SadhanaOriental Meditation and Christian Prayer
Contemplation in action
ーIn relation with othersー
[4] Relating with others with the heart of “hospitality”
According to our faith, God lives inside every one of us. When we can really feel that, it means that we are able to meditate in the right way.
It would be great if we could feel that God lives in all of those who we encounter.
The shortest way to achieve that is to prepare ourselves towards that direction.
While doing so, there is an attitude that leads us to a wonderful state, which is to get ready to extend our “hospitality” to people that we relate to. We can be prepared to treat all the people who we have contact with. We try not to be overwhelmed by the feeling that emerges on the surface of our heart such as whether we like or dislike a person or whether we are comfortable or uncomfortable with the person.
St. Benedict in the 6th century expressed this attitude in the precepts. Since then, monasteries have valued the motto that “a visit of a guest is a visit of Christ.” We can keep telling ourselves something similar to this, and try to follow it.
We try to do the same for not only those who visit our house but all the people we relate to in our daily activities. As we continue the efforts, we will finally be able to have love and affection for many people and feel that they are precious.
It goes without saying that people are varied and complex. It is not always easy to relate with people: some are selfish, insensitive to others, reliant, too laid back, or mentally weak, and it is difficult to handle these people. But we try to extend our “hospitality” by accepting them with loving care. Of course, we also meet attractive people such as those who have open heart with kind love, those with brilliant intellect and independent will, those who can put into practice good realization with rich volunteer spirit, and so on.
And we will often feel that we are always given wonderful people. This will naturally lead to gratitude.
It is not necessary to stand out. But when the friendly attitude of “hospitality” is maintained, many people make us feel God’s goodness, beauty, and richness. Such wonderful people were born by God’s grace, and have received rich blessing of God. This is how we can feel God through relationships with people.
We will be able to often feel the excitement, “How wonderful the stage called life is!”