The True Home

The author of The Compassionate Mind Paul Gilbert Ph.D. wrote, after meeting a lot of people in psychotherapy sessions for more than thirty years, he concluded that there is one trait of people who are mentally ill, at the same time also never found home, it is the inability to be kind, warm, love to life.

Alienated In The Body

As a result of imitating others, this type of people then become someone else. The situation is similar to humans who live in other's house, they are certainly not feel at home. That's why they feel so alienated in their body, mind and soul. The dangerous things happen, when they run into drugs, free sex, smoking and the like. It might be saved, if they run into deep spiritual practices, then dig themselves deeper and deeper.

It is only a possibility, because even in the spiritual world there are dangerous things such as fake teachers, fake teaching, fake spiritual group. Learning from psychologist Carl Rogers, the one who know ourselves such deep is ourselves. Similar to going to medical doctor, the doctor's time to read our medical records, listen to our medical complaints mostly less than one hour. While we grow together with our body, mind, soul during our lifetime.

The Gift of Pain

Almost everyone - include the holy people - reminded to return back home through pain and suffering. Once a person lives too far away from home, then he/she will be called through a series of calamities. Brandom Bays in her book "The Journey" wrote such clearly about this. Initially she was attacked by a basketball-sized tumor, then her house was burned, she was nearly bankrupt financially, until the family was broken by divorce.

In the language psychologist Carl G. Jung, all spiritual awakening is preceded by the dark nights of soul. That's why there is a book titled "Pain, The Gift that No Body Want". Suffering is blessing that is thrown away by everyone. Anyone who is sincere, diligent, honest in the front of tragedy - as Brandom Bays - he/she does not only survived, but also finding the brighter life. In some cases, it is not impossible that a person can attain enlightenment after this.

When the life of saints can be used as a reference, then the life of Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, HH the Dalai Lama, all told a similar story. The door is opened by pain and suffering. In the front of this long suffering, the holy are diligent, honest, sincere. Sincerity, perseverance, honesty never lie, they always bring people to the light at the end of tunnel.

The Art of Witnessing

Borrowing from an old teaching of American Indian tribes, within us there are two wolves that keep fighting. Good against bad, the sacred fight against the dirty. The one that wins is of course wolf that is fed every day. For that reason, many holy people feed only the good wolf through kind thoughts, kind speech, kind deed.

However, the journey back home is different. It does not choose good against bad, but learning to keep witnessing. Happiness is like sunrise, sadness is like sunset. But keep in the heart, both are the same sun. Success is high wave, failure is low wave. Always remember, you're not wave, you are the infinite ocean.

In other words, the journey back home is often referred as the fourth. It is not the left, it is not the right, it is not the center. It is not sadness, it is not happiness, it is not neutral. It keeps witnessing all the time. Anyone who spent long time witnessing understand, by witnessing the soul will certainly go back home. It is as natural as the ocean which is blue, the hill which is naturally green, to one who is home soul is naturally warm, kind and full of love. While the ordinaries struggle to be kind and full of love, to the one who is home, kindness, love, compassion are as natural as water which is wet, as natural as sugar which is sweet. Welcome home beautiful souls.