You are the only thief you need to fear.Other people can take things away from you, but only you can steal your own peace and strength. Only you can hold on to all the extra baggage that is weighing you down. You fear loosing the very things that are draining your vitality.
There are two voices inside you. One says that you must have insurance. "Bad times are coming and you cannot take care of yourself. Unless you have some advantage you will be trampled underfoot. So find some power and security. Get more money, prestige and titles." With all this you make a mask and hide behind it because you believe you are week and inadequate.
There is also within you a quieter voice. If you are still you can hear this other voice. "You are strong, you already have enough-indeed you have too much. You have become a walking junkyard of unnecassary activities, things and strivings. You believe all these things benefit you by protecting you. In fact, they smother you. Get rid of your protections. Stand naked. Learn again that you were born with all that you need, that you are a part of the flow of life!"
If you stop worrying about the past and planning for the future you will be able to experience the pleasure now-moment. Only when you are truly in the now can you hear the rhythm and dance with it. Think of the petal on a daisy. It has no extra coat for a cold night, no umbrella for a hot day. Such protections would way the petals down and eventually bend it away form the rest of the flower.Then there would be loneiness and feelings of being different and inadequate. it would do no good to add more overcoats and umbrellas; the extra weight would only make the problem worse.
Shedding your protection is uncomfortable. You will feel exposed when you drop your baggage. You will feel tempted to save a little something-just on case! Do not do it.
Stand alone in the desert. You will begin again to see what is around you, to feel your strength. You will learn that you are at home.
Inspiring Daily Meditations
I have come across this simple but precious little book! Written in 1977, it is no longer in print, so i shall share it here. The Book found me at the home of my Wise Aunt. She was trying to put it away in the shelf, and it would not go in. So I asked her if I could see it. It was shining bright. I hope You enJoY it too and may it help bring Light and Love to Your path and remembrance of your true Nature
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
PAIN XII
The parents of all life are the sky and the earth. They come together to form a womb. Here all the people, animals, and plants recieve what they need to travel their paths.
Storms accompany all bornings. It is in the wild turbulence that we learn the skills for our growth.
As you travel along your path there must be many springs. Without the cold and barren winter there can be no spring beauty. Winter is the season of the womb, Its pain our friend our beacon. It points out the direction for our journey. There are only two roads in life, growing and dying. The bud must go through the discomfort of unfolding or it will shrivel.
If we use our cleverness to avoid pain we will not learn valuable lessons. Bodily discomfort tells us when we have broken natures rhythm. The pain it he heart reminds us of the winter of the womb, and again we can prepare for a new step in life.
You must not remain in the pain. It is only the vestibule of change. Suppose that on a hot august afternoon you come upon a cool lake. You can suffer the discomfort and insecurity of jumping in the lake. Or you can move away and come back to the lake another day. If you choose to remain fixed on the edge you will destroy yourself. There is no way of avoiding the shock of the plunge. No matter how clever you are the decision will always be the same - leap or turn away. If you will not make the choice your strength will fade away. Most of your sorrow in life comes from trying not to choose or from taking a half step.
Life is like a ladder. You climb up to a rung. Then you regain your composure. In time you become comfortable on the rung. Perhaps you even become an expert concerning this rung. You do not want to become a struggling beginner again. Yet if you learn that each step is only a rung, you will welcome the freshness of each beggining. Then every step you take in life, even death itself, becomes an act of renewal.
Storms accompany all bornings. It is in the wild turbulence that we learn the skills for our growth.
As you travel along your path there must be many springs. Without the cold and barren winter there can be no spring beauty. Winter is the season of the womb, Its pain our friend our beacon. It points out the direction for our journey. There are only two roads in life, growing and dying. The bud must go through the discomfort of unfolding or it will shrivel.
If we use our cleverness to avoid pain we will not learn valuable lessons. Bodily discomfort tells us when we have broken natures rhythm. The pain it he heart reminds us of the winter of the womb, and again we can prepare for a new step in life.
You must not remain in the pain. It is only the vestibule of change. Suppose that on a hot august afternoon you come upon a cool lake. You can suffer the discomfort and insecurity of jumping in the lake. Or you can move away and come back to the lake another day. If you choose to remain fixed on the edge you will destroy yourself. There is no way of avoiding the shock of the plunge. No matter how clever you are the decision will always be the same - leap or turn away. If you will not make the choice your strength will fade away. Most of your sorrow in life comes from trying not to choose or from taking a half step.
