True freedom is not to escape fear, anxiety, and depression, but to accept them; to allow and include them in and as our being.
The rejection of some aspect of our being as unwanted or unwelcome is the birth of separation, the creation of the idea of division where there is only wholeness. Allowing what-is to be, by turning up for all that arises and welcoming all – however it looks or feels – is freedom.
This is what Christ meant when he said to “love your enemy”; it takes courage to face our enemy, in this case a difficult feeling, sensation, or thought. But in allowing it to exist in us, by facing and embracing it with tenderness and love, a re-integration is possible.
It’s all well and good to wish to be at peace with the world, but first we must be at peace with whatever arises in ourselves.
