Demons and Compassion

From Pema Chodron: The Places That Scare You (A guide to fearlessness in difficult times):

In other traditions, demons are expelled externally. But in my tradition, demons are accepted with compassion. -- Machik Labdron (11th Century Buddhist practitioner)

Before I read this concept, I had already experienced an exposure to it through online roleplaying (this is creative writing done with one or more players, each controlling their own characters, creating the story with each post). A fallen Angel character brought his 'pet' demons into the game, and my character grew to love them. It was a strange manifestation of the story, but intriguing. Tentatively, I began to apply it to my internal demons. Could they be tamed? Loved, even?

This book came into my possession, and I read that quote with widened eyes. Yes, I thought. Yes.

Compassion is more emotionally challenging than Loving-Kindness because it involves a willingness to feel pain. It definitely requires the training of a Warrior.

The image of Xena, Warrior Princess immediately embeds itself. A warrior fighting her own demons. My imaginary world expands. Yet, it isn't the same concept of loving the demons. Still, it is a start. Some days, it helped. On days I felt stronger, I could practice the loving-kindness.

It is all a practice ... like playing music. We. Just. Practice. We learn, we adapt, we try various methods. Each day, each moment, is unlike the moment before. One of our tools works now, a few moment later, we need another tool. Like playing many songs on the same instrument.

When we can love ourselves, we can truly love each other.

with grace and gratitude,
^_^

 

Online role-playing sounds interesting. So does loving-kindness with our demons.

I'll have to spend some time thinking about it, but where will the time come from?
Maye after the mad holidays.

 

My online role playing is now done on a message board, much like this one. Your character is imagined and created. We make posts, as we are doing now, but we create a story, we live in that world. Our words must be enough that we can see/feel/hear what is happening. Posts can be single sentences or many paragraphs. On a message board, you can take your time. When role playing 'Live', like in an IM box or an aol room, you have to respond quickly. It is a great mental exercise, and expands your vocabulary and creative expressions.

Loving our demons is just another aspect of loving ourselves. A work in progress.

with grace and gratitude,
^_^