Other people are our greatest challenge in life, for we are so deeply linked to others that we are one another. Other people are simply ourselves in another guise, and we unconsciously seek ourselves in others. We search in the actions of others for meaning in our own lives, and it is by the thoughts and actions of others that we gain understanding, love, freedom and serenity. If we could see what we have in common with other people, we would know that countless opportunities for serenity and fearless living take place every day in our exchanges with them, no matter how brief these exchanges might be. Yet all too often we miss these opportunities because, rather than seeing what we have in common, we see only what divides us and the result is fear and mistrust.
Understanding our connections with other people is vital if we are to find serenity in our lives. Other people are our spiritual teachers and, if we are willing, they can show us the path to growth, understanding and freedom. The people who are present in our daily lives represent the connections that we most need to understand. These people we see every day or live with are the gateways to greater understanding. It is important to embrace them in our thoughts with respect and joy, knowing that through our relationship with them we will learn and grow spiritually and emotionally. Extending respect and kindness is not always easy, particularly in connections with others that we find challenging or difficult. However, it is often in these very connections that our greatest opportunities for learning lie. Every human being is a miracle.
Many people rather than accepting fear, with its gifts of great energy and heightened awareness, and then transforming it into serenity, they try to fight it. To genuinely move forward, fear must be healed and serenity activated. And fear is healed through living in the real world in daily life and finding serenity in the essence of the ordinary. It takes its own time. The friend who can be silent with us in despair or confusion, who stays with us through grief, who can tolerate not knowing the solution and simply be there for us is a gift in the form of another person. Just as a person can be transformed by the power of another's belief in him, so fear can be transformed into serenity through the power of positive belief. Indeed, constant belief in the goodness of others is the transmission of fear into serenity.
Allowing Ourselves to be Human:
The route to serenity begins by allowing ourselves to be human and we do this by allowing ourselves to dissolve our isolation and loneliness into shared experience with other people. In this way we begin to heal our fear. Our first step is to enjoy other people for who they are and to recognise that serenity flows directly to us through the person with whom we are interacting. Have you ever walked down the street and seen each person that you pass as a friend? Have you seen what another person felt as you passed them, or sensed what they experience? Fear demands that you do not. Serenity states that you can. If you see the world as a place full of friends, then no town is unknown, no person needs be a stranger. If you start to heal your own fear by extending friendship, you will help to heal the fears of others. As you experience serenity, so will other people.
Simply by existing, our fellow human beings provide us with opportunities for giving and receiving love in all kinds of ways, from the unexpected kindness of stangers to the love of a special friend.
'The Tibetan Art of Serenity'
Christopher Hansard
Salam,
Cherine
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