The discussion with Mara, every day

This is just a short post about an exchange a client and I had the other day.  Of course, it is anonymous.  On a bright Spring afternoon, we were engaging in a Compassion Focused Therapy role-play exercise together.

After several weeks of practicing a visualization of the compassionate self, and more weeks of training in mindful, rhythmic breathing, my client was playing the role of their compassionate self.  The process began with a brief meditative imagery exercise, with the client using imagination and mindful awareness to evoke and emotionally connect with the qualities of the compassionate mind; such as non-judgment, authority, loving kindness and courage.  My job was to play the role of their inner critic.  As we engaged in this process, exchanging roles, a dialogue unfolded, where the voice of anxiety, criticism and aggression was met, again and again, with a voice of compassion, warmth, and wisdom.  Whoever of us was playing whichever role, the discussion continued, like the rhythm of waves, with compassion, moment by moment, coming into contact with self-condeming, anxious thoughts and emotions.  Gradually, the flow of compassion, and the presence of the compassionate mind, brought perspective, calm and possibility into the room.

As the exercise concluded I remembered the image of the historical Buddha, sitting beneath the bodhi tree, calmly engaged in a dialogue with Mara.  The demonic, mythic figure of Mara, sometimes referred to as "the evil one" or "the tempter", personified a voice of threat, of fear, aggression and a desire to assert the needs and wants of the self over everything else.  The voice of the Buddha in these stories, emerges in his enlightenment, as the voice of pure, personified compassion and wisdom.  I was very moved by this connection.

Whether we are buddhists or atheists, psychotherapists or lawyers, scientists or priests, members of any religion or none, we all face this exact embodied dialogue again and again.  This discussion emerges within us through the evolution of our species and the evolution of our behavior.

Our inner discussion can mirror and embody this process, this most human process, wherein our threatened minds - frantic, agitated and aggressive - are met by the presence of our secure inner-attachment, our self-compassion and our intuitive wisdom.

As the Taoists might say, just as water pours over rocks to make them smooth as years pass, the cultivation of this immovable compassionate presence within us can soften our edges, and brings us into a healthier relationship with our struggle.

In a very real sense, we all are that selfsame Buddha, sitting in the presence of our aggression, our craving, and our fear.  In our inner work, we are honored by the engagement of this timeless process.

May we help each other to return to compassion, for ourselves, for every living being, and for everything that is.

I'm grateful to my client for our work together.

Peace,

Dennis