son’s who enlivened our home for years, his abilities were
legendary, yet it was in those gathered to pay tribute to his brilliance, his
humor, his quirky nature and his steadfast friendship, that we saw his true
gift. A web of friends ranging from thirty-something to seventy-something,
shared his impact on their lives, and their memories were vibrant with detail
and laughter. His energetic being was resurrected through the joys and sorrows
of relationship.
It is apparent that the most important values in my life revolve around
relationships: to my beloved; to children; to friends; to students and readers;
to my community; to my country; to the world and the planet; and to God. The
approach to each of these is, surprisingly, the same — a sense of the oneness of
everything, and a deep frustration with the world of us and them. My favorite
poet, Mary Oliver, has a wonderful poem titled “When Death Comes.” In it, she
says:
When it’s over, I don’t want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don’t want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument
I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.
My young friend had made us laugh and he had made us argue. He was fully
present — not just visiting. He loved to debate, and frequently pricked the
older generation to get a reaction followed by a long, and sometimes heated,
discussion He was “full of argument” and we could not ignore that, but we were
better for having had the conversation, and he had a way of disarming any
negative emotions. I don’t think he went to his death with too many arguments
unresolved.
We are in the midst of a political season where being “up” and “knocking out”
the other is the name of the game. Finding differences and exploiting perceived
weaknesses is magnified by the spotlight of gender and race. “Is she tough
enough?... Does she show her softer side?... Does he appeal to the desires of
black Americans?... Can he throw a punch?.. Are they consistent?” Consistency is
an important and outdated political issue, especially in a world that moves with
the
speed of light. When did changing one’s mind become a weakness?
Some of us know that learning is a lifetime vocation, and debating is an honored
and nearly lost art. We will frequently find, in listening to others, that we
can modify our own opinions. Lost in the rhetoric of the press, and their worry
over who is naughty and who is nice, is the dire condition of the poor, our
democracy, and
Mother Earth. The questions and sparring are meant to separate, not to
create relationship. No less than video games, sporting events and corporate
greed, the political process teaches us competition instead of cooperation.
There are solutions to this dilemma. The first step is to meditate on the
energetic connections of all things. There are many of us who have done this for
a long time, but in the mainstream of consciousness, meditation practice was
considered too far out.
However, we have a new ally — science! In the latest information on stress and
disease, doctors report that only one thing is consistently successful at
relieving stress and lowering disease-causing cortisol levels, and that is
meditation.
Conscious meditation, even if undertaken only as a stress reducer, opens even
the narrowest mind to the miniscule and the huge nature of the Universe — the
microcosm and the macrocosm. Truth slides in when the conscious judging mind is
moved out of the way, even for a short period of time on a daily basis.
The second practice that opens an individual to the flow of love is gratitude.
Being grateful, consciously, is as easy as a two-minute exercise when you wake
up in the morning. Before you think of anything else, think of one or two things
you are grateful for — even if it is only that you woke up!
As you expand your morning gratitude session — and you will since it makes you
feel good, and that’s a strong motivation to continue a practice — think of a
person or animal you love, or a place that warms your heart, and put your
attention there.
Anytime during the day that you are stressed or angry, going back to that moment
in the morning, seeing the animal, person or place, can replace your negative
feelings with peace.
When you are ready, visualizing light and blessing onto those who are not on
your list of favorite things, will begin the important work of reconciliation of
all beings in the web of life.
In my workshops, people are amazed at the healing they experience when they do
this type of visualization. Freeing up all of that energy, previously caught in
the glue of judgment, leads to a lightness of being that evokes joy.
All of us are in the web of life, a glittering, gauzy, gorgeous creation we are
privileged to belong to. One’s whole life is dedicated to what the great
religions have struggled to teach and great societies have failed to practice.
In the elegant words of poet
John Masefield, in a 1915 sonnet:
There is no God, but we, who breathe the air,
Are God ourselves and touch God everywhere.
In other words, all is God. Knowing this, may each of us touch the air with
love and gratitude, relating to all others who crave connection through the
beautiful web of compassion.
Therèse Tappouni is the author of a recently-released book titled “The
Promise: Revealing the Purpose of Your Soul,” available in all bookstores, on
www.Amazon.com and
www.IsisInstitute.org.
She has also recorded a visualization and meditation CD titled “The Promise:
Walking Your Path of Truth,” available at the website. She is co-founder of ISIS
Institute, a certified medical and clinical hypnotherapist, and writing teacher.
Return to the
May/June
Index page