How Suffering Opens Our Hearts
Whenever we suffer, we open our hearts because we want someone to help us. Thus, we have the opportunity to find compassion. Buddha, Jesus, and many more, went through their own suffering and found great compassion to help others. How can a glutinous man have compassion for those who are hungry? When we have more than we need and are caught up in ego, how can we resonate with those who are hungry?
Ebenezer Scrooge, a character from A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, is a prime example of a man who, materially, had everything, but whose heart was closed. Having lost the most important aspect of himself a long time before, he shut down his heart when he lost the only girl he loved. Feeling angry, he shut out the world and shut down his heart in the process. He decided to scorn the world and use anyone and anything to get ahead and make money. Finally, he was given a second chance, which opened his eyes to all the suffering he was causing, including his own suffering. Thus, he was reborn to help others. In this epic, the stories of Christ, the Buddha, and many other great stories of suffering, are echoed that remind us to open our hearts and see the suffering around us.
Personally speaking, at one time in my life, I lived, for one year, in a 6×9 foot room with no windows, no bathroom and no running water. It was extremely difficult. One night, I broke down and started crying. Then, I yelled out, “God, I Will Not Give Up!” From that day forward, I would not allow anything or anyone to bring me down. That pivotal moment also opened my heart. I started helping the blind and doing work for the Alliance on Aging, as well as finding other ways of helping those who were suffering. This experience was my Ebenezer Scrooge, my Christ, and my Buddha moment that changed everything, including my heart. I might be crazy, but I would go back and do it all over again because it was worth it. I was reborn.
Many people have had moments of heartbreak and epiphany that changed them from the inside out. For most people, these moments are a must in order to pry open the armor of ego that we wear all the time. That armor protects us from feeling all the suffering that goes on around us 24/7 throughout the world. Once there is a chink in the armor of ego, compassion removes all the rest of the armor like a can opener and allows great heartfelt feelings of love to filter into our heart and throughout the world.
Gandhi was a man who was pushed off a train for not being white. He saw the injustice of it all. During that moment, life changed forever for a barrister (lawyer) who’d had no agenda of helping those who were suffering. A great moment of epiphany opened Gandhi’s heart. There was no going back. Compassion was born within the heart of a man whose life has become synonymous with the word compassion. The suffering of others opened Gandhi’s heart, and in turn, he became a champion for those who were less fortunate.
Furthermore, Christ’s suffering in the desert, Buddha’s suffering with lack of food and water, Gandhi’s suffering with injustice, and many others, have had their epiphanies that opened their hearts to the great suffering going on around them.
Suffering is a normal aspect of the world we live in. There are people who are homeless, starving and who live in harm’s way. We watch this suffering on television and our smartphones. We become desensitized to the whole process because it all seems so impersonal and far away.
Yet, if any one of us were thrown into any number of terrible situations, we too would cry out for help, and our heart would open. It is not something we wish for anyone to go through, but it’s very important for the growth of our souls and the expansion of our hearts that we do go through such moments of growth. Even the great Avatars, who we revere with appreciation, have gone through great moments of suffering. So, how can we be any different? We, too, must go through our moments of great suffering, thus opening our hearts to love! There is no greater gift than the gift of love – The Greatest Gift of ALL!
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About the Author
A Master Herbalist and Spiritual Teacher for over 25 years, Dr. Paul Haider helps people to recover and feel healthy. You can find Dr. Haider on Facebook by searching Dr. Paul Haider and Healing Herbs.
www.paulhaider.com
