I’m back with the book, “Offerings”, by Danielle and Olivier Follmi.  I recently read a quotation from the Dalai Lama about disarmament and the trafficking of arms.  I was touched by the end of the quotation, and want to share it with you here:  “As for me, I still advocate what I call inner disarmament through the reduction of hatred and the promotion of compassion.”

For me, this thought from the Dalai Lama is a powerful invitation and challenge for each of us to become conscious of how we may inadvertently, or unconsciously, hold violence in our hearts or ways of being, and how impacting it could be if we would invite ourselves to explore the process of “inner disarmament”.  I imagine this process as being one of becoming immediately conscious of when and where we are “moved to arms” by someone’s thoughts, actions, beliefs, lifestyle, or other ways of being.  And, I find myself imagining what it would be like to “reduce hatred and promote compassion” as a conscious and deliberate internal act. 

This also reminds me of the process of “nonviolent communication”, found in Marshall B. Rosenberg’s book of the same name.  In his book, Dr. Rosenberg says, “I call this approach Nonviolent Communication, using the term ‘nonviolence’ as Gandhi used it – to refer to our natural state of compassion when violence has subsided from the heart.”  Here, too, is a powerful call to “inner disarmament” through emphasizing compassion and turning away from violence and hatred.

And so, for this week’s experiment, I invite each of us to look into our hearts and discover where we need to “disarm” ourselves, to become conscious of those moments when we have an opportunity to replace hatred with compassion.  As with last week’s experiment, this doesn’t mean to overlook those things that are dangerous or unhealthy.  Rather, it means to explore how we live with these things in our own hearts and what it’s like to choose not to simmer with hatred or resentment and to move into compassion instead. 

Remember that compassion is a state of mind-body being that recognizes that all people, all beings, have the capacity to suffer, something we inescapably share with one another.  Compassion doesn’t require us to agree with everyone; instead, it invites us simply to remember that we all feel pain, that we all want to be comfortable and safe, that each of us seeks the same fundamental things regardless of our lifestyle or beliefs.

As with all the experiments, explore this one lightly, without self-judgment.  All of us struggle with the kinds of negative feelings and responses that both the Dalai Lama and Dr. Rosenberg address.  They are part of our human legacy, as is our capacity to choose to create or support the nonviolent qualities inherent in the heart.  We can choose to invite ourselves to experience more directly the “language of the heart”, which is constantly focused on connection, empathy, and the capacity to be present to another openly.