Downton Abbey ---- I Think I Get it!

 Over the years, my favorite quote has remained the same.  It is by Neal Maxwell, a beloved speaker and writer who died of cancer.  He said:

“You don’t get the benefits of a crucial experience

 Without going through the crucial experience.”

I remind myself of this when facing more surgery or dealing with chronic illness.  So, just what is the “crucial experience” that we are all going through?  I think it is LIFE and the associated suffering that is experienced. 

 And hopefully we benefit by this Life experience by eliminating the suffering and discovering joy beyond verbal description. 

I have come to believe that it is a “letting go” process.  As I become less clingy to the things that make me look good to others on the outside and release my grasp to the old negative ideas about self on the inside, I become free of emotional hooks that dictate my reaction to others and to stuff around me.

 

Do everything with a mind that lets go.
Do not expect any praise or reward.

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace.
If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace.
If you let go completely, you will know complete peace and freedom.

And your struggles with the world
will have come to an end. 

And then the benefits that become available to us are the four sublime states of mind.

Finding joy in the joy of others and celebrating with them

Sharing compassion with those who are suffering

Giving gratitude for this moment now

Observing all that comes into our lives with equanimity

This season of Downton Abbey reveals many of the beliefs that create suffering for those who continue to cling desperately to them.  We get to observe people struggling with being protestant and realizing their granddaughter will be raised catholic.  We watch men become uncomfortable with women having a voice in society beyond what men have defined as a woman’s role.  And we sense the intolerance for prostitution, homosexuality, and anything different than ourselves.  Yet, as Oprah would say, “everyone’s pain is the same.”  Meaning, we all become miserable because of our beliefs about others.

And here is the true beauty and wonder of this TV series.  Through these different, difficult “crucial experiences” each becomes kinder and softer and gentler in their views of others.  Or they continue in their misery for yet another season to learn another day that we are one, we are not alone, and we are not separated from one another.  

But most of all, I realize that Life will present to each of us what we need to have and to learn because we are part of something much greater than ourselves.  And anything outside of that reality loses its importance.