SUCCESSBYTE for the month of September, 2005
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With all that is going on throughout the United States and the World, I give thought daily to the vibrational, transformative power of Light and Love … and Peace.
In writing my new movie, which can now be viewed at YouAreLoveMovie.com, I was giving a great amount of thought that Sunday morning about not only what it means to love unconditionally, but what it causes vibrationally that is so life affirmative and healing.
This month, I’d like to introduce you to a woman of miracles known as the Peace Pilgrim. I believe her living example of what humanity can be is the most power example of love. I make it a point to think about her every time I’m in a funk and not wanting to reach for Love.
Several years ago, I obtained permission to include parts of her story in my eBook You Can’t Have An Attitude & Keep It A Secret! ―and I’d like to share an excerpt with you now:
Be A Living Example
of What Humanity Can Be
Why is it when we talk to God we are said to be praying,
And when God talks to us we're said to be schizophrenic?
—Lily Tomlin
From 1953 to 1981 a silver haired woman calling herself only "Peace Pilgrim" walked more than 25,000 miles on a personal pilgrimage for peace. She vowed to remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food. In the course of her 28 year pilgrimage she touched the hearts, minds, and lives of thousands of individuals all across North America. Her message was both simple and profound. It continues to inspire people all over the World:
This is the way of peace: overcome evil with good,
and falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.
In her book, Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words she reflects:
When I first started out, I thought the pilgrimage might entail some hardships. But I was determined to live at need level, that is, I didn't want more than I need when so many have less than they need. Penance is the willingness to undergo hardships for the achievement of a good purpose. I was willing. But when hardships came, I found myself lifted above them. Instead of hardship, I found a wonderful sense of peace and joy and conviction that I was following God's will. Blessings instead of hardships are showered upon me.
I remember my first lesson on the pilgrimage was the lesson of receiving. I had been on the giving side for many years, and I needed to learn to accept as gracefully as I had been able to give, in order to give the other fellow the joy and blessing of giving. It's so beautiful when you live to give. To me it's the only way to live, because as you give you receive spiritual blessings.
I was tested severely in the beginning of my pilgrimage. Life is a series of tests; but if you pass your tests, you look back upon them as good experiences. I'm glad I had these experiences.
If you have a loving and positive attitude toward your fellow human beings, you will not fear them. 'Perfect love casteth out all fear.'
One test happened in the middle of the night in the middle of the California desert. The traffic had just about stopped, and there wasn't a human habitation within many miles. I saw a car parked at the side of the road. The driver called to me saying, "Come on, get in and get warm." I said, "I don't ride." He said, "I'm not going anywhere, I'm just parked here." I got in. I looked at the man. He was a big, burly man — what most people would call a rough looking individual. After we had talked a while he said, "Say, wouldn't you like to get a few winks of sleep?" And I said, "Oh, yes, I certainly would!" And I curled up and went to sleep. When I awoke I could see the man was very puzzled about something, and after we had talked for quite some time he admitted that when he had asked me to get into the car he had certainly meant me no good, adding, "When you curled up so trustingly and went to sleep, I just couldn't touch you!"
I thanked him for the shelter and began walking away. As I looked back I saw him gazing at the heavens, and I hoped he had found God that night.
No one walks so safely as one who walks humbly and harmlessly with great love and great faith. For such a person gets through to the good in others (and there is good in everyone), and therefore cannot be harmed. This works between individuals, it works between groups and it would work between nations if nations had the courage to try it.
***
Once I was hit by a disturbed teenage boy whom I had taken for a walk. He wanted to go hiking but was afraid he might break a leg and be left lying there. Everyone was afraid to go with him. He was a great big fellow and looked like a football player, and he was known to be violent at times. He had once beaten his mother so badly that she had to spend several weeks in the hospital. Everybody was afraid of him, so I offered to go with him.
