The Wind Is My Mother: The Life and Teachings of a Native American Shaman by Bear Heart

Author:Bear Heart [Heart, Bear]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101640128
Google: X-Z4fsFPC1YC
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 1998-02-01T06:00:00+00:00

9

COPING WITH SUFFERING

THERE’S AN OLD STORY ABOUT A FROG WHO FELL INTO a butter churn and, no matter how high he jumped, the top was too high for him to reach. But as he was jumping, his webbed feet created the same up-and-down motion as the paddle, until finally butter was formed and he could stand on it and jump out. Whether it happened or not, it brings out an important point—it’s often possible to turn negative situations into positive. Never feel a situation is all negative. There’s a counterpart that is positive. Look for it, reach for it, utilize it—it will offset the negative. If you don’t think so, go into a dark room and strike one match—it dissipates the darkness immediately. Darkness seems like something that’s hard to stand up against, but light is much stronger—just a small light dispels the darkness. That’s how it is with everything. If there’s negativity all around, find the positive counterpart and utilize it.

There are four great teachings in Buddhism. The very first of those teachings is that life is suffering. We think that it ought to be the other way around, that life should be easy, that it should be happy. That’s what we seek, but the stark, dark reality is that life is suffering. And coping with suffering gives meaning to life—it is what gives us our strength.

Things may seem bleak at times. We stand outside at night and it’s completely dark, we can’t see the sun, the moon, or the stars. Then all of a sudden a comet crosses the heavens and lets us know there’s sun shining somewhere, because we can only see a comet as it reflects light. In difficult times, we are made more aware of the resources that we have within ourselves and therein lies our peace. Peace is not the absence of conflict. It comes from the ability to cope with that conflict. And so in the darkest moments of your own life, never lose sight of the fact that the sun is going to shine through to a great day, a great life. Whatever your potential is, you can reach it.

In the Bible, Jesus once said to his disciples, “Let us go over into Capernaum.” So they got in a little boat and soon Jesus went to sleep. On the way a fierce wind came up and the disciples became frightened, so they woke Jesus. The first thing He did was to rebuke them, saying, “Oh, ye of little faith.” Then He talked to the winds and the winds calmed down. “What manner of man is He that even the winds obey Him?” Even though they were His disciples and were with Him when He performed great feats, they still never quite understood Him.

Why did He say, “Ye of little faith”? Jesus had a divine connection with the Father, so when He said, “Let us go over into Capernaum,” they would arrive in Capernaum because He said they would. But the disciples didn’t take Him at his word—they became frightened when they saw signs of danger all around.

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