The sun in the sky shines on all people in the same way, regardless of skin colour, ethnicity, gender and age. Mother Earth offers a home to all people of the world without discrimination, question or judgement. All of us, as one people share the same planetary home which revolves around the same sun. In these ways, we are one people, inter-connected and at the same time unique expressions of a shared life force.
In Chinese medical philosophy we are taught to recognise how Mother Nature manifests in our human nature, both body and mind. Each of nature’s primary elements has a corresponding organ and character type. This article is going to focus on the Heart which like the sun, is expansive by nature. The heart’s expansive function provides the propelling power for circulation of the blood and for warming the body.
This expansive nature is also mirrored in our human qualities of warmth, happiness, love, welcoming and inclusion. Like the sun in the sky which every day provides light for us to see, the Heart provides light for the mind, which helps keep us open, awake and aware. When the heart function of an individual is in balance we tend to be more light hearted, clear and able to see from higher perspectives. When we are closed hearted, generally we can only see from narrow points of view
Looking at ourselves from higher perspectives we see that at heart we are all the same. Everybody on this earth responds to the ‘Heart based medicines’ of respect, kindness, generosity, recognition and validation. These are tonics we can easily give to each other to strengthen our Hearts and convey our love.
Observing life from this vantage point, we recognise that at times the sun is obscured by clouds. At these times we can’t see at all clearly and yet behind the clouds the sun continues to shine. From higher points of view we can recognise that ultimately everything has a higher purpose; there’s always a higher order unfolding, even if we can’t see it from down below on earth.
In the past four months our world as we have known it has paused. Many of us have been sent home, to be with ourselves and the life we’ve made for ourselves. There has been time to clean up and clear out, to connect with what’s important, rather than to our knee jerk response to the seemingly urgent needs of life. It has been an opportunity to attend to the ‘dirty washing’ and other things we may have been avoiding. Meanwhile, Mother Earth has enjoyed the holiday, content to rejuvenate and clear her airways and waterways. With the humans gone the animals have come out to play ! Nature is showing us this is the invitation.
More recently the ugly side of human nature has also been on display. These behaviours have stirred us all, invoking a deep and primal response to injustice. The problem, like Covid 19, has a long tail, which can make it seem as though none of us have the power to change these patterns. At the same time, as with all hard challenges, step by step and day by day we make progress. Old world dynamics of ‘top down, power over, conquer and divide is no longer working !!! As the people-led movements for change are demonstrating, the horizontal power structure is coming into being. Uniting and collaborating to find creative solutions for our community challenges, is the medicine for these times. As people of our shared Mother Earth, we are ready for something very different.
Sharing and healing occurs naturally when we anchor ourselves in the Heart. We know instinctively that this is the way to heal. All cultures of the world have expressions which refer to people through their heart-based qualities eg kind hearted, soft hearted, big hearted, hard hearted. As we return to these innate ways of being with ourselves and others we reveal the power of an awakened heart. When we connect through our common points of unity we discover a natural ease with ourselves and others. This is the way of an open kind heart.
As Dr Martin Luther King says, “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final say in reality”
Right now as we collectively adjust our lives to create a new reality, these words have as much meaning now as when they were first spoken.