As we got up to the first hilltop everything was going fine. Then a thunderstorm came along. He was very terrified because the thundershower was very close. Suddenly he went off the beam and came for me, hitting at me. I didn't run away although I guess I could have--he had a heavy pack on his back. But even while he was hitting me I could only feel the deepest compassion toward him. How terrible to be so psychologically sick that you would be able to hit a defenseless old woman! I bathed his hatred with love even while he hit me. As a result the hitting stopped.
He said, "You didn't hit back! Mother always hits back." The delayed reaction, because of his disturbance, had reached the good in him. Oh, it's there – no matter how deeply it is buried – and he experienced remorse and complete self-condemnation.
What are a few bruises on my body in comparison with the transformation of a human life? To make a long story short he was never violent again. He is a useful person in this World today.
***
On another occasion I was called upon to defend a frail eight year old girl against a large man who was about to beat her. The girl was terrified. It was my most difficult test. I was staying at a ranch, and the family went into town. The little girl did not want to go with them, and they asked, since I was there, would I take care of the child? I was writing a letter by the window when I saw a car arrive. A man got out of the car. The girl saw him and ran and he followed, chasing her into a barn. I went immediately into the barn. The girl was cowering in terror in the corner. He was coming at her slowly and deliberately.
You know the power of thought. You're constantly creating through thought. And you attract to you whatever you fear. So I knew her danger because of her fear. (I fear nothing and expect good--so good comes!)
I put my body immediately between the man and the girl. I just stood and looked at this poor, psychologically sick man with loving compassion. He came close. He stopped! He looked at me for quite a while. He then turned and walked away and the girl was safe. There was not a word spoken.
Now, what was the alternative? Suppose I had been so foolish as to forget the law of love by hitting back and relying upon the jungle law of tooth and claw? Undoubtedly I would have been beaten--perhaps even to death and possibly the little girl as well! Never underestimate the power of God's love--it transforms! It reaches the spark of good in the other person, and the person is disarmed.
When I started out on my pilgrimage, I was using walking for two purposes at that time. One was to contact people, and I still use it for that purpose today. But the other was as a prayer discipline. To keep me concentrated on my prayer for peace. And after a few years, I discovered something. I discovered that I no longer needed the prayer discipline. I pray without ceasing now. My personal prayer is: Make me an instrument through which only truth can speak.
***
To find out more about the Peace Pilgrim go to: https://www.peacepilgrim.com/book/index.htm
Try this Experiment
For the next two weeks, each time you feel resistant, or you have a fear thought about a person and how they behave, ask yourself:
"If I were going to be a Peace Pilgrim, what could I do?"
Look for new evidence.
Try this to either totally clean up your attitude, or at least pull your attitudinal energy back in, and remember that before you can change anybody else, ask: what can you change about yourself?
OK, so you get in touch with your attitude that this person really is the biggest jerk on the planet. You can change your attitude in increments. Remember here, this is just an experiment, you cannot fail.
Give up your right to keep a hold over this person in your mind. You are really the one losing here. I guarantee, you will see a softening in your communication exchanges with them. But, it's really up to you.
First Step: Observe Yourself
Begin making it a practice to notice when you are feeling resistant or emotionally charged. What is it about this person or this situation that you are not wanting or liking? This will lead you to your attitude, your judgment and/or bias. When you observe yourself, and you don't like what you are seeing about yourself, be gentle. This is not about reprimanding yourself, this is about understanding and having compassion with your world as you have known it up to this point in time. You can change it right now, if you want. When you observe how "you" are acting in this situation, often times, that will straighten your act right up. It's like watching a drama, and you get to change your characters' part to a more desirable part and outcome.