Life is like a ladder. You climb up to a rung. Then you regain your composure. In time you become comfortable on the rung. Perhaps you even become an expert concerning this rung. You do not want to become a struggling beginner again. Yet if you learn that each step is only a rung, you will welcome the freshness of each beggining. Then every step you take in life, even death itself, becomes an act of renewal.
DETATCHMENT XI
You like to look at red leaves in the fall, this is good; it increases your awareness and perhaps is even the beginning of the realization that the red leaves and you are one. But if you must see the red leaves- if you push something aside in order to see the leaves- if you can think of nothing but the leaves-if you look at a person and think, "here is a person who can drive me into the countryside to see more red leaves" then you are being possessed by your desire for red leaves. You are afraid you will miss something. You do not have that something you want. You are grasping. If you are to find your true nature and to follow the spiritual path, you must learn to detach.
In the beginning the process of detachment seems cold. When a person sits down in meditation or prays by resting in the Spirit she empties herself of everything. How lonely that sounds. But being alone is not necessarily lonely. To detach from your preoccupations is to have faith in the life process and to know that you are a part of it. Through detachment you do not forsake people and your environment. Detachment is a means of connecting with them at a deeper level. For it is not people or things that distract you, but your desires. It is from these desires that you must learn to detach.
Desires are like demons. There are many demons, each with its own name and characteristics. Some are called respectability, security, superiority, control, recognition, stubbornness, all creatures from the heel of self centeredness. These are the demons that separate you from other people and life. Suppose you look at a person and you feel competitive. Then you are not in contact with that person. If you can learn to detach from your competitive desires, then you can begin to touch that person. If you see antoher person simply as an audience for your words and actions, you are trying to relate to that person on the level of the demons. You do not see the person at all, but simply yourself. If you detach from self, you are free to see the other person and perhaps even to love that person.
Detachment begins by entering into the silence of your own inner being. These demons exist on the periphery of your inner world. Yet you seldom go past them to experience what lies at the center. Do not let the demons possess you. Push past them. Do not try to conquer them. Just detach from them. Move on. The greatest possible distraction is trying to push other distractions away. Let your thoughts and feelings dance and yell. Just move on. Sometimes you act as if you are your troubles. You are not your troubles. They are a pert of you but not all of you. Move through them.
Do not mistakes of cursing the demons or your troubles. They are valuable to you. Solving problems is not really important. Finding your true nature is of great importance. Unless you become who you are, you will wander through life on a barren and dusty road. Demons and troubles create a darkness. In this darkness you can find your inner light. You would not be able to find the flame of a candle on a desert at high noon. You can see the candle flame easily at midnight.**
So do not despise the dog that barks during your meditation. If a thoughtless person has upset you, do not blame him for your agitation at times of prayer. Remember it is you who chooses to struggle with demons rather than continuing on your way. Look for your light. Nothing else matters.
In the beginning the process of detachment seems cold. When a person sits down in meditation or prays by resting in the Spirit she empties herself of everything. How lonely that sounds. But being alone is not necessarily lonely. To detach from your preoccupations is to have faith in the life process and to know that you are a part of it. Through detachment you do not forsake people and your environment. Detachment is a means of connecting with them at a deeper level. For it is not people or things that distract you, but your desires. It is from these desires that you must learn to detach.
Desires are like demons. There are many demons, each with its own name and characteristics. Some are called respectability, security, superiority, control, recognition, stubbornness, all creatures from the heel of self centeredness. These are the demons that separate you from other people and life. Suppose you look at a person and you feel competitive. Then you are not in contact with that person. If you can learn to detach from your competitive desires, then you can begin to touch that person. If you see antoher person simply as an audience for your words and actions, you are trying to relate to that person on the level of the demons. You do not see the person at all, but simply yourself. If you detach from self, you are free to see the other person and perhaps even to love that person.
Detachment begins by entering into the silence of your own inner being. These demons exist on the periphery of your inner world. Yet you seldom go past them to experience what lies at the center. Do not let the demons possess you. Push past them. Do not try to conquer them. Just detach from them. Move on. The greatest possible distraction is trying to push other distractions away. Let your thoughts and feelings dance and yell. Just move on. Sometimes you act as if you are your troubles. You are not your troubles. They are a pert of you but not all of you. Move through them.
Do not mistakes of cursing the demons or your troubles. They are valuable to you. Solving problems is not really important. Finding your true nature is of great importance. Unless you become who you are, you will wander through life on a barren and dusty road. Demons and troubles create a darkness. In this darkness you can find your inner light. You would not be able to find the flame of a candle on a desert at high noon. You can see the candle flame easily at midnight.**
So do not despise the dog that barks during your meditation. If a thoughtless person has upset you, do not blame him for your agitation at times of prayer. Remember it is you who chooses to struggle with demons rather than continuing on your way. Look for your light. Nothing else matters.
