Page 110 - Dark Matter Women Witnessing
P. 110
The time I’ve spent with these whales has profoundly altered my awareness of the meaning of
compassion, kindness, and forgiveness. This example of species “forgiveness” is for me, one
of the clearest examples of what the Buddhists call bodhicitta...the soft spot, the aspiration
that all beings be free from suffering (enlightened).
The whales teach me that there is no power in the world greater than love. That forgiveness
heals...and that creating lasting change in our world starts with something that is both so
simple and so powerful: connecting with each other, past the differences, wounds, and history
that separates us, through what we have in common—our open hearts, our love of our young,
our desire to live happy, free, joyous lives.
Rejoining the Human Family
As I found my spiritual home in the world of animals, a wonderful thing began to happen.
Through their teachings, their wisdom, their example, my relationship with the human world
began to heal. As I connected with the animals and with my own animal body, seeing both the
great challenges of the human condition and our fundamental connection with all of life, I
found myself opening to myself, my own humanity, and other people in a whole new way.
I discovered that many of the spiritual practices I’d learned from the animals were found in
some of the ancient human wisdom traditions of the earth (indigenous shamanic traditions,
the lineage of Vadjrayana Buddhism, the ancient practices of the yogis). Finding this wisdom
in human traditions was a homecoming...a full-circle return to acceptance of my karmic
destiny, soul-choice, and gift of my embodiment on the earth in human form.
I began to remember. I remembered what I came to the earth for, and why. I remembered
what it is that I intended to do here, and how I was meant to do it. My personal journey
became impersonal...flowing out into an intention to be of benefit, of service, to
others...including, most importantly, to others of my own species.
