Don Miguel Ruiz shares an Inspiration Daily. As I read the inspiring message, I think about what it means to me, and share it here.
I live on a mountain top. I feel connected to the perfection of natural beauty, live amongst the trees, and I observe the changing of the seasons of mountain majesty … and yes, I would like to live like this always.
Today, I feel the fragility of that love, as I listen to reports of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some days ago, Ukrainian mothers walked their children to school, slept peacefully in their beds, and made plans with friends for the weekend. Now they run for their lives, find temporary safety in underground railroad tunnels and forage for food. I wonder if I were in Ukraine today, what I would do.
I ask myself what makes Vladimir Putin declare war on innocent people. What life experience fashions the behavior of a bully, sociopath, or murderer? How do such people acquire absolute power? What compels humans to deny their humanity?
The wise, experienced voice in my head shouts, it is fear! Once it is programmed into our nervous system, it works like an instinct—and without awareness, fear takes over, creating a story of superiority in the heads of the fearful as a means of subduing the feeling. The story of superiority, and “only I can fix it” becomes the personal mantra. Contemporary petty tyrants with the power of weapons live out this fear, destroying lives from the schoolhouse to the nation. Humans, who morph into despots are the most fearful, insecure, and damaged of people.
Perhaps, it is the time for those who live from the energy of love, no matter their ethnicity, status and religious beliefs, to come together as One to speak truth directly to the fearful. The Toltecs speak of the parasite in the mind. It’s not life that makes or breaks you. It’s your own mind. Perhaps it is time to quell the voice of the parasite, who like all parasites live off the energy of the host. It is time to consciously form a grander union of gratitude, love, and harmony in the world.
From my perspective forming new agreements such as The Four Agreements:
· Be impeccable with your word
· Don’t take anything personally
· Don’t make assumptions
· Always do your best
constitute a framework for that union.