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More
from and about
Christina Feldman
(biographical info at bottom of page) |
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You
can pursue the ephemeral pleasures of fame, money, security,
and recognition and see the consequences of your pursuit in
disappointment, anxiety, and fear of failure. Compassion invites
you to aspire to an awakened heart, to trust in its value
and be committed to its realization. |
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Anger is a powerful emotional
energy that constantly seeks an outlet. The
tension that
surrounds anger is sometimes so volatile and unendurable that
catharsis appears to be the only relief. Accusations and abuse
directed at
another become a means of relieving ourselves of the pain
of our own anger. We insist on being heard, on making our point, yet in doing so we
create
an even deeper pain--the pain of separation and division. . . . It
takes
remarkable patience and compassion to pause before words of anger
are
hurled at another. At times this pause is born of the wisdom
that recognizes
that the only point we make in the impulsive
expression of anger is that we
may be a person to fear and avoid.
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What difference would it make in your life
if you engaged the world with a conscious commitment to end sorrow or pain
wherever you meet it? What difference would it make to wake in the morning and
greet your family, the stranger beside you on the bus, the troublesome
colleague, with the intention to listen to them wholeheartedly and be present
for them? Compassion doesn’t always call for grand or heroic gestures.
It asks you to find in your heart the simple but profound willingness to be
present, with a commitment to end sorrow and contribute to the well-being and
ease of all beings.
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Sadness is the
ground in which love and compassion grow.
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We
may dream of a time when we can lie down beneath the night sky and
do nothing but be present in its vastness with total attention.
But our dreams are too often sabotaged by the busyness generated
by anxiety. We seek evidence of our worth through what we produce,
become, and surround ourselves with. Boredom has come to be
regarded as one of our greatest enemies and we flee from it by
generating endless complexity and busyness. Boredom may be no more
than a surrender of sensitivity, yet, rather than turning our
hearts and minds to rediscover that lost sensitivity, we thirst
for even more exciting experiences, drama, and intensity. . . When
alienated from inner vitality we mistake intensity for
wakefulness.
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The human story is both personal and universal.
Our personal experiences
of pain and joy, grief and despair, may be unique to each of us in
the forms
they take; yet our capacity to feel grief, fear, loneliness, and
rage, as well as
delight, intimacy, joy, and ease, are our common bonds as human
beings. |
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Pleasure
and happiness are too often equated with being the same;
in reality they are very different. Pleasure comes. It also goes.
It is
the flavor and content of many of the impressions we encounter in
our lives. Happiness has not so much to do with the content or
impressions of our experiences; but with our capacity to find
balance
and peace amid the myriad impressions of our lives. Treasuring
happiness and freedom, we learn to live our lives with openness
and serenity. |
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In
your own life too, unanticipated events and uninvited pain
have visited, crumbling your certainties and leaving you bereft.
You can be dedicated to wise choices, yet nothing can protect
you from unexpected experiences that can break your heart.
Despite efforts to cultivate honesty, integrity, and clarity, you
still can find yourself the recipient of another’s rage,
ignorance,
or prejudice. These are the moments when you are asked to
dive deeply within to find the stillness and healing that rescues
you from drowning in reciprocal anger or despair. |
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The
green bough in your heart is like the willow branch that can
bend in the most fierce storms of life, yet always springs back
upright. It may take some time for the branch to spring back, but
you can have faith that the resilience that enables you to
remain present and committed will be found. Those moments
when uprightness and steadiness feel remote or impossible require
great patience. You can never predict when the storm will end,
but it always does. Remaining committed to ending pain allows
you to embrace the pain of this moment rather than
looking for the end of the storm. |
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Christina
Feldman is a co-founder and Guiding Teacher of Gaia House, and has
been leading Insight Meditation retreats since 1976. She is a
Guiding Teacher of the Insight Meditation Society in Barre,
Ma. As well as teaching retreats worldwide she is committed to
the Personal Retreat Programme at Gaia House. She is the author of a
number of books including Woman Awake, The Way of
Meditation, and co-author of Soul Food. Recent
books are Silence and the Buddhist Path to Simplicity.
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