When 9/11 happened, I was in Brooklyn. I had an appointment for lunch with a Healing Tao colleague in mid-Manhattan. I took the subway and as it emerged onto the bridge over the East River, the odor of smoke and burning debris and bodies overwhelmed the air. Smoke was still rising from downtown. It was a weird hour in a Japanese restaurant. I received an e-mail from one of my students, a Jungian psychotherapist and author. Here below is our exchange.
On Sat, 15 Sep 2001 23:14:53 -0400 Jeff Rubin writes:
Hope you are okay.
My body feels better, my soul feels haunted by the carnage and the
strong
possibility of more. What and how do you think of all this, and whatconsoles you?
Rene replies:
Terrorism is a becoming an ordinary and common phenomenon in
contemporary
life. It was shocking here — and unimaginable.
One of my students asked me: What are the spiritual implications on
America?
It was a difficult question. Took me a long time to ponder it. I was
born
in 1940 and spent the first few years of my life during the war. I am
scared of violence. After what happened to the WTC, I trembled when I
heard planes passing over the house in Brooklyn, esp at night.
But violence is a reality in life. We see it every day — in the
street,
in the war zones, at home, in all places. How does it feel to be in a
land of perpetual terrorism? Where a bomb may explode anywhere? Where
a
suicide is willing to carry many pounds of explosive on his body to
exterminate innocent civilians? Or hijack a plane and fly it into a
skyscraper?
We’ve entered a new and different and strange millennium.
What consoles me? I am not indifferent to what’s happening around me.
It
is love that drives us to the things of this world, said St.
Augustine.
In helping others, in teaching and writing about love and compassion,in
healing people (perhaps one at a time), in doing good, in acts of
charity, we find a sense of peace amidst the violence and hate. At
the
same time, since we can’t control events in the world, we have to go
inward into the dan-tian and listen to the heart. For that’s where all
evil and all goodness reside. If there’s going to be any
transformation,
it is from coming face to face with the forces within.
Take care.
Sifu
E-Mail to friends:
It has been a harrowing week. The world has changed. What the
repercussions are is difficult to anticipate. Will we have more wars,
more terrorism? Will there be more compassion and community? How will
US foreign policy evolve in the face of this unprecedented terrorism?
Willit be more aggressive?
It was the first time the mainland US was attacked. There is now a
sense
of vulnerability and fear. What will the US choose to do now?
There is a pervasive talk of retribution and revenge. There are calls
for solidarity and prayer and meditation. Different quarters have
their own
agendas for dealing with the trauma.
On Wednesday, as the subway train passed over the Manhattan Bridge, I
could see the smoke still rising from the debris of the WTC. From
60th street one
could smell the stench from the ruins.
Nagasaki, Hawaii, Nanjing, London, Manila — these cities suffered
The worst bombings of WW2. Cambodia, VietNam….
It was 2 planes. With the nuclear bomb, the horror is — God forbid–
still ahead.
God have mercy on us.
Love and peace, always,
Rene
An e-mail to a poet friend who can’t comprehend the tragedy:
When we’re faced with something beyond words, like this inexpressible
tragedy, we must seek stillness as our refuge.
When I watch a lake with mist rising on its surface (as I did this
morning while doing Tai chi), I bring the image inside in my dan-tian.
Dan = elixir, medicine or cinnabar. Tian = field as in rice field. I
look
inward and see the lake. There was also a crescent moon this morning.
So
was there one above the lake in my dan-tian. In the midst of the
horror,
we must find stillness in ourselves.
What is there to write about? How can we capture the gruesome event?
I don’t know. I’ve tried. For the last few days, I’ve been in
mourning.
I’ve been trying to understand what happened but it’s all beyond
comprehension. The dark forces that were unleashed are beyond our
control.
This moment, what is possible for me is to go inward, listen to my
heart
and seek peace and quiet in myself. There inside of me and all of
us
are all the possibilities for human liberation, love, compassion,
solidarity and understanding.
An e-mail from Michelle of New Jersey:
I joined in a global meditation for world peace this morning lead by my school. I started in the meditation with this mantra: I pray for peace and global unity. That was simply the thought that came to me to focus my mind with. At the end of the meditation my mantra shifted somehow and I found myself repeating: I am peace and global unity.
It became clearly evident to me that we have a choice. How we live, think and love is what molds, shapes and creates our reality. I ask all of you to look in your hearts. Gather all of who you are into unity. Leave no aspect out, positive or negative. And ask yourself, how do I choose to contribute to the creation of our reality? Yes, there will still be those in the world who choose hatred and murder disguised in the illusory belief that it is sacrifice for a greater good. There will be those that believe that only war, more murder for a ‘greater good’ and further separation is the best response. There will be those who choose to become numb and to not respond at all. And there are those who choose to respond in ways that are unifying and life affirming.
What will we choose? How will we create our world? Do we want a world where we strive to make America the ‘best’ and separate and above the rest? Do we strive to make ‘us’ the good guys and ‘them’ the enemy? Can we open our eyes and see the humanity in every being containing both the best and worst of the world in each of us? And seeing that, do we choose to respond from the worst in us or the best?
How we think, act and feel when we wake up in the morning, when we’re walking the dog or feeding our children, driving in our cars on our way to work, coming home and making dinner, all the ‘little’ things are so significant. Can we live life to the fullest with loving awareness?
How do we choose to live our lives?
I choose to unify my self and be a beacon for love and peace, today; to the best of my ability.
Namaste!
Misha