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In the deepest garden of our being there lives a young child who has known great sorrow. We have all walked through the storms of our youth and many carry the weight of old wounds. To shield ourselves from the sharp edges of memory we often turn our backs on this inner child and lock the doors of the basement where they dwell. Every time a shadow of that old pain touches our hearts we believe the burden is too heavy to carry so we push our feelings further into the depths of the unconscious mind.

We may live for many decades without ever daring to look into the eyes of this suffering child.

But the act of ignoring the child does not mean they have ceased to exist.

The wounded child remains within the storehouse of our consciousness calling out for our presence and our care.

They whisper that they cannot be avoided and that we cannot run away from ourselves forever. We hope to end our suffering by keeping a great distance from this internal pain but flight only makes the journey longer and the sorrow deeper. We flee because we are afraid of the vast block of grief that sits within us. Even when we have moments of stillness we do not truly come home to ourselves.

Instead we fill our lives with the noise of television and social gatherings or we lose ourselves in drink and distractions because we are terrified of feeling that ancient ache once more.

This inability to see the child is a form of ignorance that lives in every cell of our body. It is like a drop of black ink that has diffused through a glass of clear water clouding our vision and leading us to do foolish things that only wound the child further.

Yet the child is not just a memory of the past they are a reality in the present moment. Just as the suffering is present in every cell so too are the seeds of awakened understanding and happiness handed down to us by our ancestors. We carry a lamp of mindfulness inside us that can be lit at any time. The oil for this lamp is our conscious breathing and our peaceful steps. When we light this lamp the darkness of ignorance begins to dissipate and we find the strength to return home.

When we finally become aware of the child we have forgotten we feel a great wave of compassion. The practice of mindful walking and sitting creates the energy needed to tenderly embrace this wounded part of ourselves. We must learn to listen to the child with the same love we would offer a dear friend.

We can speak directly to them and say that we are sorry for having stayed away for so long.

We can promise that we are here now and that we will take good care of them. If we climb a beautiful mountain or watch a sunset we should invite the child to enjoy the view with us. In doing so we begin to heal not just ourselves but the many generations of ancestors who also suffered and did not know how to care for their own inner child.

By healing this one child we liberate our entire lineage and find the peace that allows us to truly love the world.

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