Peace Practice, Seeing the ‘Enemy’ in our Mirror – Transforming Fear into Compassion, Inner Peace - Outer Harmony
Kenneth Small – USA
We have met the enemy and he is us
Transforming Cycles of Inner Dissonance and Outer Violence
The root of war is fear. Fearing the unknown in others is reflective of our fear of the unknown within ourselves. Accepting our fear of the unknown rejected parts within us and owning what we projected unconsciously onto the ‘enemy’, transforms our inner fears enhancing our inner peace and outer harmony.
Accepting the root of our fear, giving it the awareness it needs to grow by welcoming our fears, seeing and accepting them, transforms these fears into the inner empathic sensing elements we need. Unblocking our empathic capacity into broader compassion opens a way to see the intrinsic humanity in our perceived ‘enemy’. Rejecting the inherent humanity in others, degrades and rejects the humanity in ourselves. Through inner work, meditation and contemplative inquiry we may begin to see our shared common ground that holds all beings within the unified web of life, which then motivates us to engage in greater expressions of compassion and peace making for the greater good.