PEACE X
You long for peace, yet there is no such thing as peace. It is nothing. Peace is simply the absence of troubles and worries. Troubles and worries are your attempts to control the future. You are given a chair to sit in, but instead you break it up for firewood in case you get cold, or use it as a torch to help you look around a corner. Forget the future it is only a dream. Sit in a chair. Find your rest. If you forget the future you will have no trouble in the moment-this now. Anything that disturbs you is in the future. Sit down and there is no trouble now-or now-or now-or now. Make your life a series of nows that is how you were meant to live.
Do not make a goal of inner peace. Peace is the absence of war, the cessation of hostilities, the end of striving. You go spinning around, fighting with yourself, with others, or with life itself. If you stop the fight you will find peace. Peace is not something to achieve. You cannot fight your way to it; It is something you do. You always have a choice: to fight or be at peace.
You stop the fight when you stop acting as if you are different than you are and stop your longing for what others have. You try to be someone else because you do not think you have the strength to do it yourself. But you do.
Being yourself means being old when you are young, young when you are old. It means not looking at the peak when you start to climb that mountain. Being yourself means trusting in your ability and using all the strength you have. Being yourself means not dissipating your energy on petty things. When there is striving, cleverness and wanting, there is no peace.
You are like a dirty infant who is playing in the mud. You are obsessed with the desire to have as much mud as another child. You wallow around getting dirtier all the time. Yet you are a royal child. You have everything you need for the adventure of life.
Come now. Wash your face. Walk out into the garden. Sit in your chair. Rest. Be still. While you have been int he mud, the tree and the wind have been dancing together. Look at them. How beautifully they move together. No matter what happens to them, all will be well. For they are being themselves. They are not acting like things they are not. Neither are they denying what they are. You are a wind to the tree, and a tree to the wind. Be yourself. Do not live beneath your nature and all will be well with you.
Do not make a goal of inner peace. Peace is the absence of war, the cessation of hostilities, the end of striving. You go spinning around, fighting with yourself, with others, or with life itself. If you stop the fight you will find peace. Peace is not something to achieve. You cannot fight your way to it; It is something you do. You always have a choice: to fight or be at peace.
You stop the fight when you stop acting as if you are different than you are and stop your longing for what others have. You try to be someone else because you do not think you have the strength to do it yourself. But you do.
Being yourself means being old when you are young, young when you are old. It means not looking at the peak when you start to climb that mountain. Being yourself means trusting in your ability and using all the strength you have. Being yourself means not dissipating your energy on petty things. When there is striving, cleverness and wanting, there is no peace.
You are like a dirty infant who is playing in the mud. You are obsessed with the desire to have as much mud as another child. You wallow around getting dirtier all the time. Yet you are a royal child. You have everything you need for the adventure of life.
Come now. Wash your face. Walk out into the garden. Sit in your chair. Rest. Be still. While you have been int he mud, the tree and the wind have been dancing together. Look at them. How beautifully they move together. No matter what happens to them, all will be well. For they are being themselves. They are not acting like things they are not. Neither are they denying what they are. You are a wind to the tree, and a tree to the wind. Be yourself. Do not live beneath your nature and all will be well with you.
Monday, March 28, 2011
CONTROL IX
Turn on the heat and you kill the cold. Switch on the light and you destroy the darkness. Manipulate the conversation and you will never hear the words to come.
You have no right to control anything that is not you. Controlling other animals, people, ideas, is what makes you separate and lonely. When you see all life's inconveniences as your ememies, you are setting yourself apart.
If you hear that a person a thousand miles away is having to spend an hour doing some work he does not enjoy, you are not too concerned.But when you are that person you act as if the world were ending. You are not listening to the lessons around you. Instead you shout about the injustice, look for short cuts, and start pushing the world around in order to gain advantage. Try to look upon yourself as if you were a thousand miles away.
Your ancestors moved with the day. They rose when the sun came up. If one place became crowded they moved away. When it was dark they looked at the stars and they slept. You protect yourself with a house and blanket. You stay up late so that you need a alarm to control your sleep. You turn on the heater because it is cold or let a fan blow away the heat. You are like a nearsighted child running through a schoolhouse full of exciting activities , shutting all the doors. You are missing many lessons with your control.
