Love and Understanding

At this time when there seems to be so much malice, hostility, cruelty and anger, the content of this post* makes very welcome reading, and some of the inspiration from Thich Nhat Hanh is quoted below.

We may hear the word anger and automatically think of Holly, but as you’ll see in the article linked below, our first step needs to be to look at our understanding.  And to include in that understanding not only the suffering of others, but our own suffering which may be something we’ve never really examined closely before. 

“Understanding is love’s other name.” 

Every one of the flower remedies works to increase our self-knowledge and understanding, our self-compassion and thus understanding and compassion for others. 

Image by @LovePlantlife

Agrimony is just the first remedy to spring to mind regarding suffering.  The caption to this @LovePlantlife picture tells us that it was a fairy’s wand, used to ward off goblins.  What are goblins if not those demons of fear, guilt or unworthiness; or a lack of self-love or confidence which colour our every waking thought and affect our relationships with others?

“Your understanding of your own suffering helps your loved one to suffer less.”

Agrimony is needed when we hide, even from ourselves, how much we are suffering.  Others are not allowed to see beyond our mask of cheerfulness as we can’t bear anyone to ‘touch’ the pain inside.  We keep our pain (and other people) at arm’s length by jollity, lively chat and social activity, and consequently we cannot love them as they deserve to be loved because there is all this body-armour keeping our hearts apart.  Agrimony helps us to face our pain courageously and give it love and understanding so that we can love and understand others.

“The more you understand the more you love; the more you love, the more you understand.”

Taking whichever flower remedies we currently need helps us to develop our ability to listen deeply to others.  ‘Understanding’ means literally to stand beneath – we then become a foundation stone for others, and use our love to support them in how they build their lives, their hopes, and their dreams.

 

* Brain pickings on How to Love: https://bit.ly/3tk5xmz)  which provided the quotes in this blog, all by Thich Nhat Hanh.