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In the presence of suffering and pain_Vision and Teaching.jpg [ 90.78 KiB | Viewed 3260 times ]
I was asked recently "Please tell me how to surrender when you have nothing left to surrender?"This question came from a man who has been struggling with extreme suffering and limitation. He practices the teachings of an anonymous recovery program, lives with the experiences of a bi-polar diagnosis, he has lost everything financially, he lives in abject poverty, filled with physical pain from a spine fused and distorted from years of roofing, a body overweight and bloated from a stomach growth. He has been told he has to wait for a hospital and Doctor who will accept his insurance to even look at the growth. Unable to work due to his disabilities, he scrapes by on what he can find. Some of his family members, some with financial means, choose to lecture him on his suffering "pull yourself up by your own bootstraps", rather than provide even the smallest portion of comfort and support - which leaves him feeling crushed and abandoned. Even still, he continues to look for a way through his suffering, spiritually.
Many people who never thought their lives would turn out with them hitting financial, physical, or emotional rock bottom are finding themselves in similar circumstances and wondering, "How will I get through this?"
It may seem like platitudes, yet I will share with you Dear Readers what has come to me to share in regards to what I have learned over the years through my own experiences of profound suffering, poverty, and limitation.Surrender: It is when we have been emptied, like a cup waiting to be filled, that our lives begin to change. The changes will be incremental at first. Gratitude helps bring them forth. Gratitude in the face of extreme suffering feels impossible, and yet if practiced can bring forth fruits once imagined impossible. Suffering: What you are going through is building a foundation for the future, rock solid in the experiences of going through the suffering and surviving the experiences with greater wholeness and inner strength.Suffering and Adversity: You are not your suffering. You are discovering what you are made of, who you are, the truth of who you are, in the face of adversity and suffering. Meaningful and profound insights are being awakened within.Suffering and The Dark Night of the Soul: Each of us called to do so, must go through our own version of suffering (dukka), also known as the dark night of the soul*, (which can last for months and years for some souls), and the suffering involved. Why? I do not know the answer to why's. What I do know is that by going through the experiences of suffering I endured, it has made me less fearful of life, and of surviving life whatever it shall bring forth to me. I have already lost everything in my life - if I lose it all again I know I will survive. Unlike those who have never suffered as I have, this fear has been taken from my heart and replaced with the trust that I am not alone, and that everything I go through is meaningful.Suffering and the Truth of Who I Am: I have come through adversity, extreme sufferings, limitations, and poverty and have come to know who I am, the truth of who I am in a new way. I have come to know my strength in, and with God. I have also found that I like who I am and how I AM has made me. As such I there is nothing to compare when I read or encounter those who have money, prestige, power, and all that such a life entails.The Karma of Wealth: I have found also that many with money and prestige are suffering, for their wealth and power cushions them from both the truth of who they are as embodied souls and sadly, from the reality of the sufferings of millions upon this planet whose collective resources they now 'own'. Theirs is a heavy karma to endure.The Way-Showers of Navigating the Path of Suffering and Pain: The Beloved Jesus and the Blessed Buddha:I would rather be poor, caring, kind, and wise, such as the Beloved Jesus or the Blessed Buddha were than have the wealth of a billionaire.
Those who have not walked the path of suffering cannot attain the wisdom and blessings which come forth through the experiences of suffering.
Beloved Jesus embodied path nor the Blessed Buddha's embodied path was one of a fine house, money in the bank, prestige, the latest must have trinket, a nice chariot, or a good job with benefits. Both their paths involved surrender, poverty and suffering, from which they brought forth to the world, the gifts of wisdom, enlightenment, compassion and love, for all the spiritual initiates who would surrender themselves to a similar path, surrendering themselves to the will of the One for them, not their own will.
The Blessed Buddha left a life of luxury and wealth in search of enlightenment and inner peace. Going Through the Experiences of Suffering: If you are experiencing suffering, then you are being called, as I was, to go through the ordeal(s) before you. At some point, your ego will stop fighting and surrender. A time will come during your ordeal(s), if you do not give up, in which you will learn the spiritual lessons meant for your enlightenment and wholeness, in the presence of the suffering and helplessness, stillness and eventually trust will be found and anchored within.Pray for help constantly. Journal. Find teachings which reflect your experiences. Keep a gratitude list,even if it is less than five things per day to be grateful for, write it down. Be wary of 'free market' spiritual practices and principles.
You will have a powerful story to tell and share in the future with others, a reality based tale of hope, born of the wisdom of enduring, and moving through the energies and states associated with suffering through the twofold path of surrender and trust.
"Trust that a way will be made for you. A way will be made through."Julie of Light Omegahttp://lightomega.org Dark Night of the Soul - St. John of the Cross Quotes by Beloved Julie - these are personal Teachings which I printed on a small card, many years ago. I carried the card with me for years as reminder in the darkest times that I will get through the experience(s) and that I was, and am not, alone. Lastly, I still have a tendency to align with the energies of anger when it comes to the suffering of others. Those with the ability to perceive these separated energies will be able to detect the frequencies in my writings.
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