In The Face of Suffering, Invest Your Heart and Soul in the Peace Within

There is nowhere to go.
There is nowhere to hide.
There is nothing to do.

Abide in the gift of the present moment.
Within the moment of now, all is as it should be.
There are no exceptions to this universal law.
Letting go, into the full acceptance of now, brings
peace, openness, and therefore, love, into our hearts.
May no one be the least little bit unhappy, ever.

If you were asked to take a moment to observe your choices in life through witness consciousness, what would you find? Do you still, from time to time, use the places you know do not serve you? Do you find yourself looking outside for validation, seeking control over events, and needing to grab and hold?

All of these repetitive behaviors and patterns cause pain and suffering. Yet, somewhere inside, you still believe these shadow places can get you what you want -- some attention, some security, or perhaps some protection.

Once you see that these places and patterns will not get you what you want, then you can start to let them go. When you really see it, you will not want to waste one more drop of your precious love going down those drains because they lead to nothing but suffering. They do not bring more security, they do not bring more control, they do not get people to help you, and they do not bring about a better self-image.

When you see that, you can start to invest your heart and soul in the places that do get you what you want: the cessation of suffering and peace within. The spirits of love, peace, beauty, and the spirit of the Lord God and of the Holy Mother are void of suffering. Turn the shadow places around by shining your light on them and seeing clearly that they are never, ever going to get you what you want.

The Desire For Something Outside Of Ourselves

The desire for something outside of ourselves can be so strong; take that deep desire and turn it toward your transformation, love, and healing. Take all the energy of that desire and let it flourish, be nourished and grow. This is when healing and light get amplified; it feels wonderful, it feels beautiful, it feels whole. Call for help; the help is within.


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If you invest in the spiritual dimensions and you use the spiritual laws, your investment will come back to you tenfold. This is where all the magic happens. This is where all of the synchronicity and magic of life live. If you know this, and hang on to it, you will always give yourself what you really want by going within.

At a time when many have forgotten, it is so important that those of you who do remember, do everything in your power to feed the remembrance of what is loving, peaceful, and kind. Very simply return to yourself by closing your eyes, breathing consciously, and entering the resonance of the still point, for the qualities of love, peace and beauty dwell within you.

Perfect Clarity in the Face of Suffering

People who are experiencing challenges and trials may or may not deserve them. We should not judge them. On a human or moral level, they may well be innocent. Sometimes very good people suffer and such suffering appears to be unjust. The soul, however, deserves to experience the episodes it chooses. A person may need to disassemble for reasons of the soul.

Perhaps a person is suffering for the actions of another lifetime. All of us, in our multiple lifetimes, have killed other people, have ourselves been killed, have suffered terrible disease, have known destitution, have perpetrated and been perpetrated upon. We work through these events in one lifetime or another.

Many people suffer the same or similar calamities. Some of them recover while others do not. Why is this so? When a soul has its reasons, its progress cannot be stopped. We might yearn deeply to stop the track of unhappiness and the terrible dissolution that our friends and relatives experience. This yearning of ours does not assist them.

Respecting The Path Of The Soul

The suffering a person experiences does not end with itself. Even if they suffer for a lifetime or choose to end their life because of the extremity of their suffering, they will begin to assemble again. No matter what the extent of their disintegration may be, they are held by universal law and the light of God. They are held by the light and love of the universe. When they recognize where they are, when they recognize the strength of spirit, they will turn. Disassembly cannot end with itself. Assembly always follows disassembly.

If you identify your own suffering in the suffering of others, you begin to believe in their suffering with them. Then you are supporting their suffering, and you assist it by confirming its power. Your own fear vibrates with it and makes it stronger. Their suffering stimulates your memory of suffering, and together you intensify one another’s suffering. This is what pity is.

When you no longer see yourself in their pain, your identity is not confirmed by their unhappiness. Then you experience compassion, a benevolent kindness that is detached from your own experience of suffering.

This compassion knows no yearning and no conflict. You become a healing presence that heals simply by the presence of its own light, without effort. You can see deeply into the heart of the suffering person because you are not bound by fear, sorrow, memory or dread within yourself. You achieve perfect clarity without judgment of yourself or others.

