Gloriousness and Wretchedness

When I read this nugget of wisdom from Pema Chodron’ pocket reference today I could not help but think of humanites present struggle to live within and make a relationship with (or split off from) forces of light and dark which exist in all of us.   The incidence of bi polar disorder has increased in latest years as more and more people are offered this diagnosis as a way of trying to make sense of their soul suffering and the past experiences of their lives as well as struggling to express the forces of their soul and spirit while recognising and breaking free of past conditioning patterns.  On this path, in my experience we go through highs and lows as we also integrate feelings of awe/gloriousness and despair/wretchedness.

This is beautifully expressed by someone who has navigated those parts of herself.  I hope it gives readers some insight and comfort.

Gloriousness and Wretchedness

Life is glorious, but life is also wretched.  It is both.  Appreciating the gloriousness inspires us, encourages us, cheers us up, gives us a bigger perspective, energises us.  We feel connected.  But if that’s all that’s happening, we get arrogant and start to look down on others, and there is a sense of making ourselves a big deal and being really serious about it, wanting it to be like that forever.  The gloriousness becomes tinged by craving and addiction.

On the other hand, wretchedness – life’s painful aspect – softens us up considerably.  Knowing pain is a very important ingredient of being there for another person.  When you are feeling a lot of grief, you can look right into somebody’s eyes because you feel you haven’t got anything to lose – you’re just there.  The wretchedness humbles us and softens us, but if we were only wretched, we would all just go down the tubes.  We’d be so depressed, discouraged and hopeless that we wouldn’t have enough energy to eat an apple.  Gloriousness and wretchedness need each other.  One inspires us, the other softens us up.  They go together.

 

(Disclaimer : if you have suffered abuse you will feel wretched as part of the painful emotional wounding and healing process.  You may, at times, not have the energy to eat an apple, because your energy may have been stolen by other’s hurt and projections and the wider lack of understanding and validation of true causes that bring bad feelings that can find no place and no recognition.  In this case you need support and validation to heal so that you can associate the wretchedness with those who passed it off onto you because they could not bear to feel it themselves.  Sometimes we are trapped in wretchedness for a number of years.  However as a result of feeling it we do navigate depths of the human experience others who are more fortunate do not.)