You are so afraid of being deprived of something that you reject your birthright without knowing what it is.
Be aware of all the hundreds of ways in which you are controlling and manipulating during the course each day. Hesitate a moment each time you are tempted. Awareness is the beginning of growth.
Sometimes your ancestors destroyed life. They would kill and animal or plant.They would do so with respect. The animal was not an object or an enemy. The animal and the people were one. Only when you understand that you are one with all things can you safely destroy things.The cold is not your enemy.You and the cold are one. You and the darkness are one.When you feel this, you will move with grace. and with a smile to do what is right to do.
You have no right to control anything that is not you. Controlling other animals, people, ideas, is what makes you separate and lonely. When you see all life's inconveniences as your ememies, you are setting yourself apart.
If you hear that a person a thousand miles away is having to spend an hour doing some work he does not enjoy, you are not too concerned.But when you are that person you act as if the world were ending. You are not listening to the lessons around you. Instead you shout about the injustice, look for short cuts, and start pushing the world around in order to gain advantage. Try to look upon yourself as if you were a thousand miles away.
Your ancestors moved with the day. They rose when the sun came up. If one place became crowded they moved away. When it was dark they looked at the stars and they slept. You protect yourself with a house and blanket. You stay up late so that you need a alarm to control your sleep. You turn on the heater because it is cold or let a fan blow away the heat. You are like a nearsighted child running through a schoolhouse full of exciting activities , shutting all the doors. You are missing many lessons with your control.
You are so afraid of being deprived of something that you reject your birthright without knowing what it is.
Be aware of all the hundreds of ways in which you are controlling and manipulating during the course each day. Hesitate a moment each time you are tempted. Awareness is the beginning of growth.
Sometimes your ancestors destroyed life. They would kill and animal or plant.They would do so with respect. The animal was not an object or an enemy. The animal and the people were one. Only when you understand that you are one with all things can you safely destroy things.The cold is not your enemy.You and the cold are one. You and the darkness are one.When you feel this, you will move with grace. and with a smile to do what is right to do.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
TEACHERS VII
There will be times when you will use a spiritual guide. Your attitude will limit your teacher's ability to help you. She can only talk to you about the things you are ready to hear.
You will often be disapointed in her. You have gone in search of a great spiritual master and all you find is a very mundane and very human person. Soon you realize she is no better than you! The person that seems to be ready to ascend to the heights of heaven is not a teacher but an actor who will help you live a spiritual daydream in exchange for a little idolatry. The true teacher will not attempt to encounter you except where you are. she will often appear a little foolish. If underneath your mask you are babbling on, then your teacher will babble. As she walks on your path she will try to point out a few things that will help you slow down a little, but she can onl talk about what interests you.
Have you ever attempted to put a toddler in a stroller? He does not want to sit down; he wants to get over there. How can he get over there by sitting down? How do sitting and moving go together? He knows what is good for him.After a while he may decide that you may have a feasible plan but he does not want to be the one to try it. Could he not just watch the stroller roll on down by itself? Or why do you not get it and show him how it works? Perhaps he watches another little child in a stroller and gets the idea. Now he knows how to do it better than you so he gets in backwards,. You have to take him out and turn him around. And he yells-what does taking him out of the stroller have to do with getting him into the stroller? About this time he decides to become an expert at the right rear wheel.He plays with it and fixes his attention totally upon it. After all, is not this the really important part of the stroller? Then , just aasyou get him in, he decides that it has taken too long, or you do not know what you are doing,or he is not able to do it, or it will not work, so he demands to get out and go back into the house.
Getting a child into a stroller is much simpler than guiding a person on a spiritual path.You look to a teacher to show you how to be fullfilled. Yet the only thing a teacher has to give you is a little advise about not seeking fullfillment , or power, or love, or respect, o anything else.It is as if you had come to a beautifull walled city. If you attempt to write your own ticket and decide what is best for you, all your teacher can do is walk around the outer wall with you. So as long as ou have desires or expectations you make your teacher walk in a circle. Give up your desires and she can quickly tae you inside the wall.
A teacher is only a mirror.She helps you see yourself.She is a medium for the true guide residing within you. The teacher gives your inner guide a voice. And when you and this ever-present guide engage in a flowing conversation your teacher will quietly leave. Then if you want to find your teacher you must look on her path. There the teacher will be walking and talking to the guide within her.
