Choosing Love or Fear?

When I think of the greatest spiritual teachers this world has known, be it Jesus, Buddha, and our present day leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, The Dali Lama, Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, The Pope, they all preach Love. I use a capital "L" in Love, because to my perception they are not talking about one aspect of love, which is the one enjoyed in friendships or relationships, but of a love that keeps one's heart and mind open to seeing the interconnectedness between us all.

This love does not always mean we feel wonderful feelings; it means we empty ourselves of prejudices, misconceptions, our ideas and see others for what they are; another brother and sister, experiencing the journey in life, and who also experiences the sun set and a new day arise. Even in our uniqueness, we share human similarities such as loss, aging and death, and the ability to experience the wide range of human emotions between love, joy, despair and hate.

Everyday, is an opportunity to choose love or fear. When we see the plight of the victims of Haiti who have been buried alive for days, even if I believe there is a reason for everything, my compassion does not go away. Do we see someone who does not share our beliefs or religion as a threat or something that needs to be fixed? Or do we accept that there is diversity in this Universe?

We may think one act of kindness, of keeping our hearts open, sending positive thoughts, or prayers does not make much of a difference, but it does! It takes one person at a time to be like the flame of a candle that brings light into our world's consciousness. Ironically when we reach out, we are helping ourselves as well, as stated before, we are all connected. Statistically it has been shown that when a group meditates to bring crime down, it had a significant effect in the lowering of the crime in that particular area, much to the surprise of the local police who participated in the experiment, it even can have an affect on terrorism.

Today, I had a love lesson on what I talk and write about. It involved my judging and feeling sadness for what I perceived a new Christian hubber spreading fear and making unkind remarks to me (my very first negative experience in Hubpages!). She had the kindness to remove it, without my saying anything. The Hubpages community blends in so many folks from diverse religions and nationalities, and we generally (there are a few exceptions) allow each other to be who we are, even when we are not at our best, and I treasure this. I felt judged, but buy the same token, I now realize I too was coming from a place of judgment regarding the writer's beliefs; I was not angry, thinking of her as being a "bad" person, she is actually an outstanding writer and passionate about her beliefs. I was just feeling very sad to see a message of what I perceived as divisiveness. In retrospect, I don't think this is her intention even if I do not agree with certain beliefs.

We keep our heart open by releasing ourselves from ALL judgments, "I am right, you are wrong", "how could you think this way?," why are you spreading fear?"; we all, including myself, are doing the best that we can with our level of awareness; it is in this diversity that keeps us learning from one another and above all learning about ourselves. It is easy to be loving and kind when the way is smooth, but when tested, how do we react? Do we lash out in order to hurt? Or do we introspect and grow from the experience? When we step down from the elevated platform of judgment, the tightness that judgment places in one's heart and overall energy, simply leaves, and from this state of being, we can take action, be it inspiring another, extending healing or being an agent of change.

I am happy to announce, I learned lessons today and I am grateful.

I would like to share a beautiful Youtube  that I added to one of my websites as I found it inspiring.

Enjoy the video and may we all choose Love.

Disclaimer: These are my musings, and not necesarily the Truth. I am a work in progress.