I see that we are all fundamentally different and unique beings, but too often we encounter people, systems, and ideology that do not allow it. It can be a hurtful experience and thus create resentment, shame, disintegration, power dynamic, and control and attachment issue. The needs to suppress and to discriminate others who are different though, stem from people’s inner fear and inferiority. Even more so, it is people’s innermost desire for connection without knowing how that brings those responses. I realize I have to plow through in order to locate the roots of those painful and aggressive behaviors and responses when facing differences. Either the one who receives or delivers discrimination, they all deserve compassion. Acknowledging differences actually re-configures our idea of its universality; we all have desires and we all have needs. Building on this acknowledgement, I believe we are striving to look beyond what, in someone else, bewilders and separates us; to promote self-actualizing by helping them rest in their own skin and not pick at it.
As someone who comes from a culture of collectives to one that greatly emphasizes individuation, I have constantly contemplated on this matter of difference and how it leads me in my personal and professional arenas. I remind myself on a daily basis to remain curious, to always witness someone in their living and being with a fresh eye and a learning mind, and to recognize how coping with differences can often intensify the effects of those stigmas. In looking at differences and the stigma that follows, I adhere to Buddha’s teaching of seeing the world as a mirror; how the world reflects on your mind is how you internally created the world. Every experience reveals truth and can eventually bring understanding and learning, even the traumatic ones. I approach this value from changing my frame of reference; I relate to what/who is different from me with attunement, engagement, and compassion.