You will often be disapointed in her. You have gone in search of a great spiritual master and all you find is a very mundane and very human person. Soon you realize she is no better than you! The person that seems to be ready to ascend to the heights of heaven is not a teacher but an actor who will help you live a spiritual daydream in exchange for a little idolatry. The true teacher will not attempt to encounter you except where you are. she will often appear a little foolish. If underneath your mask you are babbling on, then your teacher will babble. As she walks on your path she will try to point out a few things that will help you slow down a little, but she can onl talk about what interests you.
Have you ever attempted to put a toddler in a stroller? He does not want to sit down; he wants to get over there. How can he get over there by sitting down? How do sitting and moving go together? He knows what is good for him.After a while he may decide that you may have a feasible plan but he does not want to be the one to try it. Could he not just watch the stroller roll on down by itself? Or why do you not get it and show him how it works? Perhaps he watches another little child in a stroller and gets the idea. Now he knows how to do it better than you so he gets in backwards,. You have to take him out and turn him around. And he yells-what does taking him out of the stroller have to do with getting him into the stroller? About this time he decides to become an expert at the right rear wheel.He plays with it and fixes his attention totally upon it. After all, is not this the really important part of the stroller? Then , just aasyou get him in, he decides that it has taken too long, or you do not know what you are doing,or he is not able to do it, or it will not work, so he demands to get out and go back into the house.
Getting a child into a stroller is much simpler than guiding a person on a spiritual path.You look to a teacher to show you how to be fullfilled. Yet the only thing a teacher has to give you is a little advise about not seeking fullfillment , or power, or love, or respect, o anything else.It is as if you had come to a beautifull walled city. If you attempt to write your own ticket and decide what is best for you, all your teacher can do is walk around the outer wall with you. So as long as ou have desires or expectations you make your teacher walk in a circle. Give up your desires and she can quickly tae you inside the wall.
A teacher is only a mirror.She helps you see yourself.She is a medium for the true guide residing within you. The teacher gives your inner guide a voice. And when you and this ever-present guide engage in a flowing conversation your teacher will quietly leave. Then if you want to find your teacher you must look on her path. There the teacher will be walking and talking to the guide within her.
AWAKE VII
You are looking for something and you just passed it.
The trouble is you do not know when you are asleep. In the days when people took more time to walk on a spiritual path, a student would look for a master with whom to live. He focused his whole attention on this quest. He found a master and would be accepted as a student. Year after year he would follow his master around. He waited. Nothing ould happen. Finaly, after many years he would realize there was nothing to wait for. All this time he had been offered instruction but he did not see it.
Spiritual riches are always wrapped in plain paper and when you open the box it is empty.
It is important that you become self-affirming, that you do not look to the opinions of others to find value. It is only the self-affirming people who can feel the spiritual significance of a particular situation. Two people can enter the same spiritual house. The one sees only classes to attend, rules to discover, some dishes to wash, some times tobe quiet. He is patient. He waits. Everything is ordinary. Finally he is bored and leaves. The environment is not at all like his fantasy of a spiritual life.
The other student does not look outside but listens inside. Her own inner voice translates for the songs of the house. For her this is the beginning of the most exciting adventure that life can offer. She sees many significant happenings around her. She understands that all these wonderfull things are just an ordinary part of life.
Impatiently you find a guide.And with even more impatience you follow your guide around, waiting to get down to the really important things. There may come a moment when you discard your expectations. Then you will look slowly around an utter - Oh!
Then , your guide will smile.
The trouble is you do not know when you are asleep. In the days when people took more time to walk on a spiritual path, a student would look for a master with whom to live. He focused his whole attention on this quest. He found a master and would be accepted as a student. Year after year he would follow his master around. He waited. Nothing ould happen. Finaly, after many years he would realize there was nothing to wait for. All this time he had been offered instruction but he did not see it.
Spiritual riches are always wrapped in plain paper and when you open the box it is empty.
It is important that you become self-affirming, that you do not look to the opinions of others to find value. It is only the self-affirming people who can feel the spiritual significance of a particular situation. Two people can enter the same spiritual house. The one sees only classes to attend, rules to discover, some dishes to wash, some times tobe quiet. He is patient. He waits. Everything is ordinary. Finally he is bored and leaves. The environment is not at all like his fantasy of a spiritual life.
The other student does not look outside but listens inside. Her own inner voice translates for the songs of the house. For her this is the beginning of the most exciting adventure that life can offer. She sees many significant happenings around her. She understands that all these wonderfull things are just an ordinary part of life.
Impatiently you find a guide.And with even more impatience you follow your guide around, waiting to get down to the really important things. There may come a moment when you discard your expectations. Then you will look slowly around an utter - Oh!
Then , your guide will smile.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)