A Lesson in Forgiveness and Healing

I was participating in a Buddhist meditation for peace in Syria when I was overcome with the need to put my palms on the floor and listen to the cries buried with the earth. Those who died by the cruelty of war and were thought to be dead, their souls permeated the molecules of earth and sang of the human violation - and loss. My hands recorded their testimony. I listened, and testified. \"The lines describing this land as Syria are imaginary! Stop condemning us to death! Stop brutalizing us! We are just like you, simple beings!\" Human blood has flowed through the earth's tissues for millennia. From one violence to next. War after war. Genocide upon genocide. Now, my hands feel the human web of suffering - all of it based on fictitious lines and self-serving beliefs, on social education that breeds fear, and hate. The millennial voices swam up my arms and through my chest. One earth. One human cry for cessation of the senseless violence. I felt ashamed. Why have we transformed humanity into a cultural cult of greed? Rolling onto my knees and touching my forehead to the earth, I asked forgiveness. I also asked for insight. End national boundaries. One earth. One species. We are one mankind. End political bias. Stop spreading lies and misinformation about who we are. They called for water. I gave them mine. The ancient web of wails. All the betrayals. All the aggression. The mesmerism of inculcated hate. Overwhelming, unspeakable cruelty. And the \"unspeakable\", the \"incomprehensible\", this is what keeps us prisoners of our social cults. This is what blinds us. This prevents us finding a way out. My body folded itself into a ball and I touched my forehead to the earth. My head at their feet. My hands open. Awaiting the forgiveness I knew would come. Because the sound of the chorus of voices crying into my hands wanted healing. It wasn't personal. These millennial souls wanted healing for the whole of mankind. I was forgiven. And, I forgave the social inscription that has turned us into egocentric and antagonist soldiers of nationalistic beliefs. This allowed me to be free to be me - independent of any nation and any dehumanizing beliefs. I felt quiet. I felt still. I felt honest. My body tenderized. My soul united. I felt the \"we\" in mankind. I now felt the fullness of being reconnected with my fellow beings. We need to realize that our social formats dishonor us. We are not that inhumanity. The voices confirm this. They are not crying out in hate but in a desperate attempt to remind us who we are. This is our path to complete healing.