Meet in Your Hearts

On a recent dive trip to the Carribean, I learned the importance of going with the flow, focusing on the heart, and opening to perspectives differing from my own as an important part of the spiritual path. Spiritual Path meaning a path toward deepening in love, peace, and compassion.
During this extremely polarized period in American politics between
Conservative and liberal thinkers, we can find ourselves experiencing
Strong antagonism toward human beings believing in views opposing
Our personal beliefs and sentiments.

On my trip, I was assigned to room with a woman scientist who did not believe in global warming, who blamed every challenge the USA faces on liberals, who believes that the New York Times is devoid of credibility, and who was comfortable with the way banks and cooperations manage their power. She is conservative in her perspective. She belongs to the religious right. I do not share her views.

She triggered strong reactivity inside of my body. I saw that I was emotionally attached to my "open" perspective. I noticed that to live in love and to create a harmonious relationship that we needed to meet in our hearts and not in our heads. My yoga teacher, Swami Satchidananda used to say that people will find it easier to meet in their hearts. Minds tend to focus on differences.
Acknowledging that ultimately we are ONE in spirit, I tried to breathe, to stay open and to listen to my roommate.

Trying not to shut down and tune her out, became my daily practice for the week we were together. Seeking to be present to my roommate instead of invalidating her, I chose to appreciate her good sense of humor, her generosity and her considerate actions. We lived in peace. We enjoyed our time together. Agreeing to disagree and setting boundaries when I felt that I needed personal space, we had a supportive and loving relationship sharing a room together.

Our world is suffering tremendously from the inability to rise beyond polarities. When spirit comes into form there are automatically two Entities. On the simplest level,there is form and no form.
As form divides there are two and then form grows into the infinite. Spiritual vision honors the forms while maintaining the awareness of the one spirit dwelling in all form, in all that exists.

Rev. Supriya Swerdlick