Kindness As A Tool for Managing Eye Pressure

Yesterday I saw some discussions that reminded me of the profound discovery I made several years ago in my own intraocular pressure data. I observed, time and time again, that simply disagreeing with another individual in an online forum would raise my intraocular pressure. (This effect does not require arguing -- simply disagreeing in a polite manner is often enough.) This is a universal phenomenon.

(Measuring this effect accurately requires going into more detail about the nature of the disagreement, but I'll save those details for another discussion. For now, I will briefly mention that offering another point of view with the intent to help -- but not convince -- will probably not raise IOP, in my experience. But if you or I read something that "raises a red flag" for us or that we take exception with, and then we respond on that basis, that is likely to raise IOP, if you measure very precisely.)

Today I was discussing something related to this with a friend of mine. He shared some powerful thoughts with me, and those will probably show up their entirety in future posts to my blog. For now, I will share a summary

The word enlightenment means, to me, simply one's personal power, one's ability to reach one's full human potential. My friend said that the limit of our personal power and our influence is the degree to which we can empathize with others -- actually, the degree to which we can own the other's point of view fully; so it is more than just being able to understand the other's view.

The limit of our self, the boundary, the confinement of our self, limits our power. (BTW, this includes our own healing power.) One technique for expanding that limit is to consciously practice compassion and kindness. In my experience, doing so will help one manage intraocular pressure. This is yet one more example of the ways in which learning to manage one's intraocular pressure takes one on a profound journey.

If you want some very practical tools for taking this even further, see Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life by Byron Katie and Stephen Mitchell. Furthermore, this is all related to the discussions I have posted about the relationship between ego and intraocular pressure. The boundary of our self is the ego. (The ego can absolutely limit our own ability to heal.)

I want to share this poem that my friend read me:

Before I

fell asleep last night

I laid awake and wondered:

What did I achieve this day

just roaming around calling His name?

So I brought before my mind's eye all who I had been kind to,

and it turned out to be

all things that

I had

seen.

I'd call that

one hell of a productive day.

-- Mirabai