The potential for this awareness exists, not in the mind, but in the heart. The perfect clarity you can achieve is not a matter of understanding but of love. Then you are healing by holding the light of the absolute, and you are centered in that light. You will not need to do anything because the light will do its work through you. Then you will heal simply as you are: self-existing, self-fulfilling, and self-sustaining.

Holding the Light

I have suffered greatly on behalf of my family and their suffering. If I can get to a place where I do not react, where I do not suffer with them, will their suffering also quiet down?

Their suffering may or may not quiet down. Most likely you will continue to witness the humanity of your loved ones -- their failures, their successes, and the ways in which they choose suffering over peace. It is important, however, to not vibrate in the suffering. If you vibrate in the suffering, you will feed it. You will actually add to the energy of suffering and to the consciousness that believes it is real.

There is a beautiful way to be compassionately present without being karmically involved. Look at the lives of the saints and humanitarians. How did they do it?

How did Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., do it? How did Mother Theresa succeed in being among the suffering, the dying and the poor -- those who were most in need -- and not go under? She did not vibrate or resonate with their suffering; she resonated with the light of Christ.

When you resonate with this light, you actually hold the light. You develop an inner constancy where peace and beauty abide. You stay there, and hold that place within yourself. This is not a matter of saying or doing the right thing. It is simply a state of being that aligns itself with the consciousness of God. This constant light will be realized by those around you as a peaceful and beautiful reassurance.

You do not have the power to release others from their suffering, but you do have the power to hold the light. If others should want this light, they have the free will to choose it for themselves. You have the power to be an anchor for this light.

Healing is a State of Mind and Heart

I’ve been thinking about Helen who’s 97 years old. She just fell out of bed and broke her leg. She’s in a lot of pain, and her family is not here. She must be having to find so much courage within herself because it’s really just between her and God right now.

What is true of Helen at 97 in a nursing home, alone and without family, is true of you and everyone else. It is between you and God; it is between her and God. She is in the same place that we all are in. The Kingdom of Heaven is within us.

This life is an inner journey. We have the chance to learn how to connect to the divine. Each of those trials, tribulations, and challenges, gives us an opportunity to journey deeply within. The divine door is within, and it is always available for us to open. You can open it once in a while, or you can keep it open all the time.

The Gift of Rememberance

We have the gift of practice and prayer until we take our last breath; it is a gift of remembrance, and we are given many, many opportunities to remember all our lives long. If you bring the consciousness of forgiveness, love, and hope into all things, absolutely at all times and under all circumstances, you will realize healing, no matter what.

You cannot avoid the circumstances of life; you cannot avoid the challenges that come to you personally. Healing does not mean you do not break your leg. Healing does not mean that you do not die or get old.

Healing is a state of mind and heart. That state of consciousness has nothing to do with the burdens of the flesh. Higher consciousness can be held in the most incredible circumstances and predicaments.

©2017 by Maresha Donna Ducharme.
All Rights Reserved.

Book by the Author

The Way Home to Love: A Guide to Peace in Turbulent Times
by Maresha Donna Ducharme.

The Way Home to Love: A Guide to Peace in Turbulent Times by Maresha Donna Ducharme.The talks and spiritual teachings in this book were given at gatherings and retreats for spiritual students and seekers at Snow Dragon Sanctuary. Each one is an inspiration, reminding us how to live a conscious life. Each one helps us to remember the true nature of love and the guiding principles of spiritual living: how to be peaceful, beautiful, and more deeply connected to God and how to sustain and nurture our faith.

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About the Author

Maresha Donna Ducharme Maresha Donna Ducharme has been inspiring people to realize the sources of healing and peace, which exist within each one of us for over 35 years. Maresha holds degrees in Teaching, Education, Wholistic and Macrobiotic Counseling, and Energy Medicine. Her background and experience in spiritual and theological training is diverse. She has held a teaching ministry for the last 30 years. Maresha is a keeper of the sweat lodge, has trained extensively in Eastern Medicine, and in 1984 she was initiated into the Kundalini Shaktipat tradition. In 2000, she established The Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is ecumenical and open to all faiths and traditions and which finds the common bond of universal truths held at the heart of all faiths, and traditions. For more info, visit SnowDragonSanctuary.com

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