Holding the World in Our Hearts by Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach

I want to share this note I received from Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach my teachers at my Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program which I thought was so timely.

Our world needs people who can hold spaces for great suffering and unsolvable conflict; people who can meet the pain of our world with unconditional presence and care.

Hope you find it helpful during these times.

Dear friends,

As the horror and reach of suffering in the Middle East continues to expand, this is an important juncture to pause together–as an interconnected global community dedicated to the practice of mindfulness and compassion–and reflect on how we can hold the difficulties of our world.

Our Earth is heating up, and this may add to a growing degree of dividedness, violence, and suffering. Many may be currently focusing on the Middle East and the devastation that’s unfolding. And our fellow human beings are in horrific conflicts and desperate straits across the globe; humans and other life forms everywhere are in a painful struggle for their very existence. What does this mean for us as teachers? What will help us provide ourselves and others with a healing space—a space of compassionate presence—for the magnitude of pain that may well come our way? And what heart wisdom can guide us in responding to deepening divides and often violent conflicts that perpetuate human suffering?

For you as practitioners, teachers, and leaders in our world, here are some reflections and practices that both of us have found serve deeply in times like these:

Pausing and Quieting.

As teachers, leaders and healers, the sacred pause gives us an opportunity to breathe and come into stillness, letting the inner storm settle some. This is a gift of our practice: Whether it’s for a few minutes or a stretch of days, we need silence and presence to access more clarity and openness.

Remembering Our Deepest Aspiration.

Pausing helps us reconnect with an embodied sense of our aspiration. We can ask ourselves, “What is most important? What most matters to my heart? What is my best intention? If I were at the end of my life looking back, what would matter in how I responded to this?” It is an opportunity to remember our aspiration to meet this moment with an awake heart and to support others in doing the same.

Letting Go of Certainties—Allowing Not Knowing.

When our hearts and minds are painfully stirred up, it’s quite natural that our minds will grasp on to rights and wrongs, to blame and anger, to our views and opinions. Our certainties buffer us from the rawness of pain. They also contract the mind and prevent us from seeing the larger truths of causes and conditions.

If we can remember that the universal energies of fear, anger, hatred, and delusion are built into every human body/mind, we will become more humble in our views. If we open our attention to the true complexity of systemic oppression and trauma through the centuries—trauma on all sides—we will become more humble in our views. If we can sense that we don’t know the immediate answers, if we are willing to be in that not-knowing, we begin to open to a very forgiving, compassionate, and wise presence. And from this greater understanding may arise.

Opening to Vulnerability.

When we step out of certainty, we can begin the courageous work of opening intimately to the emotions we may have been avoiding. A powerful reflection is, “What have I been unwilling to feel?” So often, under our anger, blame and fear, we’ll find a grieving for life that is lost or will be lost, and inside that, a love for life. Opening intimately to those feelings, and ultimately to that love, frees our heart. And the more we open unconditionally to the layers within our own being, the more we can hold a healing space for others facing and feeling the wounds of our world.

Responding from Heart-Wisdom.

These reflections and meditative processes are not a replacement for action. Rather, they reconnect us to the heart-wisdom that guides truly healing engagement. Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King and many spiritual traditions point to truths we see expressed in early Buddhist texts: Hatred never ceases by hatred, but by love alone is healed. This is the ancient and eternal Law.

A reflection shared by our friend and fellow teacher Frank Ostaseski, invites forward our heart wisdom: What is love asking from me today? Asking ourselves this, and then listening deeply, helps align our words and actions with our deepest values. In this current situation, it might lead us to learning more about what’s going on, including the systemic historical violence that is fueling current suffering. It might mean engaging, if or when it becomes possible, in the type of dialogues that connect humans from different identities, bridging divides and revealing a more universal belonging. It might mean supporting organizations that are offering humanitarian aid.

There are many pathways to widening our understanding and compassion-based engagement.

The most timeless and precious resources are the awareness and compassion practices you are learning to teach. Friends, wherever you are, whatever you are going through, you are part of a collective of dedicated, caring humans who seek to create the conditions for a more peaceful and loving world. Any true healing and transformation will come from evolving consciousness—awakening hearts and minds.

We’ve never felt the importance of what we’re doing together as much as in current times. Our world desperately needs you—diverse teachers from around the world sharing a pathway to awaken mindful awareness and compassion. Our world needs humans in this world who are able to include all beings in their hearts. Our world needs humans who remember the preciousness of all life, who trust our true belonging, and can offer the heartspace that helps others find their way home.

Friends, we can do this together. We love you and trust you. Please feel free to reach out and let us know what is on your heart. While we may not be able to respond to each individually, please know your voices are truly important to us. Let’s keep walking this path of wisdom, compassion, and peace.

With love and deep prayers,

Tara and Jack