Sacrifice
3/17/2013
Today, at the beginning of my walking meditation the song “Sacrifice” from Creed was on my head. I remembered hearing it almost a week ago in the car and also remembered wanting to really listen to the message. I had a feeling it was speaking to me. So today during my walk I decided to ask the question: What is Sacrifice? What is the real meaning of the word and did we distort the meaning of it?
Ever since I can remember, the word Sacrifice has been used to denote leaving one’s dream to help someone else or do something else in spite of the emotional, physical or mental pain. I have never liked this word specially because I used to hear it from immigrants coming to this country, how they “sacrifice” being away from their home and loved ones to make some money and live a little better and therefore they suffer so much”. First, I never thought of myself as an immigrant or as being away from my home. My home is where I am and wherever I am, I create my home and I believe that if I can do it, everyone else can. I did not understand how people could feel so much pain by being away from the place they where born or the people they grew up with. More clearly, I did not understand why does someone have to suffer so much in order to call the experience a sacrifice. What is first, sacrifice or suffering? Do they have to come together? Can one live without the other one?
All these questions came to me today and they were all asked during my walk.
The most famous sacrifice of all is of course the death of Jesus Christ because humans say “He came here to die for our sins”. This is consider the ultimate sacrifice, letting people take your own life so that others can be saved. Was this true?
It came to me that Sacrifice is less dramatic than humans make it seem to. It is simple a “shift” in direction from the original intended one for the greater good.
Well, the definition seems simple, but then, why is there so much pain and sometimes blood involved? I mean, from history we have learned about scarifying virgins to the gods. How is this a simple shift in direction? I am sure the virgins would not have agreed to this definition when they where screaming for their lives.
Well, I was reminded of the 3 very tall trees I cut down last week in my home. Usually, I don’t agree with cutting trees down because I don’t think we have enough green spaces in our planet, they clean our environment and serve as home for many birds and animals so I usually opt not to cut trees but this time I agreed to cut them down. I learned how to make a raise bed using Hugelkultur principles which says to use the trunk and branches of a tree as base for the raise bed and to stay sustainable by re-using materials like the wood from the trees I just cut. For this reason I did not feel guilty of cutting the trees down. I felt like they were once alive in one particular form and now in the raise bed they are also alive in a different form because they are providing life to the new vegetables that will grow there. Then I was asked, “How is this different from sacrificing a virgin? The tree was minding its own business and you decided to “shift” the direction of its life by shifting its form. The tree came here intending to be a tree, not a vegetable. Who are you to decide for its life and more importantly, why did it let you?
See, my answer lies in the fact that I believe there is no death… Well, there is, but not in the mainstream belief. I believe in transformation. We go from one form to another so death is the point of transformation, which is something necessary to live another life experience and life will forever continue. The challenge I have is that I believe it but I don’t practice it. I believe that death is only transformation and I accept it for myself but I still cannot accept it for my loved ones, however here I am taking lives and making them transform for what I believe is the greater good.
So I said, “I guess it is easier to do it when there is no blood involved?”
Then I was told “Blood is just a sign that there was a possibility for life. That is why you get your period every month. It does not mean a life was wasted, it means, there was a possibility of life in your being and that is poetic and important because women are powerful propagators of life”
By the way, women’s period was a question I asked months ago that was not answer back then. Now, I can only ascertain that questions are only answered at the right place and the right time, never sooner, never later.
I was blown away by the conversation. I did not even know why I asked about sacrifice today. I never thought I had to make sacrifices in my life. Not the way humans see sacrifice anyway. There was never pain or sorrow in my life decisions so I was not sure why I wanted to now about this now. However, that was revealed to me later in the day… just wait for it.
So I asked “Why do people suffer when they have to make sacrifices?”
I was told “The only reason people suffer when the direction has been shifted is because, even though they are walking in a new path, they remember and they keep looking back at the original path they intended to walk. So they suffer. See, we all intend to be here and we come with the purpose to thrive, however, there are times when things do not go according to the way you intended. A shift in direction is needed when the intended plan does not work but the shift is only put in place when it is for the greater good. If it does not serve the greater good then the shift is not put in place”
Are you saying that Jesus did not intend to come here to die for us?
“Yes, that was not the plan. He came here to teach and lead the way but people where just not ready for his teaching and the resistance of humans was very, very strong. He even experienced strong resistance from his own followers, the apostles. In order for humans to believe and follow his teachings, a shift in direction was necessary. However, let me tell you than he did not suffer when he learned of the shift and he did not suffer because he did not look back to what the original plan was. He accepted the shift and moved into the direction of it without looking back. As long as you do not look back, suffering and sacrifice will not exist together”.
Now I have another question “Jesus was more in touch with his true self, his spirit, God, so I do believe that he accepted the change with grace, faith and without suffering, however, what about the virgin sacrifices? What is the point of killing a person as an offering to the gods?”
I was told, “You are assuming that neither the virgin nor the priest/shaman where in touch with their true self, spirit, God like Jesus was. However, they were and the shift was done indeed for the greater good as well. See, Virgin does not mean the one who has not had sex. It means, pure and innocent, these are the beings who can be more in touch with God than others. The priest is also in touch with God through his wisdom cultivation and the sacrifice is not dramatic or gory as movies or books explain it. A pure and innocent being who is consciously in touch with god knows about the transformation that death brings. This is a being that is used to be transformed into a different form by the priest/shaman and intended for the greater good. Think of the transformation from snow to river, from lava to island, from human to angel. The priest/shaman guides the transformation in the same way you guided the transformation of your trees. The purpose is always one: The greater good, but always, always, always remember that the greater good comes from pure and unconditional LOVE”
Like always, I just feel grateful that this information is shared with me. I become wise and humble all at the same time. I become a believer and my faith grows stronger. I know I still struggle in the practice, but just knowing that my questions are always answered fills my heart with joy.
Later in my walk, other awareness came to me and I knew I had to talk to Bob about all this because it was about our life, business partners, friends and future parents. When I returned home and during our lunch I spoke to him about them. I knew exactly how to talk to him and what to say for him to take my information without resistance and we had a great conversation exchange. While I was talking to him, it came to me the reason why the word Sacrifice came into discussion. You see, there is one sacrifice I will have to make soon but the good thing is that now that I know the real meaning of it, it is not scary and I am not offering resistance to it either. The path in my direction has shift for the greater good. I will now embrace my life as business partner with my husband as oppose to doing what I wanted to do with my professional life. It does not mean this will be forever, but for now, this is the best. In the future, I know there will be another opportunity for me to do my own thing but for now the best is to embrace fully and diligently my position in our company, so I will shift the direction. I am no longer a “helper” I am a now a partner, an important element with equal interest. This will make him achieve relief in the business and make him, us and the company stronger. I know we can learn so much from each other and I also know that what we learn will serve us for what is to come.
So, in short, sacrifice is the act of shifting your direction into a new path different from the one that was originally intended and done for the greater good and the greater good always comes from love pure and true. As long as you focus your attention into the new path instead of the old one you will not suffer. Sacrifice and suffering do not have to exist together. There is nothing wrong with shifting directions in the name of love.
This article is the property of Mariela Siwarqinti. No one may alter and/or reproduce it in any way without the express written permission of Mariela Siwarqinti.
Mariela Siwarqinti
Empath & Intuitive
973-330-6778
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