What's not wrong?

[karencanada]

Hi again
These are a few words from the book " Peace is Every Step" that I thought I would share, as I have seen we all have a tendency to focus on the pain and suffering that Michael went through in his life, and on our own feelings of grief...
This book is a joy to read, simply expressed and full of compassion and love...And, I think Michael understood what I am copying here well.

" We often ask, "what's wrong?" Doing so, we invite painful seeds of sorrow to come up and manifest. We feel suffering, anger, depression, and produce more such seeds. We would be much happier if we tried to stay in touch with the healthy, joyful seeds inside us and around us. We should learn to ask" What's not wrong?" and be in touch with that. There are so many elements in the world and in our bodies, feelings, perceptions, and consciousness that are wholesome, refreshing, and healing. If we lock ourselves, if we stay in the prison of our sorrow, we will not e in touch with these healing elements.
Life is full of many wonders, like the blue sky, the sunshine, the eyes of a baby ( now does that not sound like something Michael would say?!). Our reathing, for example, can e very enjoyable. But many people appreciate the joy of breathing only when they have asthma or a stuffed up nose. We don't need to wait until we have asthma to enjoy our breathing.
Awareness of the precious elements of happiness is itself the practice of right mindfulness. Elements like these are within us and all around us. In each second of our lives we can enjoy them, If we do so, seeds of peace, joy, and happiness will e planted in us, and they will become strong. Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine, the presence of each other, the wonder of our breathing. We don't have to travel anywhere else to do so. We can be in touch with these things right now."
Also ..." Understanding and love are not two things, but just one. When you understand, you cannot help but love. You cannot get angry. To develop understanding, you have to practice looking at all human beings with the eyes of compassion. When you understand, you cannot help but love, and when you love, you naturally act in a way that can relieve the suffering of people"
And, finally, " The essence of love and compassion is understanding, the ability to recognise the physical, material, and psychological suffering of others, to put ourselves " inside the skin" of the other. Shallow observation as an outsider is not enough to see their suffering. We must become one with the object of our observation. When we are in contact with another's suffering, compassion is born within us."
He goes on to talk about how this must also be applied to those who cause our suffering, and I think this is so important. Each of us who so easily empathises with Michael's suffering, also need to look at those who made him suffer, and who give us pain, and make an even greater effort to understand the nature of their suffering; in this way it becomes easy to forgive. Michael understood this, remember how he never blamed his young accusers, he understood that they were suffering also, under their parents misuse of power and trust.
Ok I am in danger of late-night discombobulation, hope everyone is finding time in their days to connect with both Michael, and their higher selves, God...the beauty and goodness and infinite love that exists around us at all times...Blanket yourselves and your loved ones in it every day
Love you all, karen

[poetgerri]

Hi Karen,

I love your post! My favorite: to love and understand is one thing. That is so true: once you understand you become free of judgement and begin to love.

I especially like the part about being compassionate about the ones who caused Michael's suffering. I think if we as Michael's fans can do this - respond with love toward those who made him suffer - we will have gone a long way towards healing our world. Michael said over and over: It's all about love L-O-V-E. I think if we are to have 'peace in every step', love must be a part of that equation.

And you're right Karen. Once you get into this stuff, it can lead to late night discombobulation - lunch time discombobulation - rush hour discombobulation.

But you know, because we're doing all of this for our beautiful one, Michael, it's all gonna come out good!

Gerri

[karencanada]

Thanks Gerri, that is exactly what I took away from it, that if we can look at those who hurt us, and understand that they are also not free of suffering, and that something led them to the place they are in today, then we forgive them, because we see that they too suffer. And once that cycle of blame, anger, frustration is broken, and we can move forward with understanding, then true dialogue happens, and true healing. It's a huge challenge! But as Thich Nhat Hanh suggests, if you start with someone you love, you find it easy to want to understand, and to love completely with all their mistakes and faults. Then you move that same desire and motivation to someone or something that is harder to understand or love...and really try to get inside and see...ultimately we see that everything is interconnected, and the suffering of one is the suffering of all, and the only way to break that is to live from a heart of love.