Archive for the ‘Harmlessness’ Category

Every day we get violent messages on the news, in our movies or video games, and in interaction with others. All of these messages affect us, in much the same way as small bits of litter can add together to create a real mess.

Without going into seclusion, how can we protect ourselves from this negative energy? What are our options for neutralizing the impact of violent messages and helping to decrease their frequency?

Try this for one week: Notice your physical response to each violent message, and then experiment with how you can response differently so that you feel relaxed and joyous instead.

Is it possible that violence against women is so pervasive, as a violation of human rights, that we just assume it will always continue? What would actually make a difference?

We have seen some shifts in what is and is not condoned. The media no longer says “boys will be boys” when women are battered and raped. But the data tell us that far too many women and girls are still victims of violence.

Try this for a week: Each day notice one woman who is not being treated with respect as a competent adult. Treat her with respect yourself. Notice what happens. What do the consequences tell you about how we can end violence against women?

What do we need to do to be harmless? For me, it means taking responsibility for angry or demeaning thoughts about others instead of taking my feelings out on them, either verbally or in my thoughts. This doesn’t mean that I’m “bad” to have such thoughts, just that I need to deal with them energetically rather than let them harm others.

Here’s what I do if I am really angry with someone else: I set up a white light “shower” between myself and the world. Then I get into feeling as angry or frustrated as I wish, while recognizing that the feelings are about me, not the other person. When all that angry energy passes through the white light shower, it comes out “pink” (benign) on the other side.

What about you? What do you do to make sure you don’t harm others when you are angry or frustrated?

When you hear “harmless,” do you think of something dynamic and positive? Or do you imagine a kind of wimpy inoffensiveness? Most spiritual traditions have harmlessness as a positive virtue, and yet most of us view it as an absence (of harm), a lack (of having any impact).

In actuality, living in a harmless manner can be very challenging, especially if we accept that we are all part of an interconnected energy field. So whatever we do or say or feel affects others.

Try this for a week: Each day notice one time when you chose to be harmless rather than harmful. What helped you make that choice? What difference did that choice make in you?