"It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community, a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth." Thich Nhat Hanh

In Shamanic teachings it's said that we are all a part of the web of life, every being, all of nature, everything.

I like to listen to teleseminars, podcasts and all that stuff. I've said it before I'm an information junkie and proud of it. Today I was listening to a podcast interview with Sandra Ingerman a well-known Shaman healer and teacher from Michael Stone's site. The conversations revolved around the idea of how do we create transmutation of the energy of grief and pain into love. Sandra spoke about heartbreak and I was a bit confused until...

Heartbreak is a life changer. Duh! Stick with me, as I paraphrase what she said. It's bigger then the suffering. When a heart breaks, it expands. Cool huh, I never thought about it like that, I just thought broken, cracked. This expansion of the heart could bring us to a deeper place of love; self-love, if we choose to go there, into the feelings of grief and pain, the deeper place of self is in the heart. When this happens, this suffering allows creativity to grow.

I had this epiphany when hearing that statement. Here it is, that acquired disabilities create massive heartbreak and equally massive self-loathing. That we get trapped in the self-loathing and grief filled heartbreak of dreams lost and start seeking accomplishment to over come these suffering feelings. Mostly we do this without connecting the dots. We go on automatic pilot, set out to prove to ourselves and the world that we are ok.

We get the expanding part sorta, but not truth of it, the self-love part, cuz we expand into the adjustment and adaptations created for ego accomplishment and made so to continue with our lives. So we get some dots in order but we live with the self-loathing mostly because we are caught up in the old images of what was and what society says is OK which is not using a wheelchair, walker or crutches to move around.

We just go on our merry way never knowing that we even have this grief and self-loathing because you don't know what you don't know, right? Especially if it got stuffed so it could be business as usual. Then something happens, for me it was creating a radical forgiveness, RF, practice 7 years ago and it clicked, I'm sad and not sure I like what I see in me, this doesn't feel good.

I found as I came up against that grief and pain I wanted to blame something or someone for it and that kept taking me, unconsciously, out of the feeling and energy of the it, cuz it hurt. During that time I met the founder of RF, he told me to start with forgiving myself, being in the presence of the grief, letting go of fault and blame, love the feeling and the experience, even though it hurts. The energy will transmute into love and it did, with practice. 

Since that time I've been creating practices to go deeper into my heart loving myself, loving my fellow travelers, living with compassion for myself and others and be a better social healer. Yep, I believe I'm a social healer just as I believe all folks that are traveling though this life with a disability have the ability to be social healers, also. We are a community of social healers just by being.

It may sound like a far out idea, it is, it's getting far out of our minds and getting far in, far inside our hearts. Getting far in takes getting curious about why we do what we do and a practice being curious. So what's a good practice, well I have some ideas  for you. Start with a minute of silence and just watch running water or a candle flame, this creates a trance state, a state of being, not doing. Be in nature, without your smart phone or put your hand over your heart and just breathe in through your heart.

The Buddha said life is suffering. What's cool here is we get to choose how we suffer.

So tonight I'm getting in the tub, surrounding my self with pretty smells, candles putting my hands on my heart acknowledging and being in the presence of any grief and pain I feel in this moment and letting it all out. Then scrub a dub dub. All clean for the New Year!

I wish blessings to all, In Joy Candace

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Copyright 2012 Candace Cable