Ibookn self-awareness there is no need for confession, for self-awareness creates the mirror in which all things are reflected without distortion. Every thought-feeling is thrown, as it were, on the screen of awareness to be observed, studied and understood; but this flow of understanding is blocked when there is condemnation or acceptance, judgment or identification. … [click on title to read the rest]
To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Quite often the healing journey seems to be the bringing together of opposites. The resolution of paradox and the burning away of conditioning. These things are thematic. Here are a few quotes that are related to this process of paradox and healing in life.
The more I travel on this healing journey, the clearer it becomes that I am learning to let life-force guide me and thus heal me too. Becoming who I am completely means losing my conditioned self and letting life-force move me into oneness with all. This too is what Carl Jung might call the individuation process.
I remember the first time I encountered Ram Dass' book Be Here Now. I found it at a garage sale when I was in college. I had never heard of it and had no idea it was famous. It was truly an AHA moment for me. All these years later, remembering those three words as mantra continues to inspire. BE HERE NOW. It might be considered cliche in some circles but given I remember the first time I heard it and it was long before it became so colloquial, I still like it and it brings me to mindfulness. It's important for people to find their own way of coming to mindfulness.
If there are whole parts of yourself that you are always running from, that you even feel justified in running from, then you’re going to run from anything that brings you into contact with your feelings of insecurity. And have you noticed how often these parts of ourselves get touched? The closer you get to a situation or a person, the more these feelings arise. Often when you’re in a relationship it starts off great, but when it gets intimate and begins to bring out your neurosis, you just want to get out of there. So I’m here to tell you that the path to peace is right there, when you want to get away. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
The soul does not communicate primarily through words, through language, but through feelings, intuitions, emotions, and, because of our neglect of it, through disturbed, violent or addictive patterns of behaviour. It also communicates through dreams. If we do not pay attention to these, there will be no way in which the needs of the soul can reach our surface consciousness that is focused exclusively on the external world. … [click on title for the rest of the post]
It's become clear to me that service is essential to a healthy and whole life. For me it's been essential to healing. Focusing on others, if nothing else, takes the focus off ourselves. There is freedom in that in a multitude of ways. I love how Deikman speaks below to how service is a kind... Continue Reading →
A contemplation for Christmas:
For me, the two correctives of all spirituality are silence and service. If either of those is missing, it is not true, healthy spirituality. Without silence, we do not really experience our experiences. We may serve others and have many experiences, but without silence, nothing has the power to change us, to awaken us, to give us that joy that the world cannot give, as Jesus says (John 16:22). And without clear acts of free service (needing no payback of any sort, even “heaven”), a person’s spiritual authenticity can and should be called into question. Divine Love always needs to and must overflow! … [click on title for the rest of the post]
Midnight mass is spoken at the end of Christmas eve. I thought this lovely poem first uttered in 1941 would be nice again today for all of us. Have a wonderful holiday however you celebrate and also if you do not. Your brightness is my darkness. I know nothing of You and, by myself, I... Continue Reading →
I love Richard Rohr the following words are his: The ego self is the unobserved self. If you do not find an objective standing point from which to look back at yourself, you will almost always be egocentric—identified with yourself instead of in relationship with yourself. Ego is not bad; it is just what takes over when you do not see truthfully and completely.
