Yesterday, I took a nap and had one of the most profound dreams I could possibly have at this time in my life.
In my dream, I was by myself inside a mud hut in a remote village in Africa (makes sense, right?), and all of a sudden I heard this thundering deep "scream". I looked outside and behind my hut there was a giant elephant (larger than in real life) making horrible sounds. He was angry and crushing into peoples' huts, most likely killing them or at least rendering them severely injured.
I knew that the cause of his immense pain was humanity. Something in my heart understood that people did something to him to cause his anguish. I felt so sorry for him that I was torn between running or trying to help him. I glanced to my right and saw a ladder built into a really tall tree. I knew that if I wanted to, I could climb the tree and be free of harm's way. But instead I chose to stay and try to help this magnificent animal.
Immediately I ran inside my hut, closed the door, and went into child's pose (for those of you who are unfamiliar with yoga, it's a relaxing position of innocence and surrender. So in this pose I'm sitting on my knees with my butt resting on my feet. I'm bent forward with my forehead resting on the floor and my arms stretched out in front of me, palms also resting on the ground). I began to meditate on giving love and peace to the distraught elephant. I could hear him screaming and crushing more huts, getting closer to my own. The closer he got the harder I focused on enveloping him in as much love I could possibly channel from the universe.
I could hear him outside my hut. I could feel the ground trembling with each footstep, but he was no longer making such a horrible cry. He was breathing heavily, and I was shaking. His power over me was incredible. I knew that at any moment he could crush me if he wanted to. But I continued to focus on tranquility. Still in child's pose, I heard the air escaping from his trunk near my ear, and I noticed that he had stuck his trunk through my window. Since the moment he arrived to my home I had felt a gradual shift in his energy. He wasn't as angry....as hurt.... He then lightly touched me with his trunk and began to walk away.
I slowly rose out of my meditation pose and peeked out of the door. I watched him as he wandered further through the trees away from the village. I was still shaking, but I smiled. Then I noticed a man came out of nowhere with this giant animal I've never seen before. He was using it to try and scare away the elephant. The elephant started to panic again, and I was so angry at the man. I just wanted him to leave the elephant alone....just let him be...he made a mistake, but he was leaving...
And then I woke up.
This dream is jam packed with symbolism. And it's a representation of my passion and the direction I want to go with it in life. The elephant is a very social creature. It enjoys traveling in packs and has a wide array of emotion and an incredible memory (sounds familiar, huh). But this elephant was alone. And I don't know what humanity did to him, but I felt as if people ignored him. They made him feel as if he wasn't wanted in this village. He was hated out of fear, and this hatred caused his anger. It doesn't make it right for him to kill. It doesn't justify his evil behavior, but how can we blame him when it was society in itself that let him down? And it was society that chose to ignore him instead of give him the love that every living creature deserves.
It took one girl, a split hair of the size of this elephant, to impact him. It took one person with patience that made the choice to love instead of hate, who chose to forgive instead of blame, to change this elephant.
I'm not saying I can change dysfunctional people. What I'm saying is that society as a whole has to stop treating the "problem" as a filthy disease that should be swept under the rug. The problem needs attention at the very root. The problem needs a chance for reformation, not just mindless punishment.
Every human being on this planet deserves to be loved and respected. When people are denied this in their lives they sometimes commit horrible crimes. They misbehave because nobody showed them otherwise. And out of ego, society is the first to judge and point fingers. They cast stones and sentence the evil-doer to the fiery pits of hell. Nobody wants to recognize that this person has a reason for their behavior most likely stemming from childhood. In no way am I justifying a criminal's choice to hurt....but I am trying to point out that there's always something much deeper than what's on the surface. The law can take care of the consequence of the criminal's action...but as brothers and sisters we have to figure out a way to take care of their hearts.
There's a prison in Alabama that experimented with the Buddhist vipassana meditation practice and criminals. Prisoners were allowed to choose to embark on this 9 day spiritual journey towards self awareness and forgiveness. The results were unbelievable. It took a couple patient, forgiving, and nonjudgmental Buddhist practicers to give their time to these prisoners. They offered reformation and it changed every single one of their lives. Not only did it immediately have an impact, but it stuck with them in the long term. Unfortunately, this bothered a lot of people because it's a predominantly Christian area (sad) and they removed the program. I'm not sure if they ever got it back....but I found that documentary very inspirational (I think it's called the Dharma Brothers...it's on netflix).
There is hope for change. People just have to harness that hope and diligently "fight" for it. I know there are people reading this right now saying murderers and rapists aren't worth our time, but you're the reason nobody finds the strength to forgive. You're perpetuating this horrific cycle of hate.
Call me an idealist. Call me an optimist with a tone if disdain in your voice. I don't care. Because it's people like me that give this world a chance of unity, and people like me will stick together and do everything we can to spread tolerance and peace. One day you might want to jump on board, and instead of saying "I told you so" we will gladly take your hand and continue on this journey together.
Forgive someone today because ultimately you are forgiving yourself.
<3
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