Being with suffering

It is not the wholesale eradication of suffering

that we must heroically achieve,

but the humble understanding

that suffering is inseparable from life.

In contemplating these words I birth an understanding that dark passages of pain and suffering humble me and bring me low, so that I can feel the vulnerability and fragility of life.

There is some kind of deep transformative power within this kind of experience for in facing the truth that life is impermanent, that suffering can render the skies so terribly dark, and that the suffering through and bearing with this darkness can reveal to us the exquisite power and awesome beauty of magnificent moments when light returns we become more capable of a deeper humanity and compassion.

In facing death and illness we discover the precious power of life, we learn how much tenderness, empathy and compassion mean to us, how they can soften and mellow our suffering making it more bearable.

In embracing our suffering with a gentle heart, in touching ourselves softly in love, we allow a space for suffering to effect its transformation.  In allowing the true bredth and depth of our feelings, painful and pleasant we extend our reach and our wholeness allowing all parts of us a place.

Within this experience is a huge ah ha, a releasing sigh that speaks of surrender to a wholeness which helps us to touch base with the fact that we are not separate but deeply connected to others through our suffering.  Humbled by our own suffering and the suffering of others with an open heart we find the ability to reach out beyond the defences of separateness and fear which keep us apart to find the love that unites us.

Love comes when we open our hearts in an unconditional acceptance of all of our feelings and allow the transformation that takes places within this process of dying and rebirth.  When we recognise through our suffering our interconnection with all beings and when we find in the heart of this place acceptance healing and peace after a long journey into the dark night.