Healing the hate within ourselves

Hatred seems to be one of the most powerful forces on the planet earth throughout history. It has caused vast numbers of wars, greater numbers of deaths, and held back the physical and spiritual development of the human race.

During the Inquisition, perhaps as many as nine million people, mostly women, died due to the hatred of the Church for those practicing another approach to spirituality. Adolph Hitler managed to kill about 12 million due to his hatred of Jews, homosexuals, and political dissidents. Stalin managed to kill millions of farmers.

There are innumerable instances of hate resulting in the deaths of smaller numbers of people. The United States' South is a primary example, with the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, and the lynching of blacks for any perceived offense against white people.

Add to this the hatred of the Native Americans throughout the period of colonialization of the North American continent, and the deaths of millions of them.

The symbols of hatred are particular important, for each symbol can bring up within the human mind a whole range of ideas, feelings, and terms. These symbols can be words and/or physical objects.

For example, in the minds of some:

• 1. "Black" implies lazy, shiftless, untrustworthy, and stupid.
• 2. "Foreigners" implies people who will steal our jobs.
• 3. Gays and Lesbians are all unnatural perverts.
• 4. The Irish are all drunken sots.
• 5. Italians are greasy.
• 6. The old are useless; the young are rebellious and disrespectful. 7. "Whites" all hate blacks and are all chumps.

All of these, and many more, are "different" from "us." The words have given rise to symbols- the Nazi swastika, the cross of the Ku Klux Klan, hate literature, and so on.

We can never consider ourselves civilized as long as we hate! The human race will never achieve its potential as long as people express intolerance of others by words and symbols.

Now, you say you don't have any hatreds in you. But do you? What kind of society were you brought up in? Most likely the American society, which has built-in cultural conditioning. That cultural conditioning unfortunately includes the prejudices of your parents, who received them from their parents, and so on.

Consider yourself exceptionally lucky if you grew up in a family where intolerance of others was not accepted.

HEALING THE HATE MEDITATION

1. Get in a relaxed place, in a dimly lit room. Smudge yourself and your chair first, then proceed with the meditation.

2. Look into yourself deeply. What prejudices and intolerances do you have? Be honest with yourself-virtually all of us are intolerant toward someone else for some real or perceived reason. Express your intolerance/prejudice by a word or a physical symbol.

3. Now see a giant bonfire before you. See thousands of other people standing around the fire, throwing in symbols and words written on paper. These symbols and words are all expressions of their intolerance.

Now take your own words and symbols and throw them into the cleansing fire. Watch the fire burn away your intolerance. Feel the flames from that fire filling you, burning away any traces of prejudice and intolerance in you.

4. Before you leave the fire, shake hands with and hug the other people-blacks, Native Americans, Orientals, Hispanics, and whites. Feel your fellowship with them.

5. Return to your meditation chair. Thank the spirits for helping you dispose of your intolerances and prejudices. Go outside and offer tobacco to the directions, and place some on the ground in front of you.

Repeat this ceremony as often as you need, until you no longer feel any of the intolerances within you.