The second theme of Meditation is very interesting, The Abyss. The effect it produces is Desolation, which is traditionally experienced as a feeling of banishment, that is, as if we had been torn from our original land and found ourselves living on this planet, in this body and thinking we were outside of God, with nowhere to cling. There is nothing that really justifies living. We are faced with all the sadness, all the pain, all the tragedy that happens to us. The moments of happiness are so quick that we don't remember when we had them, or how long they lasted. We feel desolate.
But there are other ways to meditate on The Abyss. One of them is the desolation that we can feel due to the total ignorance in which we live. It's like living in a place, in a spare room, without light, without a door, without a window, without anything. We see absolutely nothing, we don't know why, we don't know what is happening. In fact, we are totally ignorant of what would really matters in life: what is its meaning, why I must suffer, why I have to work, why I have to grow and die. This is the Abyss of ignorance.
If we extend this Abyss of ignorance to the whole world, this ignorance embraces the whole society to which I belong. And it is not that we do not know anything, but that we do not realize what we know tells us. We know plenty of things, and we don't realize what they are telling us. So, the desolation I have, I don't feel it for myself, but for what I represent as part of this social construction that encompasses the world, and for living in total ignorance about all the sad consequences that this brings. This is a second aspect of desolation.
The third aspect we can consider is the desolation we feel for the suffering of the peoples of this world, whom we only partially remember, and for how little we can do. Thus, this already takes us out of personal desolation and makes us extend our consciousness to the general and total suffering of the human being. We go beyond our personal lives, but we include neighbors and so many people we don't know. We have come to realize that in every part of the world there are catastrophes that we cannot avoid and that we cannot help either, taking my closest point of view. Furthermore, we feel desolate, uniting ourselves with this whole suffering world, but in union with humanity and no longer because of our personal suffering.
These are the aspects that seem to be essential to cultivate so that we don't imagine or feel that we are the only ones who suffer or that our personal suffering is greater than anyone else in the world. It is a state of participation with collective pain. It is as if we were Christ on the cross, who suffers for everyone, not for him, but for everyone. This desolation of suffering for all carries implicitly the consolation that we can suffer for all and for what really matters, and that we may have come out of the selfishness of suffering only for oneself.
In other words, new fields are opening up. For example, we can be desolate because we have not developed awareness of the real connection we have with the divine, despite all the wonders we have around us, all the graces, all the blessings, everything we receive daily, and that would even be a reason to be in joy. That is, we have everything for ourselves, and we cannot share it or simply do not share it. Or we cannot understand or connect with this reality. This is true of the Abyss we have put ourselves into to isolate ourselves from the rest. This is our personal Abyss. It is not the Abyss of society, nor the Abyss of the world, but our own Abyss, in which more than the pit of an Abyss, in which I do not want to see the light or anyone else, each one of us is alone. I am alone, in total ignorance.
But there are other ways to meditate on The Abyss. One of them is the desolation that we can feel due to the total ignorance in which we live. It's like living in a place, in a spare room, without light, without a door, without a window, without anything. We see absolutely nothing, we don't know why, we don't know what is happening. In fact, we are totally ignorant of what would really matters in life: what is its meaning, why I must suffer, why I have to work, why I have to grow and die. This is the Abyss of ignorance.
If we extend this Abyss of ignorance to the whole world, this ignorance embraces the whole society to which I belong. And it is not that we do not know anything, but that we do not realize what we know tells us. We know plenty of things, and we don't realize what they are telling us. So, the desolation I have, I don't feel it for myself, but for what I represent as part of this social construction that encompasses the world, and for living in total ignorance about all the sad consequences that this brings. This is a second aspect of desolation.
The third aspect we can consider is the desolation we feel for the suffering of the peoples of this world, whom we only partially remember, and for how little we can do. Thus, this already takes us out of personal desolation and makes us extend our consciousness to the general and total suffering of the human being. We go beyond our personal lives, but we include neighbors and so many people we don't know. We have come to realize that in every part of the world there are catastrophes that we cannot avoid and that we cannot help either, taking my closest point of view. Furthermore, we feel desolate, uniting ourselves with this whole suffering world, but in union with humanity and no longer because of our personal suffering.
These are the aspects that seem to be essential to cultivate so that we don't imagine or feel that we are the only ones who suffer or that our personal suffering is greater than anyone else in the world. It is a state of participation with collective pain. It is as if we were Christ on the cross, who suffers for everyone, not for him, but for everyone. This desolation of suffering for all carries implicitly the consolation that we can suffer for all and for what really matters, and that we may have come out of the selfishness of suffering only for oneself.
In other words, new fields are opening up. For example, we can be desolate because we have not developed awareness of the real connection we have with the divine, despite all the wonders we have around us, all the graces, all the blessings, everything we receive daily, and that would even be a reason to be in joy. That is, we have everything for ourselves, and we cannot share it or simply do not share it. Or we cannot understand or connect with this reality. This is true of the Abyss we have put ourselves into to isolate ourselves from the rest. This is our personal Abyss. It is not the Abyss of society, nor the Abyss of the world, but our own Abyss, in which more than the pit of an Abyss, in which I do not want to see the light or anyone else, each one of us is alone. I am alone, in total ignorance.