Page 82 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

f r o m ca ra t Iv e f a c to r 1 t o C a r it a s P roC e s s 1
versa, if even one practitioner prepares self for Caritas Consciousness
as the basis for professional caring practices, that one nurse is helping
transform and affect the entire field. Imagine what it would be like if
nurses collectively engaged in meditative practices to cultivate Caritas
Consciousness.
First at the personal level, then at the unit level, then across units,
spreading throughout the entire system, then across systems, across
settings in various parts of the world.
Nurses with informed Caritas Consciousness could literally trans-
form entire systems, contributing to worldwide changes through their
own practices of Being, thus “seeing” and doing things differently—
holding a different consciousness, radiating different messages, affect-
ing the subtle energetic environment, spreading healing, wholeness,
forgiveness, beauty, love, kindness, equanimity. In this awareness, this
awakening, nurses are literally Becoming the Caritas field.
Once one has experienced such a cultivated sense of loving-
kindness, one’s heart of compassion is open and bubbles over into
one’s life circumstances. However, as mentioned before, one cannot
artificially invoke loving thoughts if one is in pain, angry, sad, despair-
ing or fearful, worrisome, and so on. One cannot paint over a veneer
of hurts; rather, he or she must allow pain to emerge, whereby it is
both released and absorbed into the vibrating space of energy flow.
That is the purpose of mindfulness meditation: to learn to use this
practice when in a negative space, to find ways to access feelings and
subjective sensations without dwelling there, without setting, mask-
ing, coating over, or freezing those sensations. The congealing of sen-
sations and fighting off, ignoring, or avoiding feelings create more suf-
fering. The meditation practices proposed here help one access and
observe all sensations, discovering their vibratory, energetic nature
rising up and falling away; either by visualizing these movements or
literally experiencing the sensations, we transform the emotional
experience.
Once one connects with and practices noninterference (equanim-
ity), the energy and feelings move through a sense of completion and
closure that is a form of sweet release; these sensations can be both
observed and felt. Then, empty vibratory space opens up internally,

59