Resurrection: It May Mean Something Different Than You Think
You know what the pattern is. You have probably known for a while. And still — here it is again.
You may have tried everything. Or you may have tried nothing and are finally, quietly, wondering if there is something that might actually reach the part of you that hurts. Either way, I am glad you are here.
I want to tell you something before we go any further.
The reason it has not shifted is not because you have not tried hard enough. It is not because you are broken, or behind, or missing some insight that everyone else already has. It is because the direction most of us are taught to move — away from the suffering, past it, through it, beyond it — is not actually the direction that leads somewhere new.
An Ancient Story About a Different Kind of Power
There is an ancient story about Kuan Yin, the goddess of compassion in Chinese tradition, that I keep returning to, because I think it tells the truth about something most of us have never been taught.
Before she became Kuan Yin, she was a princess. A young woman so filled with love that she could perform miracles. Her father, threatened by what she carried, sent her into exile on a barren island, expecting her to wither. Instead, she thrived. The island bloomed around her. He sent an executioner. Every blade shattered against her. When one finally succeeded, she descended into the underworld.
And there, surrounded by the cries of suffering souls, she did not look away. She turned toward them. She loved them. And slowly, the underworld began to transform — hell becoming something else entirely — until the king of that realm sent her back to the living, because he could not afford to let her stay.
She was restored to life. Resurrected. And she returned as the goddess of compassion — not in spite of her descent, but because of it.
What This Has to Do With You
I believe there are parts of you that have been in the underworld for a very long time. Parts that have been exiled, hushed, managed, survived. Parts that learned to protect you in ways that once made complete sense. These parts still believe at a level beneath your conscious understanding, that they have to keep doing what they are doing.
Most of what we are taught about healing asks us to overcome those parts. To understand them just enough to move past them. But that is not what transformed the underworld in this story. What transformed it was not strategy, or insight, or even willpower. It was love. Presence. A willingness to turn toward the suffering — not as a problem to be solved, but as a being to be met.
What Kuan Yin did in that underworld is something you can learn to do within yourself.
The turning toward. The staying. The genuine curiosity about why a part of you does what it does - not to fix it, not to finally get past it, but to actually understand it. When a part of you that has been working very hard to keep you safe finally feels met, something loosens. Not because you forced it. Because you stopped fighting it long enough for it to tell you what it actually needed.
That is the movement. That is how hell becomes something else. And you can experience a form of resurrection - a life where you are more and more open to love. A life where you know the parts of yourself and love them well. Not a life without hard times, but a life where you meet them differently - with more steadiness, more grace, more of yourself intact. You can have a whole new way of being.
You can be the one who heals you. You can be for those suffering, hurting, wounded parts of you exactly what was missing when those parts took on their roles. Not a therapist. Not a guru. You - bringing the love that was always yours to give, turned inward.
Come Into the Process
If something in this is landing for you - if you recognize the place I am describing - I want to invite you into the process that can turn your own hell into heaven.
Notice. Name. Nurture. is a live group practice where I walk alongside you as you learn this movement — the turning toward, the staying, the meeting with love. Sessions are meeting on May 27, May 31, and June 3. You do not have to have done this kind of work before. You do not have to know exactly what part of you needs attention. You just have to be willing to turn toward it.
The link to register is below. I hope to see you there.