13 Jun A Message from Rafia and Path Retreats

Path of Love has, since its inception 25 years ago, primarily been about ending separation and shifting humanity into the obvious realisation we are one humanity on one planet.

Path Retreats calls for healing the wounds of all discrimination. We need mass healing for both victims and perpetrators.  This madness has simply gone on for too long; claimed too many lives, ruined too many people, communities and cultures.  It’s got to stop.

Time For a Change.

-Rafia Morgan, Path Retreats co-Founder

Dear Friends,

Two days ago, my six-year-old daughter asked me, “Mama…why is there no one just like me? How do all the people I see look different? I have never seen the same person twice. I have never seen another me. How can each person look the way they look and not like anyone else?”

A beautiful question for these times…how is it that our perceived differences are a barrier to connection when every single life on this planet is expressed in a unique way? And how lucky we are that it is.

I will always remember my small group when I did Path of Love for the first time. On day one, I looked around and saw our differences…with our many different ages, shades of skin color, body types, accents, life experiences…we seemed “different”. On the last day of Path of Love, I remember saying, “I realize now that we are all the same. Everything each of you has shared, I have done…or thought…or felt.  I have never before in my life felt so connected, so part of something greater than just me. I no longer feel alone…or like I don’t belong…or isolated…because all of us are the same.”

From that point on, I knew on a deeper level, beyond that of the mind, that this kaleidoscope of life, with all that it is, runs through every one of us equally. Our external judgements keep us separate, they keep us in disconnection, in mistrust of the “other”.  When we come together in real connection, in honest exposure of our pain, our hurt, our anger, our fear…we can experience an absolute shift in our relationships with other people and within ourselves. And whether we make that shift…how we perceive the world around us and our place in it, is completely up to us. When we are “separate” there is fear, suspicion, anger, judgement. When we are “connected” there is understanding, care, love and kindness.

We can point to the external, but without the commitment of each individual, “changing the world” remains just a phrase. Individual responsibility is needed for global transformation. This is good news as it means that change is in the hands of each of us.

What did I do today…to my child, my brother, my neighbor, to myself, that was unjust? Why did I do it?  What is at the root of my own thoughts and actions? What do I judge, what am I “against”?  When you can look at your own “basement”…where you have acted in a way that caused pain to another or to yourself…when you can name it…and accept and forgive yourself, you find the path to transformation, to connection.  And when you can sit and listen wholeheartedly, with all of your being, holding space for another person as they share their suffering, you are present in the moment to their experience and ability to integrate and support them as much as they need. When we can do this for one another, we give each person the space to express their pain and heal. And…through this honest sharing, we connect in an authentic way that goes far beyond the surface and into the heart of each one of us.

This is a time for honest dialogue within ourselves and with one another, and even more important this is a time for listening.  All of our meditation mornings and evenings include an inquiry with another person where you are supported to look into yourself deeply, with courage and care.  And tonight, Love in Action USA is offering a free evening of guided meditation in which we come together to invoke healing, support and well-being for all who are in pain or suffering, for those experiencing inequality and injustice, and for people who have lost someone in this time. This is an evening for all who are in need…and for strengthening our own spirits to walk through this time with awareness, compassion, and courage.

We hope you can join us.

With  love,

Jacqueline
CEO, Path Retreats

Love is a process of inclusion. Once I include you as part of me, I will be to you just the way I am to myself.  – Sadhguru

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