New Beginning

Here we are, having reached the end of an unprecedented year. Who could have ever imagined such a turning point in the unfolding of our everyday life? I answer for everyone... no one! Many of the things that inhabit our thoughts and behaviors today are at least weird, almost absurd. A good shot of uncertainty: one more reason to risk losing the ball, no longer feeling the earth under your feet and being alone, even more alone...

And yet, at the end of this crazy 2020, I feel it is of fundamental importance to take stock of what has been. To avoid falling into a dead end of plaintive surrender, I innocently ask a question: what would it have been like if the global epidemic hadn't knocked on our doorsteps? Someone, with extreme certainty, would respond, without hesitate a moment, something like "definitely better" or "normal!".

And here I jump out with a sincere consideration, the result of careful observation of things, of a vision that derives from deep reflection on the meaning of Life, also flowered thanks to the last two months of the year I've spent in Greece, doing an amazing ESC experience completely down to Earth, and in the same moment source of great peace and introspection.

What does it really take to live happily? [1] 

We are covered with things, thoughts, tools, lights, food, signals, machines, messages, stimuli… and yet we are dissatisfied. This is because we are simply hiding under tons of garbage  something that would give us a great deal, perhaps all we really need: the presence with ourselves. [2]

"And there is silence in you, a shelter in which you can take refuge at any time and remain at ease." -Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha

This awakening would give us, first of all, so much suffering. How much pain is there in the world? Perhaps this is what we are running away from, the acceptance of the fact that human civilization is in free fall towards the destruction of itself and the world that hosts it? [3] Perhaps we should observe carefully, listen with respect and feel this pain flowing within us, reaching every most hidden corner of our Being.

Now yes, now we know that we cannot go on like this, now we know that the suffering of the world can no longer remain unheard because it will eventually destroy our limbs.

I personally had waterfalls of emotions during my staying in Greece: serenity, living respectfully an experience gifted to me, and hope, embodying a different way to sustain Life; on the other hand, despair, meeting refugees with no light for the future, worry, hearing from my loved ones at home and fear, coming from uncertainty of something that seems "bigger than me".

Suffering is essential to the tragic meaning of Life: from the awareness of the existence of pain, from taking care of the message it brings, from the realization of our participation in it, something immense can be born. [4]

The possibility that we have chosen for some time now, so long so that we have forgotten we have done it, is denial, separation, the crudest "wash your hands": nihilism. Expressed explicitly or implicitly - simply stating that "it has always been like this" or "what can I do" - it is nothing more than a way of taking refuge in something safe, born from the refusal to accept reality for what it is, and plunging into a vortex of de-responsibility and disconnection from the need to live fully. It is not difficult to deduce that this reaction represents a forced suppression of the natural urge to search for meaning, which creates the cultivation of dissatisfaction with a need that is rotting more and more and sooner or later will explode, pouring out all the hidden sadness in the form of anger and violence in a world that already can't take it anymore. [5]

The invitation I want to propose is to bring the light of one's conscience towards the wounds that pain generates for all of us; by letting this happen, it will be liberated naturally, like an aquifer which, reaching the surface, turns into a pure source, the only emotion from which everything can be healed: compassion. [6]

Understanding (inseparably a reason for compassion) transforms the destructive energy of anger, born of ignorance, into the constructive energy of love.

Compassion is the awareness of a deep bond between you and all creatures. True compassion goes beyond empathy or sympathy: it does not manifest itself until sadness merges with the joy of Being beyond form, the certainty of belonging to something great and shared. [7]

How can we dissolve the illusion of separation between our "skin encapsulated ego" and what surrounds us? By placing the foundation of one's being in the Present. In fact, you cannot truly forgive yourself or others as long as you deduce your sense of self from the past; there will always be a "guilt", that painful event which, misunderstood, feeds this circle of accusation, alienation, isolation and, ultimately, fear of Death.

Life, whether it be that of a mosquito, person or civilization, is a constant process in the making. Life is a flow: the forms it assumes are transitory. Death is nothing more than the act of passing from one form to another.

Accepting the truth of our end, the certainty of the only thing from which we cannot escape, is the beginning of a new wisdom. [8]

In this new awareness lies the essence of our life: the transformation of suffering into happiness.

It requires first of all that we go home to ourselves, make peace with our pain, treat it with tenderness and look deeply at its roots. It requires that we let go of unnecessary suffering, and that we take a closer look at our idea of ​​happiness. Finally, it requires that we nurture the joy of living each day, with gratitude, understanding and compassion for ourselves and those around us. We offer these practices, giving them unconditionally to ourselves, our loved ones and the wider community. This is the art of suffering and the art of happiness.

This is why I wish everyone to walk so that in our footsteps everyone can see the traces of joyful Peace and the most total Freedom. To walk in this way, we need to learn to let go, put down our pains, cease our worries and accept ourselves for what we really are: the mirror of the Other, pure Love.

[1] Eckhart Tolle, "The Power of Now"

[2] Bob Stahl, "Mindfulness-based stress reduction workbook"

[3] End of Suburbia (movie)

[4] Thich Nath Hanh, “No Mud, No Lotus"

[5] Marshall Rosenberg,"Words are windows" (non-violent commucation)

[6] Thich Nhat Hanh, "Being Peace"

[7] Alan Watts, "The Tao, the watercourse way"

[8] Roy Scranton, "Learning to die in the anthropocene"