Orlando: What Will it Take?

Sad to admit it: but we’re on a whirligig of fear, ignorance, death, and human decimation that’s escalating out of control. The Orlando massacre is but the latest in a chain of mass civilian killings.

And these premeditated heinous crimes are born of what? Hatred? Religious fundamentalism? Derangement? Terrorist radicalization? Socialization? The availability of assault weapons? Politically biased legislation? Human depravity? What?

All of the above . .

And the fragmentation of human consciousness. And what do I mean by that? I mean we all have a hand in the bloody massacres and hate crimes we hear of on a daily basis. How?

A couple of years ago I read an account of a Hawaiian psychologist, Dr. Ihaleakala Hew Len, who accepted a position (no one else would) at the Hawaii State Hospital. He took the position of Resident Psychologist in the hospital’s “special department” for the criminally insane. This ward, occupied by severely mentally ill patients, murderers and rapists, had a chilling reputation for many years; although many patients were shackled, violent attacks still occurred on almost a daily basis. Many doctors and nurses did not report for work or simply quit their jobs, causing severe staff shortages because of the extremely stressful and unpleasant conditions.

Shortly after his arrival, the staff became curious about this odd psychologist who kept reading the patients’ files without ever talking to the patients. Dr. Hew Len explained that he was treating the patients by treating himself with the consistent practice of Ho’oponopono. He believed that everything that was wrong in the outside world—including the ward’s patients—only proved that there was something wrong within himself. So he repeatedly used the four key sentences—I am sorry; please forgive me; thank you; I love you—to remedy what appeared to be wrong within himself. The staff, of course, was skeptical, but three years later, all of the ward’s patients who were still present had been cured.

Dr. Len believes that total responsibility for our lives means that everything in our lives—simply because it is in our lives—is our responsibility.

In other words: Anything that falls within the orbit of our experience is not unrelated to us. It is to some degree a reflection (or projection) of the state of our consciousness; the emotional and mental patterns that we create and pander to daily. As Deepak Chopra put it at “A Global Meditation for Peace” in 2014:

The world is a reflection of who we are, and if we don’t like the reflection, it doesn’t really help to break the mirror.

So are we to blame for the Orlando massacre? No, not exactly, but perhaps the approach to healing this kind of negative energy in the world—because it happened on our watch—is to pray the four sentences: I am sorry; please forgive me; thank you; I love you. In this way we are not praying for the healing, forgiveness and conversion of a ‘radicalized’ homophobic terrorist. We are praying for the healing of whatever needs healing within us. This in turn expands our awareness, deepens our compassion and ultimately contributes to the overall health and well-being of human consciousness.

Ego-infested Fear the root of all violence

As my good friend and fellow Patheos blogger Sean O’Laoire, PhD (Spiritual Director of Companions on the Journey) puts it:

When love is turned inwards it becomes self-esteem; when love is turned outwards, it becomes compassion; when fear is turned inwards, it becomes depression; and when fear is turned outwards it becomes anger . . . . Wisdom is the heart’s commitment to turning all experiences into love, and ignorance is the ego’s addiction to turning all experiences into fear

It’s Time

Time to sign the petitions again to ban all assault weapons; time to reflect deeply on who we are as a Divinely Endowed species that is tragically lost; time to pray for the brokenhearted, the wounded survivors, and bereaved families of Sunday’s nightmare in Orlando; time to pray, pray, pray and come together in mind, loving intelligence, and spirit as one human family desperately in need of healing and wholeness.

Cover Photo: Commons Wikipedia