In the passages from December's book "Alchemy of the Heart," we continue with some wonderful lessons for the soul from the chapters on "making peace with God" and "surrendering to a higher love.
Do we get angry or do we start trying to discover the hidden blessing or lesson? The Taoist philosopher Lieh-Tzu clarified this point in his story about a poor old man who lived with his son. One day when the man's horse was gone, his neighbors came by to say how sorry they were for him. "Why do you think this is a problem?" the man asked. Some time later, the horse returned, accompanied by several other wild horses. When the neighbors congratulated the old man on the sudden multiplication of his property, he said, 'What makes you guys think this is luck? ' It turned out that, with all those horses around, his son started riding, and as a result broke his leg. When the neighbors all came over to say how sorry they were for this new disaster, the man asked, 'What makes you think this is an accident?' Soon after, war broke out, and his son, still unable to walk, was censured and did not have to go to war. The old man could have become enraged at every unexpected - seemingly negative - event and shook his fist at God. But he surrendered every circumstance, looking forward to the emergence of the hidden blessing.
The most important thing to remember is that love is never a waste. "There is no such thing as unreturned love," wrote Walt Whitman, "there is some reward, no matter what. No matter what, love is always worthwhile, because every moment of loving brings us closer to the higher love our soul seeks. At the most fundamental level of our being, we long to reunite with our divine lovers - God and our "twin soul.
Our twin soul is our "other half," as Plato described it, our original partner who was created with us in the beginning. So every crumb of love we give not only helps settle our karmic debts, but it also brings us much closer to reuniting with our twin soul and with God. Realizing that love can help settle the debts we owe others helped me see all kinds of relationships as learning experiences and opportunities to give more love, even when that love seemed to be rejected.
If we practice looking beyond the outward personality of the one we serve, to the real purpose of our love (God), we will realize that our love for everything and everyone, is in fact a reflection of our love for God. After all, it was God whom we loved, from beginning to end. Not only that, but when we love, it is God who loves through us.
When facing rejection or the grief of what appears to be a lost love, ask yourself, Why did I love? Who and what did I really love? What is the message? What is the worn ΄scale' of limited understanding that this grief is trying to break open? What is the new understanding being revealed to me?
If I choose to emit the energy flowing through my heart as love, this energy will eventually return to me as the blessings of love. If I emit anger, resentment or criticism, according to the law of the circle, this discordant energy will also return to me. Someday, somewhere, we are at the receiving end of all that we have emitted. When the stream of negative energy we sent out returns to us, we have the opportunity to change its nature - to turn it into something positive. As the law of conservation of energy teaches us, energy is neither created nor destroyed. But it can go through stages of transformation and refinement.
If we choose to retaliate hate with hate, anger with anger, fear with fear, the vicious circle will continue. If we instead meet hate with love, anger with love, and fear with love, we turn the circle into a spiral, lifting everyone to a new level. 'Hatred never ceases through hatred, but is healed only by love,' said the Buddha.
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