When I returned to my email Inbox, I found this wonderful quote waiting for me, from an author whose work and words I love:
The other day I was putting some dishes in the dishwasher. Suddenly and totally unexpectedly the fear of death came racing to the surface. An unusual occurrence for me.I fully felt the fear and then felt gratitude that I am alive and can savor the moment. Savoring loading the dishwasher made me laugh. Being grateful for what is allowed me to release the fear. ~ Dr. Susan Gregg
The comment about “Being grateful for what is allowed me to release the fear” struck a deep chord in me!
What she wrote in this short post seemed to me to pop directly out of the precepts …and made me wonder about one more thing that seemed to be hiding in the precepts …
Do not anger
Do not worry
Be humble
Be honest in your work
Show compassion to yourself and others
Notice that there are two “Do Not’s”, and three “Do’s” in the precepts.
And interestingly, for the very first time, I noticed that the three Do’s: Humility (and gratitude), Honesty and Compassion are antidotes to the poisons of Anger and Worry (and Fear).
How so?
Humility, as I’ve experienced it, is a state of lesser-mind and greater-heart. A state which allows the visceral experience of gratitude. As such, this state, which removes one’s attention from the mind, even if only temporarily, does temporarily free one from the grip of anger and fear.
Honesty is at once, two things, as I see it. A state of contemplation about the truthfulness of something (including our own thoughts, words,feelings, actions) and the expression of that in our thoughts, words, and actions. Even when such honesty discovers our own inner chaos and our dive into anger or fear, the contemplation about, and the act of honesty about our discovery of our anger or fear, in that moment keeps us separated from that fear or anger. i.e. In its simplest form, the practice of honesty does temporarily free one from the grip of anger and fear.
Compassion to oneself, and compassion to others, in its real form, to me, is not mind stuff. Emerging from the heart first, it might express itself in compassionate thought, compassionate word or compassionate action. And as such, when compassion is present, even when such compassion is about kindness to our own weakness with anger or fear, it temporarily nudges anger or fear out. i.e. Even in its fleeting form, the practice of compassion does temporarily free one from the grip of anger and fear.
Practically speaking … when one is in the grips of anger, fear or its variations, the act of consciously applying humility and gratitude, honesty and compassion, will help one break free, even if only temporarily from the bondage. To get more lasting effect, one can simply repeat this as often as needed, until, humility and gratitude, honesty and compassion become the state of being, a state where anger and fear have no place, a state of lasting freedom.
That was a bit of an Ah-ha! for me about the precepts. The poisons (anger and fear and its variations) that keep us in bondage, as well as the antidote for the poisons (humility and gratitude, honesty and compassion) which can free us, are right there in the precepts!
Just 19 words (in this English translation quoted above), the precepts seem to contain an endless ocean of wisdom as well as the practical blueprint to live a truly free life!
Does this ring true to you?
Comments 5
Very true, Sundar, and thank you! It is only through humility and honesty that we can see our own fears, worry (fear turned inward) and anger (fear turned outward), clearly for what they are, threats to our ego, our precious sense of self, of somehow being separate from others and the All. And it is only through compassion and gratitude that we can forgive ourselves and get back on the path. The Precepts are Usui Founder’s lights along our Way.
It is interesting Sundar. I think for me compassion to yourself was and perhaps is still an issue as it stems from being” perfectionist”, being self-critical and striving to improve although I know there is nothing called perfect. So I used to think that, may be that is why I am not compassionate to myself. But slowly started to realize that it is actually not the case , the more self-critical you are the less chances of improvement as you can invite all the “negative self-messages” and become your own obstacle . working with precepts have shown that being compassionate to self does not mean to lower mine expectations etc. but just it means that you try and keep a realistic assessment of yourself and still work on self-improvement little by little. It is like expanding your mind in accepting yourself just the way you are and doing the best you can in this moment in your life !. It is like you want to get away from your smaller mind which deals and think what the outward world think of you to your inner expansive bigger mind and accept yourself.
Hi Sundar,
Another great article.
Yes the antidote of our fear, anger, and worry, is humility, honesty, and compassion.
This is why the precepts are the foundation of the system of Reiki and need to be meditated upon, not just recited.
The more we meditate upon the precepts the more we start to embody them, which in turn lays bare our innate wisdom and compassion.
It seems to be a life lesson of mine, and many others; releasing fear, letting go and acceptance. For years I was stuck in a vicious circle with myself, and life was difficult. When you finally figure out that these things are no good for you – mostly fear, it’s such a relief to know that you are the creator and that in any moment you have a choice to release it.
It seems like many of us are here learning the same lesson 😉 Thank you again.
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