The Roots of Our Existence
We are products of many causes & conditions. All of us have been wounded, as well as being served. Our acknowledgment of both, the positive and the negative allow us to heal. Our healing heals those before us, and in turn, heals the wounds of future generations.
We cannot have light without dark. So called opposites manifest together, they are inseparable.
The path home leads to our own contentment. When we get quiet, we commune with the roots of ourselves. All the elements that contributed to who we are in this present moment are available when we meditate.
Strength & goodness are planted from these roots, as well as the seeds of our pain and negative patterns.
We can not see the seed from which we came, but they cannot be removed from who we are. We carry our parents, grandparents and ancestors with us. We are their continuation. We take them into the future.
Sometimes there can be pain, anger, or lack of forgiveness toward them. Yet, when we look deep, when we get quiet, we see our parents and all their humanness, they can’t be cut out of who we are.
We start to understand that we are actually angry or unforgiving of ourselves; for all the things we are or are not, or should or could be.
When you think of your parents as you see them… encouraging, helpful, loving, supportive, critical, complaining, domineering, demanding and so on. Whatever you may know or remember of them, it is important to hold them in a place of compassion, to see ALL of them with an heart open.
Imagine them young, early in childhood and as young adults. Think of their pain, vulnerability and the pressure of the demands or expectations they had to live up to in the time they grew up.
What gifts did they pass on? Skills, intelligence, creativity....
What are the negative seeds planted…. Fear, depression, anger.....
The environments we have either been placed in, or choose to remain in, have shaped who we have become. The many causes and conditions from people, events, material possessions and the environment itself, all contributed to who we are in this moment.
What people, events, objects and natural surrounds have been positive influences?
What are the negative sides of the environment from which you came or currently live?
Our ancestors are the people in both our blood families and those in our large and small communities, who shaped each generation prior to our existence. They have had a direct or indirect impact on how we would be raised, on our culture and on our thoughts. The impact of our family’s behavior, attitudes, livelihoods and freedoms came from many internal and external ancestral sources.
Can you remember the people who's gifts benefited your family’s well-being?
Can you remember those who’s negative impact may have altered the direction the family may have taken.
The roots of our existence are vast and far reaching. It is the discovery process that uncovers the many layers of how we came to be who we are. Compassion and understanding lead to greater possibilities.
All we need to do is get quiet, listen and see ourselves and the world around us with love.