Deserving Love and Affection
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
–Buddha (a.k.a. “The Awakened”, a.k.a. Siddhartha Gautama, Indian Religious Figure and Founder of Buddhism, c.563 B.C.- c.483 B.C.)
Solitude Good, Isolation Bad
We have talked before about the value of being comfortable with yourself: to find peace in solitude. But that is a very different from trying to live in total isolation.
Everything in the Universe lives in a relationship, and one of the keys to growth and healing is relationship. The establishment and maintenance of relationship is one of the crucial differences between treating and healing.
“The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.”
–Pearl S. Buck (a.k.a. “John Sedges,” a.k.a. Sai Zhenzhu, American Missionary in China, Author and, in 1938, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, 1892-1973)
Mystical Consciousness Gives Us A Way Out
“Without a belief in, and the radical cultivation of, mystical consciousness and the insights into the interconnectedness of all reality in sacred joy and sacred love that it alone can bring, we will not be able to develop the necessary awareness to help us solve the terrible problems that threaten our lives and the very life of the planet.”
–Andrew Harvey (Indian-born English Philosopher, 1952-)
States Determine Time
“When it is state that determines time, time is only an appearance. A pleasant state makes time seem brief, and an unpleasant one makes it seem long. We can therefore see that time in the spiritual world is simply an attribute of state.”
–Emanuel Swedenborg (Swedish Scientist, Mystic and Philosopher, 1688-1772)
Think Lightly of Yourself
“Think lightly of yourself and deeply of the world.”
–Miyamoto Musashi (a.k.a. Shinmen Takezō, a.k.a. Miyamoto Bennosuke, a.k.a Niten Dōraku, Japanese Samurai, Swordsman and Founder of the Hyōhō Niten Ichi-ryū or Niten-ryū style of Swordsmanship and Author of The Book of Five Rings (五輪書 Go Rin No Sho), on Strategy, Tactics, and Philosophy, c.1584-1645)
“The Book of Five Rings (Shambhala Classics)” (Miyamoto Musashi)
Barriers to Spiritual Practice
Anyone who has taught any type of meditative discipline – including yoga and t’ai chi has quickly discovered that the biggest barriers to making progress have nothing at all to do with the practice itself, but comes instead from all the unresolved issues that people bring with them. They may be physical, psychological, social and/or energetic. That is one of the reasons why it is so important to work with guides and teachers who can help to address the “whole of you.”
Much as I value CDs and DVDs that can teach you the basics of different techniques – particularly for folk who cannot go to a class or workshop – there is often a limit to how far you can go without a competent guide.
Here a teacher whom I respect highly has a few words to say about one aspect of the challenge that we all face:
“All too often the mistaken belief that enough sincere practice of prayer or meditation is all that is needed to transform their lives has prevented teachers and students from making use of the helpful teachings of Western psychology.
In an unfortunate way, many students of Eastern and Western spirituality have been led to believe that if they experience difficulties, it is simply because they haven’t practiced long enough or somehow have not been practicing according to the teachings. . . .
In truth, the need to deal with our personal emotional problems is the rule in spiritual practice rather than the exception.
At least half of the students at our annual three-month retreat find themselves unable to do traditional Insight Meditation because they encounter so much unresolved grief, fear, and wounding and unfinished developmental business from the past that this becomes their meditation.”
–Jack Kornfield (American Meditation Teacher in the Theravadan Buddhist Tradition, 1945-)
Total Awareness
“Life is all one, and you should be conscious at every moment of what you are doing, for when you make a gesture it is never in isolation; whether inwardly or outwardly, everything has repercussions. This is why it is also important for you to learn how to greet each other. You spot someone you know, a friend… Even if all you do is hail them from a distance, do so consciously, so that you transmit life to them through your hand as currents of energy and rays of color.
The most powerful and beneficial exchanges are not necessarily the ones you make when you come physically close. You can put a lot of love and light into a hand gesture and the look in your eyes as you make it. So, let your soul take part in your greeting, and your spirit too, so that each person you greet can feel that what they receive is reaching within and improving them. It is so important to have harmonious psychic contact with one another before we meet on the physical level to talk or to work!”
–Omraam Mikhaël Aïvanhov (Bulgarian Spiritual Master, 1900-1986)
{There is a valuable service available from www.Prosveta.com. They send out daily meditations from the works of Master Aïvanhov. I recommend them highly}
To Learn Is To Change
“To learn is to change. Education is a process that changes the learner.”
–George B. Leonard (American Aikidoist, President Emeritus of the Esalen Institute and Writer, 1923-2010)
The Hidden Power of Kindness
“Have you noticed in your past experience that your kind interpretations have almost always been truer than your harsh ones”
–Lawrence G. Lovasik (American Roman Catholic Priest and Writer, 1913-1986)
Nobody Understands Quantum Mechanics!
Here another great physicist also says something that should be taken to heart by all authors and speakers who appeal to quantum mechanics to “explain” the finer points of their discourse!
“I think I can safely say that nobody understands quantum mechanics.”
–Richard Phillips Feynman (American Theoretical Physicist and, in 1965, Winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, 1918-1988)
“The Character of Physical Law (Messenger Lectures, 1964)” (Richard Feynman)
