Last weekend, I attended a meditation retreat. After an hour of sitting, a loud thump broke the silence. A man had just collapsed onto the floor. At first I thought he just fell asleep. Then he began shaking. I quickly got up and tried to help him. Another man, who just happened to be a doctor, knelt next to me. I helped straighten the man’s legs and put a pillow under his head while the doctor tried to wake him.
Thank you for writing about this - this was a very impactful read. I think life being precious is indeed a key element and deserves every word of this. The earlier point about the embarrassment is equally important and strikes me as much.
I heard a phrasing once that we don't give ourselves grace the way we do others. No one in the retreat faulted the man for fainting - they all gave him grace. He would have given grace to anyone else who had fainted in the room. Yet he could not give it to himself. We all act as though our lives are an imposition to the others around us, and doing that means that we rob the people around us from the chance to help us and be kind and connect. It is a tragedy that isolates us.
Thank you for writing about this - this was a very impactful read. I think life being precious is indeed a key element and deserves every word of this. The earlier point about the embarrassment is equally important and strikes me as much.
I heard a phrasing once that we don't give ourselves grace the way we do others. No one in the retreat faulted the man for fainting - they all gave him grace. He would have given grace to anyone else who had fainted in the room. Yet he could not give it to himself. We all act as though our lives are an imposition to the others around us, and doing that means that we rob the people around us from the chance to help us and be kind and connect. It is a tragedy that isolates us.
Thank you for sharing, Salman.
I don't know if your article caught me too early in the morning, before the full frenetic effect of the day kicked in, but it really hit home.
Beautiful Salman. I appreciate how you shared your story and your perspective. In particular, I will carry these words with me:
"By embracing rapid communication, we have chosen to sacrifice deep understanding.
Yet it is precisely in moments like this, when emotions are hot and stakes are high, that we need to be deeply understood."
Thanks for sharing Salman.
Life is a brief flicker in the wind in which we maintain the delusion of permanence.