Breaking Down vs. Breaking Open
Whenever there is a strong experience, I have two (broad) choices.
I can choose to resist. Or I can be with it - or rather be it.
When I resist, there is suffering. If it goes on for too long, and/or is too strong, I can "break down".
When I am the experience, there is a current of bliss. And I can allow the experience to open my heart and mind. I can break open. The separations between me and others break down - it opens my heart/mind for the experiences of others, and I see that we are all in the same boat. My own pain is a reminder of the pain that all humans experience. It opens for compassion through seeing myself in the other and the other in myself.
Labels: being with, compassion, resistance