Tag Archives: Myanmar

The Cathars of Languedoc: The Blooming of The Laurel

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Originally written for the Lynn News, Thought for the Day
 
The Cathars of Languedoc were a group of medieval Christians who have been very close to my heart since I first learned of them in 2011. The Cathars were called the good people by friends and neighbours. They were a Gnostic Christian community who lived in the South of France in the 12th century. Cathars were divided into two groups: the parfait (perfected) who were men and women who lived a strict life of simplicity, celibacy, prayer and vegetarianism and leading activities of worship and faith. Men and women were equals in Catharism. The second group of Cathars were the ordinary followers who did marry, but attempted to live according to the Cathar ideals as best they could. Most, however, would usually wait until being close to death before committing to the rigors of becoming parfait. Becoming parfait happened through a ritual called the consolamentum.
 
My sense of closeness to this medieval group has grown considerably over the past few years, driven by a sense of sadness at witnessing the growing polarisations within our own society and the progressive breakdown of a palpable sense of interdependent community. The Cathars were able to be a community in a very real manner. I have deep respect for their commitment to peace at a time when war was bloody and unmerciful; for embracing simplicity, compassion and cohesion. They were respected and loved by their Catholic friends and neighbours, despite having very significant theological differences with them.
 
The Cathars loved their spiritual beliefs despite the growing threat to them from the increasing power of the Inquisition. The Cathars had not been silent in confronting the corruption of the medieval Church which made them especially vulnerable. Over a century, a million Cathar men, women and children were exterminated, many burned at the stake. The inquisition said of them the smallest trace of ‘sin’ had to be extirpated and the corrupt body had to be destroyed and evil exorcised in the flames.
 
On March 16, 1244, around 200 Cathar perfects at the Montségur Castle embraced death rather than renouncing their faith; murdered by the Inquisition, they faced death by fire.
 
On the 21st August 1321, Guillaume Belibaste, the last of the Parfait, was burnt at stake. While dying he proclaimed this prophecy of hope:
 
After 700 years, the Laurel will become green again on the ashes of the martyrs!
 
Those words were spoken 700 years ago. The awakening of consciousness he proclaimed is happening now.
 
My intention is to visit Montségur as a pilgrim in order to honour our martyred Cathar brothers and sisters, to especially pray for an end to war, violence, persecution and division on Earth, and for an increase in compassionate, resilient communities to flourish and spread the fragrance of loving-kindness. At this moment I send my prayers of peace to Israel, Gaza, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Iran, Myanmar and all places where there is conflict. I pray for the victims of trafficking, modern day slavery and violence; for all children hurt and abused, for all refugees and migrants. My hope is we bring them all into safe, loving and resilient communities where they can heal and recover from trauma and loss.

Trauma and Compassion ~ Gabor Mate

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Originally written for the Lynn News, Thought for the Day

The internationally acclaimed medical doctor, Gabor Maté, is a bestselling author, teacher and public speaker whose pioneering compassionate work with people suffering from addictions and their causative underlying traumas, has been a very important voice in the development of global humanitarianism and compassion. Gabor was born in Hungary in 1944 of Jewish parents during the time of the domination of Nazism in Europe. Gabor says he was born into a traumatised world and a traumatised people, and as a result experienced early trauma himself.
 
He emigrated to Canada in 1956, worked as a teacher and then obtained a medical degree and became a physician. In his career, Gabor came to understand that there are a number of issues that need to be addressed in creating a stable, compassionate, healthier and sustainable world. These issues include supporting good nurturing parenting and secure and safe attachments for children in early life; creating better lifestyle and living conditions for people; lowering of stress and anxiety that creates nervous system activation and overwhelm, and teaching people to work with their emotional and psychological scars through a process of compassionate self-inquiry.
Gabor has made the bold assertion that trauma is endemic in human society, negatively impacting upon most of us, and perpetuated by a western materialistic agenda. He considers our current culture and society to be harmful to human good, of which he says:
 
…Illness in this society, physical or mental, they are not abnormalities. They are normal responses to an abnormal culture. This culture is abnormal when it comes to real human needs. And.. it is in the nature of the system to be abnormal, because if we had a society geared to meet human needs.. would we be destroying the Earth through climate change? Would we be putting extra burden on certain minority people? Would we be selling people a lot of goods that they don’t need, and, in fact, are harmful for them? Would there be mass industries based on manufacturing, designing and mass-marketing toxic food to people?…
 
As we look upon some of the massive problems facing humanity today, it is easy to lose hope, including the devastating loss of life in Ukraine, Gaza, Myanmar and many other countries; mass third world hunger and destitution; the growing inequality and poverty in western nations created by poor wages; the rising cost of food, energy and housing prices; the ecological crisis threatening our very future on the planet and already eroding our lands and oceans; the growing wealth of a minority at the expense of the majority; the duplicitous and dishonest politics we have seen paraded before us, and many, many more issues. Gabor Mate would point to the need for us to compassionately de-traumatise our world. He would suggest that we treat ourselves and others with compassion, and to firmly, but compassionately, hold accountable those in positions of power and privilege who exploit the world for selfish ends. With compassion we can heal. With compassion we can create narratives about ourselves and others – especially those whom we might judge as being “failures” “losers” “idiots”- and recognise our common humanity. We can appreciate that life is hard for us all and that we cannot know what it is like to walk in the shoes of another person.