Loving Our Enemies

Whether one is religious or not, we have all heard the words from the Bible, "Love your enemy." The New Testament has been preaching this sentiment for a couple of millennia now. That's a very long time. Yet, we haven't really seemed to learn the lesson. I know
for myself, the nano-second after I heard that Donald Trump was going to plunge into the world of politics and make a bid for the White House, I jumped off the proverbial precipice into a free fall of seemingly never ending despair. Early on, somewhere deep down inside, I had a feeling that this guy was actually going to make it to the highest chair, in the highest office of our country. Much to my chagrin, I was right. Needless to say, it made me sick inside.

Sure, I have disagreed with politicians before, but never in my wildest dreams, did I consider becoming an expatriate, because of the person working as the so-called leader of the free world. Not even once!  Of course, that all changed in the wee hours of the morning on Election Night when I furiously typed on my laptop for information on Canadian immigration, only to find that a lot of other people had the same idea. The site had crashed due to the overwhelming inquiries. When I was eventually able to find the answers, I learned that I don't qualify for political asylum. I was stuck here. I guess I already knew that anyway, but you can't blame a girl for trying.

Well, now he's here and what have I done? Nothing but hate. I have hated every single second he's been in office. I have hated every single second before he was in office. Moreover, I have become addicted to the news. The news! Once my Spiritual Awakening button turned on, I washed my hands of the negativity that is spewed over the airwaves. I wanted nothing more to do with it, but lately I have plummeted into the depths of anxiety and the news has mirrored that energy. And now with modern day technology, where news is only a fingertip away on a smart phone, I find myself reaching for it constantly. It has been a leap into a form of addiction. This fixation I have been harboring doesn't do anyone any good, least of all me. So, it's time to get this monkey off my back.

But how? How do I create world peace, when I myself feel like the world inside me is being ripped into shreds at every turn? Maybe I should call a Buddhist monk for advice. Is there a hotline to the Dalai Lama available? Unlikely. Realistically, I don't need to go outside to find the answer, because the answer, as always, lies within.

The first step is always the same. It's not about taking giant leaps. It's about taking a single step towards the direction you want to go in. Today, I took my first step.

I have known from an intellectual perspective for a very long time, that I needed to feel compassion for this man and at times I have allowed myself to feel genuine compassion for a moment or two, but then I have spiraled back into the place of hatred. However, somewhere between shoving food in my mouth at lunch time and reading my book, something shifted.

I took a moment to pause and I asked myself the most important question that I have asked myself in a long while. If we remember that everything in our respective worlds is a mirror for us, then how do I mirror this misogynistic, racist, ego-maniacal man? After formulating this question, I almost laughed. It had become so clear to me. It had already been residing in the depths of my Soul, but now the answer rushed up to the surface, just waiting to be noticed. The A-HA moment was at the boiling over point. The answer was so clear and I chose not to see it until now. Here it is:

The more I send hate toward him, the more I wish ill-will towards him, the more time I spend resenting every news article I read, simply means the more I equaled him in behavior. Hate breeds hatred. I was no better than him.

It was a sad realization, to be sure.

Every thought I create on the negative spectrum creates more negativity. When the energy of hatred is pushed towards me and I push back, these two forces collide. Eventually, the pressure of these two energies gravitating towards one another will have to push upwards. As it does so, the biggest player in that hatred department will be the one that rises to the top.

The truth is, when I think of Donald Trump, I think of a wounded child begging for attention. My friend's 7-year-old said recently, that he just needs a hug. While some might cringe at the thought, instead of thinking of giving him a physical hug, this man needs a collective hug. When we stop and take a moment to breathe consciously, we realize that he is a Divine Being, just like we all are, he is One with us. When we hate him, we feed that energy and the energy of hatred rises in the collective, which is why he was elected in the first place. The more hatred we put out there, the more it pushes him to the forefront. On the other hand, when we love our enemies, then the energy of love rises to the surface. And let's face it, love is really where we want to be. It's who we really are to begin with.

It's not always easy. I am certainly not at the enlightened level of the Buddha, to be sure. That human ego is flowing pretty strongly in me. However, I have put on my love training wheels. I may not feel love for him as of yet, but I am sending him love and I do genuinely feel compassion for him. Like the rest of us, he is doing the best he can with the information he has.

Don't get me wrong, sending Mr. Trump love does not mean in any way, shape, or form, that I condone what he is doing. On the contrary, I choose to peacefully resist him and his followers, but at the same time, I can do it from the place of love instead of a place of revenge and that has a higher level of consciousness that is feeding into the Universe. As I do so, I actually feel the collective hug working within me.  My entire physical body has felt lighter today. I feel the energy racing through my cells. I feel serene—and that is certainly a good thing.

Moreover, I am reading David Hawkins book, Power vs. Force. In it, he discusses the various levels of conscious awareness ranging from 1-1000. While I am not exactly sure where I rate on his scale, let’s just presume for the time being that I am at least at 300, I read today that people radiating at this level counterbalance 90,000 people radiating at a lower level. That's ninety thousand people! People who radiate at even higher levels of consciousness, counterbalance others at a lower level at even higher numbers. The amount of people we affect increases exponentially as we move up the ladder of conscious awareness. That means it literally takes just one person to help change the world.  John Lennon was right. All we need is Love!

The Dalai Lama once said, "We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves." If we consider these words to be true (and I obviously do), then once we clean the internal thoughts inside our own mind, then in that moment, we raise the bar for the entire Universe.

...and so it is.

Thank you for reading and Namaste! (The Light in me recognizes the Light in you!)

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