Meeting Two Brothers On The Wrong Street

[A striking story Tim shared in his opening of last night's Awakin Circle, on the passage: I Have No Need For An Enemy.]

I was really struck by a couple of different things. I mean, one, obviously that beautiful Rumi quote "beyond right and wrong, there's this field." This notion of freedom and being able to choose the non-dual way.

I was remembering a time when I was in India volunteering with this incredible nonprofit, which was just a heart-centered kind of organization. I was spending so much time with all these incredible Gandhians and children, and I remember seeing all these kids go up to Jayeshbhai (this elder in the community) and go down and touch his feet, out of respect. I was just so moved by the love of everybody who is trying to live a different way -- not of the "haves" and the "have nots" or "those who are causing harm" and "those who are harmed" -- but beyond that, just a love for everybody.

One night, when I was there in Ahmedabad, I was walking on the street. It was a dark night, and I guess I had wandered down the wrong street. These two men basically came up to me and they grabbed me by the arms. They lifted me up and they -- just with so much kind of aggression, I just felt that tension -- they threw me onto the street. And I remember the fight-or-flight response getting triggered in me -- a sense of anger, like this justified anger of "why are you doing this to me -- just because I look different or what?" And this kind of othering of them.

And there was this other part of me that was really scared, and was like, "maybe I should just run." They were coming back at me actually to come again. As they were getting closer, I was surprised by my response because I ended up unexpectedly choosing a third way.

When I was looking at their eyes, something in me just softened.

I realized there was just a misunderstanding. They were just as scared as I was. And, just from my heart, there was this offering to -- I basically put my hands together and I bowed to them. I said, "Jai Shree Krishna," which was one of the few phrases I had learned, but it meant "God bless you."

Then I went down and I touched their feet. Just with every kind of ounce of energy of love I could put into it, I went down and I touched their feet.

After that moment, the energy just completely changed. And these two guys were really floored. They didn't know what to do. They just kind of stood there. They talked with each other briefly, and they kind of shook their heads, and they walked away.

And, for me, at that moment, I just was trying to send that love. Even though we might seem very different or whatever -- I just wish for all of us to be well, and to be able to find more understanding.

They didn't come back at me after that, and we just kind of parted ways. But it was just a really humbling and powerful reminder for me of getting out of my "us vs. them" or this notion of the enemy, when in fact, these men were my brothers, and gave me the opportunity to practice love.

And I think because I had been in an ecosystem there where everyone was just practicing that way, it just came so naturally.

In that reflection, one quote that is coming up for me is from Mother Teresa. It's this quote: "If we have no peace, it's because we've forgotten that we belong to one another."

I guess in this notion of "I have no enemy," one of the questions that I would love for us to reflect on tonight is: What's a time in our lives when we've sensed that notion of enemy? Whether it's with people that we know or don't know, whether it's with an ideology, or anytime when we've othered or created this notion of enemy -- when have we practiced love in those instances? What helps us get back into that space of belonging, and moving beyond those dual notions of right and wrong, just or unjust?