A few months ago, in a tiny workshop for Jewish mindfulness and meditation teachers, we asked the shiny souls in the room to share the one word that most exemplified the work they do in the world.
We got lots of interesting answers.
Help.
Hope.
But the single word that came up more than any other, by a ridiculously large margin.......was HEALING.
We all have our own unique scars. Our own messes, stresses and sources of suffering.
And we all turn to healers we can trust to put us back together when we need them most.
I love the story of the Avalokiteśvara, the Bodhisattva, or enlightened being, with 1000 arms.
He vows never to rest, until he ends all suffering, for all people.
It should surprise absolutely no one, that he’s a very busy guy.
After all......Anywhere there are people in need......
Avalokiteśvara shows up to help.
What I love so much about Avalokiteśvara's story is that he has a different tool in every hand.
Each arm is a unique instrument of hope - help - healing and transformation.
It is of course -
easy to write all of this stuff off as impractical, new age nonsense & spiritual sounding silliness that doesn’t actually land in our lives.
After all......I'm fairly confident no one reading this has 1000 arms :)
And It's fairly easy to think - hey - "my life is a mess - I'm busy, already overwhelmed and under-appreciated- how many other people can I possibly teach, reach, or transform, when my own plate is so incredibly full?”
But what if our role is to simply embrace the arms we've been assigned - and take our unique gifts out into the world with passion, purpose and power?
A few years ago, I participated in a silent meditation retreat.
For many days - my mind refused to stay still - it leaped, and lurched and stumbled and fumbled it's way through endless hours of not wanting to look closely at my own life - my own mistakes - mis-steps - messes, stresses, and the many different flavors of suffering I visited on myself, and others I love.
One day, I looked around the other bright and shiny souls in the room - all of us different ages, incomes, sizes, sexes, and backgrounds - and yet - with our eyes closed - fiercely focused - facing invisible dramas - disappointments, failures, foibles and frailties that were each of ours to face alone - we were all warriors tethered together by a common enemy - and a similar goal.
To wake up - to lighten up - and to show up for those who needed us most.
Life offers us unlimited opportunities to come alive -and come into our own.
To uplift, to inspire, to encourage and to alleviate the pain of those who end up in our orbit.
We're all different.
Our strengths are different - our gifts are different and our ability to impact and inspire others changes from person to person, and reflects our own unique life circumstances.
And your mess, CAN become your message.
I like to think as life itself as one super sized Avalokiteśvara :)
And each of us - you, me, and everyone else - we're all just individual arms in this endless ocean of connection, compassion and community.
So I tell myself - yet again.
Whatever you do - just do you.
It’s more than enough.
For each of us.
And your tools are ready.
Trust in that, and the work the world so desperately needs, to repair itself, to heal itself - with our help - will inevitably, appear.
PS - I loved this.
A beautiful reminder on the lasting legacy of a virtuous life, and the beauty of Tikkun Olam.
