The War Within

by Anne McCormack

Whilst �Holy Wars� or �Wars of conflicting ideologies� are taking place on the other side of the world, the same dynamics that led to the unrest are happening within our very own communities as we speak.

As is the case with most things in life, synchronicity and the concept of microcosm/macrocosm play their part in facilitating a level of compassion and unconditional love for those whom we judge to be perpetrators of �evil�.  We may choose to allot blame to another person and/or group whom we perceive as the �bad guys�, and pledge allegiance to a person or group whom we judge to be the �victim�.  However, at the end of the day, RESPECT and UNDERSTANDING are what is called for in such volatile circumstances, which ultimately leads to JUSTICE and PEACE for all concerned.

Just after September 11, whilst planning an absentee healing/meditation group designed to take a heart chakra response to global unrest, I began experiencing certain circumstances which tested my abilities to practice what I declare to be my beliefs, and my ability to respond from my own heart chakra and not from my solar plexus.

Being a passionate person who revels in anything to do with Spirit and healing, I have a tendency to be quite talkative about my beliefs and experiences.  It gets people talking and thinking.  Many people ask me questions and want to talk about metaphysics and spiritual matters.  Some ask for healing work, others for spiritual guidance.  Whilst the presence of someone communicating with the world of spirit may be interesting for some, for others who believe that such communications are the work of Satan, the reality may be very much the opposite.

There was a colleague in the office I was working in at the time with whom I had a lot in common.  This person was passionately in love with the Divine source that heals, nurtures and loves her heart and soul.  She marvels at the ways in which miracles are performed and how prayers are answered.  We both seek to live in harmony and we care for fellow human beings.  However, her faith declares; in the passages of Deuteronomy, within the Old Testament; that the ways in which I practice my faith are sinful and disrespectful to God.

I felt that she sometimes saw me as a compassionate and caring person, however she feared that I may be harmed in some way by my beliefs.  This lady, in her own way, tried to show me the �right� way, according to her personal faith.  I, on the other hand, recoiled and retreated to �fight or flight mode�, as if I were being attacked.  Her words and actions weren�t vicious. It is just the way in which she inferred that my beliefs were �wrong� or misguided.

During the few months we worked together, there were times when we were talking about something unrelated to religion, then the question was asked, �do you read excerpts from the Bible at Spiritualist Church?�   The answer being �yes�, as we often read the Lord�s prayer.  Bang! �How can you do that when you go against all that God stands for��  There were also a few occasions whilst partaking in a metaphysics-related conversation, the colleague approached the group with a flippant comment which, in my eyes, mocked my practice. We laughed it off, but the arrow still lodged itself in my solar plexus, wounding my self-confidence and pride.

For quite a while I was intent on looking at the dynamics of �attack� and how one grabs energy from another�s solar plexus in a fight for control and supremacy.

It was almost too easy to believe my colleague had been attacking me and my beliefs.  However, in retrospect, it seemed like a �cop out� to avoid looking at what it was about me that influenced the ways in which others treated me.  What about my personal responsibility?

RESPONSIBILITY

When considering things in a clear, objective manner, I recognised a very important dynamic that took place during the scenario with my work colleague.  I will call it �mirroring�.  My colleague reflected back to me my personal, deep-seated feeling that I am not a good and worthy person and that perhaps, there is something wrong with me.  This thought and subsequent feeling caused me to move further outside myself.  In response to the altercations with the work colleague, I asked others around me for validation.  �I am okay, aren�t I?   I haven�t done anything wrong, have I?�

Ah, sweet synchronicity!  As these emotional/mental factors were building to a climax, with me becoming angrier and more upset, I found myself at a White Eagle Meditation and Study Group at Evolutions+, in West End.  The topic of the night�s session being �Heal Thy Self� and the big message which hit me like a thunderbolt � �Seek your own counsel and the counsel of God, not the counsel of others�.

The following day before going to work, I sat quietly for just a moment to focus on my auric field.  It was out quite wide, perhaps as a result of trying to gauge the responses and feelings of others.  I was literally beside myself energetically.  I decided to revive my daily practice I had learnt whilst studying Parapsychology and Metaphysics at Chiara College.  I envisaged a column of white light coming down from the Universe and encompassing my body, cleansing away any negative thought forms in my personal energy field.  Then I visualised my auric field being brought closer to my physical body.  I surrounded myself with the gold light of protection and asked that any negative thoughts or energies from others would be reflected back to where they came from.  My physical body felt all abuzz and I felt stronger than I had done in quite a while.  Funny how you can sometimes forget the basics when you are in the thick of a situation and not within yourself. Nothing adversely affected me that day because it didn�t matter what another person thought of me.  I was complete in the knowledge that Spirit, Aromatherapy and Metaphysics facilitates my own healing as well as the healing of those around me in a non-intrusive manner.

You can see how not respecting your own beliefs and those of others may perpetuate anger and discontent.  Seeking assistance and validation from others in the �war� against an �opponent� may also place them in a difficult position.  They may feel obliged to choose between your labels of �good� and �bad�. In your endeavours to impose your justice (which may be tainted with revenge), you may unknowingly insult and hurt those who are your friends and allies.

