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| Mony Dojeiji |
Four years ago, we were living through a period of suicide bombings. Fear gripped us as we witnessed the horrors in countries around the globe. The entire world was on edge, not knowing how to respond or even contain these acts.
A good friend sent me a private message then, asking:
“What is going wrong with the world, Mony?”
Not a loaded question, eh?! 😄
I’ve taken my original response to her, and expanded on it. The focus is around the idea of LABELS.
Of course we know that today, even as then, we were going through a deep transformation, confronting the ever-fundamental questions of who we are, what we believe about ourselves and others, and what kind of world we choose to live in. And with each cycle of change, we face our hidden biases, our deepest fears and prejudices, perhaps even our shame and guilt at the feelings that these events awaken in us. We go through this inner reckoning individually and collectively.
Our mind loves to separate, to divide, to create bundles and pieces of information. It does this because it needs order. And with order, comes the belief that it is in control. And in its quest for order, the mind creates labels:
Terrorist. Fanatic. Radical. Extremist. Zealot. Maniac.
Even as I’m writing these words, I feel the energy shift within me. I feel the characterizations that these words carry. I feel them feeding the separation between me and the person, dehumanizing them, making them into an object upon which I can thrust all of my judgments.
These labels, however, are artificial; inventions of a mind seeking to understand what is often un-understandable…not with our human mind anyways.
The more we hold on to these labels, the more we keep them in our collective consciousness.
The more attention we pay to them, the more of them we see.
The more that we believe that “those people” are incapable of change or growth, the more we keep them where they are, and look for any action to support what we believe.
We do this individually, and collectively.
But we can change those labels, because what’s a label? Nothing more than an idea, a thought, a perspective… And an idea can always be changed. It can always be replaced by another idea.
So, let’s consider that “extremist”…
What if I choose to see him as a fellow human being, a brother, who has chosen terribly, whose life journey has led him to such desperation and hopelessness that the only solution he saw was this terrible act?
Would that influence what I say and how I act? I believe it would…
And what if I believe that there is nothing random in this Universe? That it is, in fact, a Loving Universe? That Love is the only Truth, and what moves all things? What if I believe that this person is a spiritual being having a physical experience, as I am, as you are, as we all are? How do I know how his actions affect his soul journey, the highest within him? Who am I to judge that? How do I know the sacred agreements involved with others? How do I know what their soul journeys are all about? What they have agreed to do? I have no idea… but again, this is all based on my belief that there is nothing random in this Universe, and only Love exists.
If I didn’t believe this, I couldn’t possibly make sense of this world.
And because I believe that the outer world is a projection of my inner world, that what I see “out there” is showing me what is happening “in here” (in the inner universe of my mind, my heart, my beliefs, my memories)…then I must also look within me to whatever has brought this event into MY awareness. If I’m aware of it, then it’s my task to take responsibility for whatever my part in it is – conscious or, more likely, unconscious.
How could I possibly contribute to the creation of a terrorist or extremist?
By holding on to any belief that violence is justified:
That the means justify the ends. That there is a “just” cause. That sometimes the only way forward is through violence, even the threat of violence. That I have a right to take out my anger, frustration, hurt and helplessness on another. That violence is the only way I can be seen or heard, my cause taken seriously. That my violent thoughts towards another have no effect, if I don’t act on them.
With ALL of these beliefs do I contribute to the “extremist”. And whenever I see their actions, it just confirms what I already believe anyways.
And so in this cycle I remain. Until I am ready to stop it at its root. Within me. How?
I take every thought of violence and attack; every judgment and label; every emotion; every act I may have taken (known or unknown)… and I bring them in offering to the altar of Love. To the place where all is forgiven. Where I can lay down my shame, my pain, my guilt. Where all the errors in my thinking and perceptions can be corrected. Where my heart can be healed. Where I can be transformed, by Love. Where I can finally be at peace.
And in that peace, I can see more clearly. Understand in new ways. Look upon “the other” as my brother. See the light and awakening arising in him, in the same way that it is in me. See him changing in every moment, as I have, in every moment becoming more and more filled with wisdom, with light…and acting in consequence.
But I can only see that in another if I am able to see that in myself first.
Could this be the meaning of the teaching by Jesus: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
I do this work for every person I’m tempted to label and judge. And I stubbornly hold on to my vision, no matter what others choose to say or do.
There’s also a lot RIGHT with this world. There are so many people working from a consciousness of love, bringing that into the world, building the world we want to live in. It is happening now, and gaining momentum. That’s why all that was hidden needs to come to light. So that we can see it, and liberate it. We’re ready for it.
Hugs, my friend. Just keep on keeping on!
Love, always, 🙏💖
Mony
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