Four Guidelines for Awakening

I think one of the core strengths we can develop is our willingness to be real with ourselves and with one another. It reminds us that we are all dealing with the same suffering that all human beings do – no matter what race, religion, nationality or gender. To become real so we can meet ourselves and meet others right where they are is such a healing thing to do!

My four guidelines for awakening are Look, Listen, Love and Let go.

Look: Looking is about recognizing what we are experiencing right now. It takes courage but as long as we turn away from ourselves we empower the bubble of struggle.

Listen: As Stephen Levine says so well, “We leave ourselves when we most need ourselves.” In listening we give our experience the compassionate attention it needs to be transformed. This doesn’t usually happen over night but each moment of meeting is another moment of healing. The chances of our pain being transformed by saying ‘I see you and I understand’ are far greater than by resisting it.

Love: There is nothing within us that doesn’t deserve the healing of our own heart. We all have wounds and we are all nutty as fruitcakes!! That is why I love the Zen quote, “Freedom comes when you are without anxiety about non-perfection!”