The Great Transformer
Loving What You
Hate
Hatred can be
irrational, and it has a greater impact on the individual who hates than the
person or object being hated. Yet overcoming hatred is difficult because hatred
reinforces itself and causes greater enmity to come into being. The most
powerful tool one can use to combat hatred is love. Deciding to love what you
hate, whether this is a person, situation, or a part of yourself, can create a
profound change in your feelings and your experience. There is little room for
anger, dislike, bitterness, or resentment when you are busy loving what you
hate. The practice of loving what you hate can transform and shift your emotions
from hatred to love, because there is no room for hatred in a space occupied by
love.
Granted, it is difficult to forgo judging someone, love your
enemy, and seek the good in situations that seem orchestrated to cause you pain
or anger. But in deciding to love what you hate, you become one less person
adding negativity to the universe. On a simple level, loving what you hate can
help you enjoy your life more. On a more complex level, loving what you hate
sets you free because you disengage yourself from the hatred that can weigh down
the soul. Responding with love to people radiating hatred transmutes their
negative energy. You also empower yourself by not letting their negativity enter
your personal space. Rather than lowering yourself to the level of their hatred,
you give the other person an opportunity to rise above their feelings and meet
you on the field of love.
Gandhi once said, "Be the change you want to
see in the world." Loving what you hate sends a positive, beautiful energy to
people while spreading peace and harmony throughout the planet. Instead of
reinforcing hatred, you become an advocate for love. Hatred responds to hate by
causing anguish. But hatred responds to love by transforming into blissful
peace.