RESPECT

During the period after September 11, I understood Mr Bush�s dilemma in respecting Muslim Ramadan and taking action against the Al-Queda terrorists and the Taliban.  However, the �gung-ho� fashion in which he communicated the decision to persist with the bombings, despite the Pakistani President�s request to honour this Muslim tradition may be deemed disrespectful to America�s Muslim allies.  It risked fuelling unrest that potentially may have escalated to encompass other discontent Muslim communities.

Through his choice of words and expression with the American people, it appeared that Mr Bush only has his eyes set on victory.  When communicating with the world-wide media and with the Pakistani President, it was highly probably that George Bush may have been running high on emotion in his communication, and therefore less objective when considering ramifications of his words and actions and how they affected others.  We are all guilty of this at some stage in our lives.

Respecting another person, or culture�s boundaries (and indeed, your own boundaries) enables a person to be content with who they are and facilitates further understanding of others who hold different values.  Terrorism is as much a violation of personal boundaries, as imposing your beliefs and ideologies on another.

Another facet of the scenarios mentioned in this article is FEAR � fear of the unknown, and of retribution from peers or an unseen power.  My feeling is that perhaps the aforementioned colleague may have been aware of the psychic sensitivity within her own family members, and more to the point, within herself and there may  have been a lot of fear surrounding that.

This was (and still is) even more reason for me to treat her with love and compassion, so that those fears may be understood and allayed in time.  That is the difference between responding to unrest from the heart and responding from the ego.  Being able to let people just BE.

Whilst those few months were a little uncomfortable at times, I thank God for the experience and the guidance along the way.  Today, instead of sitting in front of the news and expostulating that George Bush is mad and Saddam Hussein is evil, I am able to appreciate that all parties are being human.  They are dealing with the same feelings that I do when I am placed in similar predicaments.  Considering the immense pressure those parties are under, who am I to question or criticise how George Bush and the associated leaders respond.  It is clearly time to stop looking outside myself, and to be mindful of how I respond to matters.  My experience with my colleague definitely revealed the need to work on that!

I needed to learn awareness of these dynamics first hand, so that I could then apply them to my own practice, to further strengthen the absentee healing/heart chakra meditation group that I still feel drawn to develop.  My Guidance has been showing me that absentee healing work and heart chakra awareness is a part of everyday life and not isolated to once a week.  The meditation group will now be more like a support group to assist us along our paths, to keep us true to our Higher Selves.

Responding with love and compassion, instead of anger is a daily practice of vigilance, protecting my boundaries and respecting my soul and my beliefs.  Sometimes I may slip up and at other times I may get it right � but that is about being human too.  In sending this compassion and wisdom to others through thought forms, feelings and actions, slowly and gently we may encourage world PEACE.

A Peaceful Pink Light Anti-War Meditation

Close your eyes and become aware of your breath.  As you breathe in, push your stomach out.  Hold your breath for a count of three, then release.  Maintain this breathing pattern. Any thoughts that come into your mind, acknowledge them and let them go.

Envisage a column of white light coming down from the Universe and entering the top of your head.   Imagine it travelling it through the top of your head, into your spine, down into your hips, into your legs, past your knees, through your feet and deep into the earth below.  Imagine the white light travelling deeper and deeper into the earth�s surface until you reach a pool of pink light. 

Bring some of that pink light up through the earth�s layers, into your feet, up into your legs, past your knees, and past your hips.  As you inhale, you draw the pink light up to the crown of your head, and as you exhale, you breathe the pink light out into your auric field.

You are now a conduit for the earthly and heavenly energies.  Envisage in your mind all of the people affected by the American/Iraqi conflict � the leaders on opposing sides, the civilians, friends, family, the armed forces, everybody.  Imagine that pink light you have had flowing through your body, still travelling up from the earth�s layers, but travelling out through your heart, reaching out and encompassing all of those people you are envisaging.

This meditative exercise can be carried out as you read the newspapers and watch the telecasts.  The pink light is the abundant source of unconditional love, and once again you are the conduit who is channelling that energy of unconditional love and acceptance where it is needed the most.

In times like now, it is difficult to envisage the perpetrators of war bathed in unconditional love.  Most people wish to see them suffering as innocent people do.  However, our animosity being directed at these perpetrators is the reflected energy of anger and hate, which proliferates and feeds the hungry energy of power and war. 

In order to transmute this influence over world events, we need to radiate unconditional love and acceptance.  The transition may not be a conscious one on the part of the perpetrators.  However, they may just choose to perceive their �enemies� and tyrannical goals in a new light.

Links To Relevant Sites

www.peacecourier.com

The Australian Peace Committee (APC) is a national organisation aimed at promoting disarmament, development and peace.

They believe the enormous resources today wasted on weapons of war should be diverted to end hunger and disease, to remove the threat to our survival posed by the damage we have done to the environment, and to make the world a better place.

They work for the establishment of an Australian foreign policy based on friendship and mutually beneficial trade, together with the removal of all foreign bases from Australia.

The Australian Peace Committee (APC) is a national organisation aimed at promoting disarmament, development and peace.

www.geocities.com/architectsforpeace

Organisation of urban professionals against war. Learn about peace actions and urban development, with links to relevant Web sites.

www.zip.com.au/~lyallg/Peace.htm

"Hatred does not cease by hatred; By love alone does it cease."... Ven. Dr. K. Sri Dhammananda