The Labels we Cast Upon Another

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

#monydojeiji #consciousness #walkingforpeace #love #judgment #labels #peace #innerworld #healing #transformation #onlyloveisreal #awakening #lightworkers #violence #lightandlove

Healing our Racism

Mony Dojeiji

Carl Jung famously said, “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.”

And what a time of awakening we are living through!

So much is being revealed, collectively and individually. So much pain awaiting transformation. So much division awaiting reconciliation.

As always, let it begin with me.

This is how I understand racism and injustice:

Racism is of the heart and mind. It is ideas, beliefs, thoughts, programs that convince us that we are somehow more than another, separate from another, with an inherent right to thrive and develop our full potential while denying those same basic rights and freedoms to another.

Injustice is the result of putting these beliefs into practice, creating systems that entrench the separation and feelings of entitlement and superiority.

Healing racism is inner work. Healing injustice is outer work.

Those of you who follow my writings know that I believe that the outer world is a projection of our inner world. We are either projecting our fears (in the form of denial, attack, racism) or expanding love (in the form of forgiveness, empathy, building equality).

So if I’m angry, resentful, entitled… what kind of just or equitable laws or systems am I going to build?

I was going to write about applying one of my favourite spiritual tools – Ho’oponopono – but instead felt called to approach the inner work from a different perspective today.

Peel back enough layers of hatred, and you will inevitably find pain. Guilt. Shame.

I’m not excusing any behaviours here, just trying to go beyond the surface. It’s easier to attack and hate than to look at the pain that keeps the hate alive; than to look at the shame of having attacked and hurt another; than to face the guilt that our individual and collective actions have caused.

Hearts divided into so many fragments cannot mend.

Souls obscured by so many layers cannot shine.

If acknowledging the shame and guilt and betraying the truth of who we are is hard, imagine how hard it is to consider forgiveness.

That we are forgiven. Because we are all children of a God Love.And a loving God would never punish a beloved child.

One of the most difficult phrases I ever read – and eventually understood – was that even Hitler went to heaven. That’s from “Conversations with God Book 1” by Neale Donald Walsch. Why? Because he too was a child of God. I encourage you to read this book for deeper context.

If we allow that thought – that we are forgiven – in, then that means we must somehow be worthy of forgiveness.

Which means we are somehow worthy of love.

“How can I accept this,” we reason, “with all the hatred that I have thought, felt, spoken and committed?”

Therein lies the greatest barrier to transformation, liberation and peace.

Because until we can accept forgiveness for the deep error in thinking we hold about who and what we are – and what we have done in consequence –, there is no room for love to enter. There’s no room for healing to take place. It’s easier to keep punishing ourselves for our errors than to accept forgiveness and love for them.

Unable to see ourselves as worthy of love, unable to accept forgiveness, we continue to perpetuate the attack, the hatred, the pain.

Unable to forgive ourselves, we cannot ask for forgiveness of another.

We cannot extend forgiveness to those who have erred, as we have.

And so in that cycle we remain, generation after generation. Until we finally say, “enough.”

This is the moment of healing we have all been waiting for. This is the love and light that’s been unleashed, and that’s bathing humanity at this time. This is the awakening we are being offered:

To finally liberate ourselves from the shackles of unworthiness,

And walk together into the promise of a world united in brotherhood, love and peace.

Let it begin with me.

Love, always 💖🙏
Mony

* * *
#monydojeiji #consciousness #walkingforpeace #healing #transformation #racism #healingourracism #peace #love #innerwork #freedom #forgiveness