Message for All -by Jesse Greist

Where do we turn when we are struggling?  The answer is different for each and every one of us, though I imagine the desire for sanctuary, for safe space is probably universal.  For some of us, that safe, sacred space might be found in our house.  For others, it might be an object like a photograph, a stuffed animal, or a blanket.  There are people who seek out a particular place in nature, away from others when they’re struggling, while others might find that safe space on a dance floor in the middle of a bustling city. 

For me, there are two levels on which to answer the question of where I turn when struggling.  The first is about space.  I have a special place in the forest behind the house I grew up in right near here, under a particular mountain laurel.  When I’m in that special place, something in me automatically relaxes and I release all the tension, or worry, fear or even anger that I’m holding inside. 

But that’s the thing.  The place is helpful, but what about when I’m not there?  If a person has a safe object, can they be safe without it?  If we have a special place that triggers relaxation, can we relax when we’re not there?

I have often asked myself if I depend too much on a particular safe space and if my need to go there can get in the way of my healing and growing in the times I cannot go there.  Also, if I have to be there to be safe, how can I possibly be anywhere else?  In the epic Indian poem the Mahabharata, Krishna says to Arjuna “While thinking about objects that calm our senses, be careful you don’t get attached too much to the object itself.  Attachment can lead to desire which can lead to anger when the object isn’t there”

The buddha uses the word Upadana when talking about getting attached to something.  But that word Upadana doesn’t mean attachment.  In Sanskrit it actually means “fuel”, like wood or gasoline.  Buddha warns us that if we need to be in a calming place in order to be calm, or to have a comfort object in order to be comforted that need can be like fuel, like gas feeding a fire instead of putting it out. 

So let’s try something here together.  Let this be a seed that you can plant into your daily spiritual practice.  As you are willing, I ask you to close your eyes and imagine your own answer to the question “Where do you go or what do you do when you are struggling?”  Imagine that safe place you go, or that object you hold, or whatever it is.  Now, if you can picture that place or that object in your mind, you have successfully planted the spirit of that place or object within you.  It is with you, even when you are not with it.  Make space for that safe place or object in your mind, in your imagination, in your inner self.  Let it live there.  When you are struggling or worried, or frightened, if you cannot physically go to your safe space or hold your special object, perhaps you can close your eyes and let it find you and in that finding, you might just find that peace or comfort anyway.  May it be so.