Marshall B. Rosenberg, from Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life

Believing that it is our nature to enjoy giving and receiving in a compassionate manner, I have been preoccupied most of my life with two questions. What happens to disconnect us from our compassionate nature, leading us to behave violently and exploitatively? And conversely, what allows some people to stay connected to their compassionate nature under even the most trying circumstances?

My preoccupation with these questions began in childhood, around the summer of 1943, when our family moved to Detroit, Michigan. The second week after we arrived, a race war erupted over an incident at a public park. More than forty people were killed in the next few days. Our neighborhood was situated in the center of the violence, and we spent three days locked in the house. (more…)

healingarts | March 29, 2005 |

Jack Kornfield, from The Art of Forgiveness, Lovingkindness, and Peace

You hold in your hand an invitation: To remember the transforming power of forgiveness and lovingkindness. To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart peace is possible.

The teachings in this book contain age-old understandings about love. They give simple and direct practices to help cultivate its qualities in your own heart. This wisdom is essential for all who live in modern times.

The words of the Buddha offer this truth: Hatred never ceases by hatred But by love alone is healed. This is the ancient and eternal law.

Often we find ourselves in conflicts that unsettle our peace of mind. We face difficult situations, and our problems can feel insurmountable. Pain, anger, and fear can arise in ourselves, in families, in business, in communities, and between nations.

We would like to find a way out of the suffering, Even in the worst situations, the heart can be free. (more…)

healingarts | March 28, 2005 |

Kaethe Weingarten | Common Shock: Witnessing Violence Every Day, How We Are Harmed, How We Can Heal

The other day I took my friend’s daughter, age seven, to the park. While I was pushing her on the swing, a father smacked his small son in the face. Turning away from this man and little boy, I saw my young friend, Anna, riveted with attention to the same scene.

Within a few pushes Anna began to kick her feet to slow herself down, and soon she was able to reach her feet to the ground, where she scuffed her shoes, the better to stop. Turning her head toward me, she said matter-of-factly, “I don’t want to stay here anymore. Can we go home?”

Had I been bending down to remove a leaf off my leg, had I been chatting with the woman pushing her daughter on the swing next to ours, had I even been yawning, eyes temporarily closed, I might easily have missed what Anna saw. The little boy had not made one peep, so no sound from him would have returned my gaze to the sandbox where he was playing.
(more…)

healingarts | March 26, 2005 |

Mike George |Discover Inner Peace

The movement of our spirit in the world is like a beautifully choreographed dance. The possibilities for finding new steps to match the changing tempo of the music are endless, but our spirit—the core of the self—remains changeless, whatever the mood or pace of the music.

Our bodies are incidental to our identity, which is why the modern cults of beauty and style should be treated with scepticism. Neither do the various roles we play in life, nor the chance circumstances that befall us, define our essence. We are, quite simply, spirit, and recognizing this will lead us to question certain basic misconceptions we might have about our relationship with other people, with time, with change, and with all the world’s phenomena as perceived by our senses. An understanding of spirit also brings us to call into question the faculty of reason, which in the Western world has been elevated by the scientific empirical tradition far above its proper status, and the validity of the emotions, which serve only the ego.

If we look inside ourselves, we will rediscover the reality of spirit, and if we take this self-understanding as our compass in life, we will learn to live more creatively, more lovingly, and more peacefully. We will have faith in our institutions and be able always to act confidently and with a clear conscience, in the knowledge of our accumulating spiritual wealth.
(more…)

healingarts | March 25, 2005 |

Pema Chodron | Start Where You Are: A Guide to Compassionate Living

If we want to communicate and we have a strong aspiration to help others — on the level of social action, on the level of our family, at work in our community, or we just want to be there for people when they need us — then sooner or later we’re going to experience the big squeeze. Our ideals and the reality of what’s really happening don’t match. We feel as if we’re between the fingers of a big giant who is squeezing us. We find ourselves between a rock and a hard place. . . .

There’s a discrepancy between your inspiration and the situation as it presents itself, the immediacy of the situation. It’s the rub between those two things — the squeeze between reality and vision — that causes you to grow up, to wake up to be 100 percent decent, alive, and compassionate. (more…)

healingarts | March 24, 2005 |

Riane Eisler | The Power of Partnership: Seven Relationships That Will Change Your Life

Twenty-five years ago, I stood at a turning point. I had to rethink everything about my life. I was the single mother of two children, working as a family attorney, doing research, writing, lecturing, looking for the life companion I yearned for, grieving over the death of both my parents, not getting enough sleep, not paying attention to what I ate, pushing myself until I nearly collapsed. I became so ill that at times I thought I might die. When I walked, my heart pounded and my breath got so short I had to stop. I hurt everywhere, so much that I sometimes cried. I finally realized I couldn’t go on this way —I had to make major changes in my life.

I began with simple things. I stopped taking all the drugs my doctors prescribed and instead radically changed my diet. I stopped eating the rich foods and pastries of my Viennese childhood: no more apple strudel and Sacher torte, more vegetables and fruits. I realized that I carried a great deal of pain that I had to process if I was going to heal. I began to meditate. I found a wonderful therapist. I became more accepting of myself and found new joy in my relations with others, particularly those closest to me. (more…)

healingarts | March 23, 2005 |

Pema Chodron | Comfortable With Uncertainty

Being able to lighten up is the key to feeling at home with your body, mind, and emotions, to feeling worthy to live on this planet. For example, you can hear the slogan ‘Always maintain only a joyful mind’ and start beating yourself over the head for never being joyful. That kind of witness is a bit heavy.

This earnestness, this seriousness about everything on our lives-including practice-this goal-oriented, we’re going-to-do-it-or-else attitude, is the world’s greatest killjoy. There’s no sense of appreciation because we’re so solemn about everything. In contrast, a joyful mind is very ordinary and relaxed. So lighten up. Don’t make such a big deal. (more…)

healingarts | March 21, 2005 |

A quote from “The Alchemy of Healing” by Edward Whitmont:

“In the transformational context, healing aims at the restoration of individual integrity, vibrancy and at-one-ness with the Self, akin to the alchemist’s idea of making or refining ‘gold’. Of course, this includes an enhancement of vital health and a sense of wellbeing. But a mere removal of symptoms or discomfort does not constitute genuine healing.”

healingarts | March 15, 2005 |