Commonality

In a recent group discussion about forgiveness, the consensus seemed to be that reaching some sense of commonality with the person who offends helps when trying to forgive that person. One member of the discussion spoke of trying to summon forgiveness for a person who had committed atrocities against many human beings. This was a hard case.

The ultimate commonality which we all share with all other beings is our mortality. I have begun to incorporate a more present consciousness of this reality in my daily practice of being. For example, when confronted with an insect in my kitchen, I struggle with the impulse to kill it. I think of the parallel between its life and my own. I question whether my ability to kill it easily is a justification for killing it. I consider that the minor violence of killing the insect brings me closer to committing future violence. If the insect poses a real threat to my own immediate well being, I may kill it. Otherwise, I will attempt to remove it without fatally harming it.

I am not a Jain, but I understand the Janist approach to defeating the impulse to violence in our animal brains. The building of patterns of behavior in daily life leads to the growth of the human condition, individually or societally. By remembering the precious brevity of all life, I find that the impulse to anger and violence is much more easily managed. Getting to the awareness and acceptance that we al die all too soon is a challenge in a world of electronic avatars and fundamentalist religions, which promote an illusion of immortality.

Acceptance

The first step to true liberation is acceptance.

It's easier said than done. As mammals with frontal lobes, our considerable evolution has been fueled by individual and group pursuit of The Great Why and The Great How.

Yet, to liberate ourselves, it is crucial to accept The Great Is. I mean to say it is necessary to deeply accept the realities of our own individual human life in this Universe. It is ancient wisdom: I am born; I grow older each moment; I die. This is the Great Commonality which binds us to each other and all life on our planet.

True, internalized acceptance of The Great Commonality erases fear, prejudice, selfishness, hatred, violence, indolence. It removes huge barriers from the useful, creative and shared pursuit of The Great Why and The Great How.

Meditation on hardship. Experience of pain and aging. Inspiring health and joy in others. Focusing on and attending to the immediate needs next to you and gradually more and more beyond your own life. These are some of the ways acceptance of The Great Commonality heals us and could heal our species and our planet. Unfortunately, acceptance of The Great Commonality comes for most human beings in old age and far too close to death for its effects to ripple through the species.

Dithering over the afterlife and things we cannot or do not attempt to plainly, scientifically prove in The Great Is wastes time and human energy. It is the procrastination of the self-centered and those who manipulate and enslave through ritual and religion. Liberated practice is putting acceptance into action from a place of mindful, peaceful and loving compassion.