In this discussion, Jack teaches us how we can meet trauma with tenderness and courage.
A Compassionate Cloak (2:28)
Jack opens by re-telling a Buddhist story about Patachara, a woman in severe grief who visits the Buddha. The Buddha offers her his cloak and talks to her about impermanence. He tells her it is wise to love well while we have this life, but we must know that love and life can not be possessed. Being able to sit with someone’s trauma or grief and offer a cloak of compassion and mindfulness, is a great healing practice.
“You can take the robe of presence and mindfulness, loving attention and compassion, and put it around the trauma and the sorrow that people carry, because as human beings we are all vulnerable.”
The Vulnerability of Trauma (8:00)
Trauma is about the fact that we are vulnerable, but we can not live life closed off. We have to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and to heal. Experiencing death, illness, the end of a marriage or violence, are all reasons we may have trauma. Experiencing some type of trauma is inevitable in life and it usually has many layers. What kind of trauma have you experienced? Has it made you close yourself up?
To hear more about working with trauma tune into Ep. 34 of Healing at the Edge: Working with Deep Emotion, Trauma and Addiction
Steps in Releasing Trauma (23:30)
Trauma is stored within us. It is in our body, our emotions, and our mind. In order to feel freedom from our trauma, we must first allow ourselves to feel and sit with our pain. We must learn all of the ways in which we have stored our traumatic experiences. We need to find the corners that our trauma has been living in.
“The release of trauma requires a learning of the vocabulary of your own emotions and the capacity to be present for them. That comes from mindfulness and that comes from compassion.”
Trauma is Not the End of the Story (33:58)
Jack shares instructions from the Buddha about maintaining your spirit amidst pain. He says that even though there is suffering in the world and in your individual life, it need not limit you. We do not need to be loyal to our suffering and allow it to consume our identity.
For more on sitting with trauma check out BHNN Guest Podcast – Ep. 78 – Permission to Be Fully Present with Trauma w/ Rev. Dr. Ron Bell and Dr. Lenwood W. Hayman Jr.
“Don’t feel guilty. That’s not the way to save the world, that’s just an unfortunate contracted state. If you want to save this world, love it. Do it because you love it. . . Do it out of your love because that’s the only thing that you will save anything.”
Click here for more episodes of Jack Kornfield’s Heart Wisdom Podcast
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