Second Step: Get Amnesia - Be UnDisturbed
Whatever you've been told about them, whatever your first impressions of them were, whatever your real life experience of them has been up to this point in time: you need to act as if you don't know anything! Make yourself do this, and you will have a clean energy field when you try to approach them regarding various matters you need to work on with them. It doesn't matter what this person is doing or what you've heard that they have done. What matters is how the "who of you" is engaging with the "who of them" energetically. If you have something specific to address about what's been going on, then don't de-energize yourself by carrying an attitude around with you. It's like letting them pitch a tent in your mind and not pay you rent! You don't need that. Get Amnesia, and then if you have something that needs to be said about how you prefer that it be between the two of you, the energy is freed up to work on that. Make yourself let go of the past, because it's right in the middle of why you aren't getting what you want from them in the first place.
Third Step: How Do You Prefer That It Be
You may need new some languaging skills for this. We are taught to talk about everything we don't want and everything we think each other is doing wrong. The one thing that could correct all of this, (of course you have to do this minus the old attitude) is to speak in terms of how we want it to be with each other. Now that will take some thinking, some doing and some pondering. You and I are not used to thinking this way first. We are not accustomed to languaging in the most affirmative and desired terms. Oh, and you don't just talk about how you'd like it to be just once. You will need to make this your new practice. And trust me, you will find it the most difficult and the most rewarding changes you can ever make.
The famous botanist, Luther Burbank, conducted a very interesting experiment. He developed many different species of plants, and he was trying to develop a spineless cactus. So he would take a cactus and remove it's spine and see if it would live and then be reproduced as a spineless cactus. Every time he did that the plant would die. And he replicated the experiment several times.
Then one day he had a new thought, being a spiritually minded person himself, and he started to talk to his plant. He assured the spineless cactus that here in his laboratory there would be no harm. He would take very good care of the plant there would be no animals or any other creatures that could come in to harm even without the spine. The plant would be totally safe in his laboratory. And with that, he removed the spine from the cactus. And this time the cactus lived, and he was able to reproduce spineless cacti.
Most of us are aware of the effects of prayer on healing. It's been very popular in our minds after Larry Dossey's book reporting on various research studies, Healing Words.
Numerous studies have reported of people healing faster in hospitals with fewer medical complications when they've been prayed for, in contrast with those who have not been prayed for. These were double-blind studies, where people being prayed for did not know, and yet something happened that promoted a faster healing.
Experiments on healing with therapeutic touch have shown the power of the mind as well to reach beyond. Dolores Krieger, a nurse at NYU made “therapeutic touch” a common phrase through the research on the healing touch of nurses on their patients.
But one of her students, Janet Quinn, nurse-academician, conducted another study recently. Instead of having the nurses touch the patients, they were instructed to hold their hands above the patients. While holding their hands above, they were to focus on sending their patients unconditional positive regard. Just to think unconditional loving thoughts, wishing that person wellness and health and well being. This is referred to as “non-contact therapeutic touch.”
They did blood tests both on the patient and the nurse before the intervention and blood tests afterward. After the intervention, they found that the immune system was significantly stronger in the patient. And interestingly enough, the nurse’s immune system was also stronger.
This corroborates that, not only does the mind reach forth and go out and heal in every other dimension it is directed, but it also brings healing to ourselves at the same time. The giving and receiving are indeed the same.
Now why is all this important to us in relationships?
It's important to us as we begin to realize that our thoughts affect everything in every relationship with everybody, wherever we are. Our thoughts are constantly having an effect in every human interaction we are having. As we think by ourselves, even while driving alone in the car, our thoughts about our boss, our spouse... those thoughts are having an effect on that person, and having an effect on ourselves.
In being a living example of what humanity can be, we decide to be mindful of the effects of our thoughts. We are responsible for aligning ourselves toward the greater good. In that, we feel the risk of love and of blessing someone who we feel has harmed us or is harming us.
In practicing harmlessness, we have a chance to change the World one person at a time. We are breaking the chains, the legacies and the histories that bind us to the past levels of abuse and hurt. It is through expanding our knowledge base and becoming more in-tune and decisive about how we are choosing to react and respond; we are in fact able to bring healing to our lives and the lives of those we touch.
