“Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  ~Howard Thurman

“If not here, where else could we bring alive compassion, justice, and liberation.”  ~Jack Kornfield

This first quote by Howard Thurman, has been on my profile for a long time, i get so much inspiration from that quote.  This one from Jack Kornfield is a new addition.  Also very inspiring.  My last blog, some time ago was about Blackwater USA.  Very frightening injustice going on in the world as a result of that "company."  I really believe we all need to be aware of the injustices in the world, turning a blind eye or deaf ear, does not actually make it go away.  At the same time i believe we all need to be empowered to change the world.  Not to necessarily fight the injustice, but to birth the beautiful possibilities.  Pain, suffering, and fear is at the root of those numerous injustices.  So of course in many situations we need change, action, justice.  But on a cosmic scale, we need safety, security, love, acceptance, compassion.

While reading Three Cups of Tea, an absolutely inspiring book about one man, Greg Mortenson, and the way he was able to change the lives of tens of thousands of Pakistani children, through his work of building schools in Pakistan, I was absolutely overwhelmed.  He talks about during the time the Taliban came into Pakistan and the reason they were able to have such a stronghold in that country is because they were offering schools to children and parents were left with no other option as the government was failing them so.  I wonder how many times we have asked, how can we fight the Taliban, when we really should be asking why is the Taliban so successful?  I bet we could offer better schools to children in Pakistan, for alot less then the cost of this war.

We have so many opportunites to bring alive compassion, justice, and liberation in our world today.  Maybe you have an asshole boss, or pain the neck neighbor, or a bitching partner, we all have opportunities to birth love and compassion into the world.  How are you coming alive?

Inspiration from the introduction of Three Cups of Tea by David Oliver Relin:

So this is a confession: Rather than simply reporting on his progress, I want to see Greg Mortenson succeed.  I wish him success because he is fighting the war on terror the way I think it should be conducted.  Slamming over the so-called Karakoram "Highway" in his old Land Cruiser, taking great personal risks to seed the region that gave birth to the Taliban with schools, Mortenson goes to war with the root causes of terror every time he offers a student a balanced education, rather than attend an extremist madrassa.

If we Americans are to learn from our mistakes, from the flailing, ineffective way we, as a nation, conducted the war on terror after the attacks of 9/11, and from the way we have failed to make our case to the great moderate mass of peace-loving people at the heart of the Muslim world, we need to listen to Greg Mortenson.  I did, and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.

I had a really amazing experience this week, and I think, it just may have shown me what love really is.

I have had many experiences in my life that have given me a somewhat distorted view of love.  I somehow went along with society and culture and looked to marriage to define love.  I have witnessed many “bad” marriages, my parents, my friends, etc.  And hence was very confused about the relationship to love and marriage, especially in terms of exclusivity.  Somehow society fools us into thinking that the factor that makes marriage or partnership relationships different from all others, is the level of love.  Somehow deep love or “true love” is what you have with one other person that makes that relationship unique. 

So let me get back to my experience.  This week I was able to witness a wonderful meditation experience of Big Mind.  At one point during this experience I was taken with the looks on the faces of so many in that room.  The only way I could describe it, is that they were in love with the facilitator.  For those not familiar with Big Mind, it is an exercise that was created by Zen master Genpo Roshi who uses shifts in self-awareness and techniques of Voice Dialogue to help people awaken to the divine seed within, or enlightenment, or Christ consciousness, non-dual awakening, or whatever term you would like to give it. It is an incredible two-fold experience of psychological inquiry as well as non-dual transformation. 

Many of the participants were in that moment in love with the facilitator, I don’t mean they respected him, or honored him, though that was there too.  On many faces it was so clear to me that they were in love with him.  And that is when it hit me.  Maybe love is the space to see oneself completely, fully, wholly.

Of course that can happen in intimate, committed relationships.  Isn’t that what we all hope for?  But sometimes it doesn’t.  Life happens, people get hurt, they contract and they disconnect with parts of themselves.  And when even one in the partnership is disowning part of him/herself they won’t feel that connection with their partner, and they may not be open to reflecting the full image of their partner back to them.

I am not sure about you, but this leaves me so hopeful!  We can, and should hope to fall in love with every person we meet. We should not in any way pin all of that onto our partners.  When we are honoring all parts of ourselves we are open to honoring and reflecting all parts of others.  When we grasp our own vastness, we become one with all that is.

As far as marriage, let’s be clear about our expectations.  This will sound so unromantic, but why not treat it like a business relationship.  I mean there are many practical reasons for partnering up, and hopefully there can be years of wonderful, beautiful reflection of our whole selves.  But that element should not be what defines our relationship as different from all other relationships.  Maybe our living arrangement is what makes that relationship unique, or the fact that we have a family together, or that we will take care of each other in sickness.  Those are incredibly amazing commitments, that are worthy of honoring and celebrating. 

When our hope is to wake up each day and to literally fall in love with the world, wouldn’t it be incredible to share those experiences with our partner, rather than having to hide them out of fear of threatening the relationship.

I am on my way out into the world, ready to fall in love…

Who will you fall in love with today?