Unity

 

I first met Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha at a seminar in Cleveland, Ohio where the Center for Human Development first was located. I cannot remember what the topic of the seminar. But I can tell you what happened during that Sunday afternoon. It is the one thing that sticks in my mind and has for over 30 years. It happened when we broke for lunch.   The lunch had been brought in and there was a whole table set up with salads in foam containers with the accoutrements to be able to eat and also drinks. The foam containers were all on top of one another with the various different salads together. They were all labeled so Pa’Ris’Ha chose one and when she picked it up all the salad fell all over the floor.

 

I saw what happened and as we all stood around in amazement instead of acting or being embarrassed and expressing how sorry that she was everything fell on the floor, she just turned to the rest of us stating well that this was purposeful to be careful because obviously some of them may be upside down.

Now why did that stand out. Well, I would have definitely been so embarrassed and flustered and I would’ve not given any thought to the fact as to what it implied for the others in line. And I don’t know if I can express the wonder of the moment. It seems like such a small thing happens to all of us and wonder is not the result. Perhaps it was because she was the one presenting the seminar and that she was eating with us was a bit different in terms of business seminars. Or here was the presenter and the first thing that happens is this embarrassing moment or it would’ve been for me. And instead of that it became - oh this is a sign for all of us when you go to pick up your salad be careful it’s probably upside down.

 

Now I don’t know about any of you but in my life, I had never seen anyone stand back from something so embarrassing and say OK this is happened because it’s to help everyone. But that is exactly the way Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha lived her life and has lived her life. No one I have ever met has ever shown such great understanding and compassion as a teacher or as a human being.

 As we are constantly looking for good advice or direction. These two qualities of understanding and compassion have to be at the top of your list in this search.

After this event I definitely and immediately wanted to hear more of what she had to say. She constantly demonstrated concern for all. And her laser like views on how we have been taught to view the world put us right where we were stuck. So, to change anything else start with self.

In the years following this eventful seminar I became part of the board of directors for the Center for Human Development. We eventually moved to southern Ohio and started a building program for a physical center where people could come to retreat on the land & to get more in touch with who they really are.

To say building program, I mean we built it! We did not have it built so that meant many weekends of travel, long hours and redoing to get everything right. The main building was over 180 feet long! And most of us that were building had never built anything in our lives luckily some of the people that were dedicated to this project had the building skills for us to accomplish this task. But I can tell you that it was the dedication to bringing this into physical form that got this project accomplished. And Pa’Ris’Ha’s guidance and assistance that sustained us throughout whatever we were doing.

Pa’Ris’Ha led me to learn many things about myself and my relationship to the world both the seen and unseen. Was I ready always for those lessons? She would say yes, I was because I was sitting there in front of her listening. But I of course would take the opposite and say no but I started the process of focusing to what was going on with me.

Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha never separated herself from her family in order to “teach” those of us who were sitting in front of her so her family became part of the lesson.  If you ever asked her what was important in her life; God certainly was first but family was definitely second and all that that means whether that be human, the natural world or the spiritual world. Those of us who have been lucky enough to be around her for many years saw this exhibited on a daily basis. In our lives whether we had a traumatic event or just a daily grind, the spiritual side of our life, the successful side of our life, the worrying, the teachable moment and the loving moments were all combined together. Because it is all one -Life.

So much of Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha words and teachings ring true as I look at the world. “You cannot separate yourself in any way from what’s happening, whether that is in your day today dealings with other people or on the world stage of nations or companies.  What we see around us is FEAR – false evidence appearing real.  If in the moment, you can recognize that your own fear whether that fear is expressing itself (perhaps hatred or love, sorrow or worry) and you can recognize it and you can change your behavior to now bring compassion to this situation.”

I think that is what people mean when they talk about unity and the wonderful descriptions and ideas that people give to this word. “That this is the one & the only, the unity of the whole, or united we stand “all of these words talk about how great it is if we’re together. But the only thing I believe that prevents us from recognizing that unity is that unity is already is there, that we are already whole and it is our fear that gives us a view that we are separate.  It could be from how we were raised and the beliefs that we hold onto from our past but Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha always has spoken to that part of ourselves that we step away from as also who we really were. As we are all god’s children, we are all needed to work at that level as ONE in order to make all of what we do be in harmony.  harmony and unity in what we l strive for.

As Pa’Ris’Ha said to us many times “Unity - the ONE that we are looking for is the one that’s looking back from the mirror. You cannot be separate from yourself; what you see is all part you “.  We must recognize love and hate and anger and suffering but also compassion and beauty as in us, around us -just you or us.” As God states He separated light from dark but the words say the darkness came from the light so it’s part of the light it’s not separated in the sense that we think of it as two things that are distinct from one another.

So, Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha always spoke to how we could work together. How the complementary talents of each one of us formed what we needed and when we needed it to be able to accomplish a task. And isn’t this really where we are in our own lives if we can recognize it. That the talents that we have and the talents of those around us help to make what we see. Whether that is in business or education and in our daily lives are groups together accomplish the task or form the foundation which we work from to accomplish our purpose. So, in this time we must and indeed need to recognize that every experience in life that crosses our path is part of that oneness or unity that Grandmother Pa’Ris’Ha spoke to. This unity we see in the natural world or in the cosmos is in each of us!

 

-Ew