#WithCompassion Reconciliation Meditation

Give the Dalai Lama, who has dedicated his life to peace and kindness, the ultimate 80th birthday present: share how you will make the world a more compassionate place using #WithCompassion. The Dalai Lama is turning 80 years old on July 6, but he doesn't want any gifts.

A few years ago I wrote this poem about compassion: (which will be in the soon to be released Feel the Heal: An Anthology of Poems to Heal Your Life)
The Flower of Compassion

She takes root
this fragile flower
at heart center
tendrils travel
outstretched arms
a hand to hold
a gentle sigh
petals glisten with gentle tears
a warm knowing smile
beauty to behold
holding space
for the flower of compassion to bloom.



During my meditation the other day, I felt my heart open as I felt compassion for many people who have hurt me through the years. Shortly after being diagnosed with post polio syndrome in what now seems like another life time, I wrote letters of forgiveness to both of my parents. My dad asked for our forgiveness in his suicide note and so it was easier to forgive him but I know how important forgiveness is to create peace and harmony within and in the world. It was more challenging to experience forgiveness for my mother and my grandmother and it had been very challenging for me to forgive people who I experienced during the past few years of my healing journey.

In the quiet of my mind and in the openness of my heart, I was able to experience their suffering for their treatment of me was clearly a manifestation of their own suffering. I did not set out to experience a reconciliation meditation, it just happened and Tom helped me to name it after I told him what I experienced.

With compassion, with a consistent meditation practice and having like-hearted, tender-hearted people be a part of my life now, my natural state of Being - joy, gratitude, compassion, LOVE, peace, contentment, laughter, vibrancy and wholeness rise to the center of my life. Anger, frustration, judgment and hurt settle like silt and no longer have power over me. It's a beautiful practice of settling down and settling in to my natural state of Being.

When we heal ourselves with love and compassion, when we practice reconciliation and forgiveness, we heal the world!

Happy Birthday HH Dalai Lama.

Cheers! To life! To compassion! To loving ourselves well and to feeling the heal.



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