At some point along the way, each of us will be asked
to revision the ideas that have accompanied us to this
moment in our lives. Although at times the call arrives
quietly and slowly, as a whisper guiding us into new
territory, for many it comes as an unexpected visitor,
erupting in the night as we find ourselves in transition,
confused, angry, heartbroken, uncertain, or depressed.
However it arrives, it is a reminder that even our most
sacred identities and beliefs tend to become encrusted
over time, worn-out symbols of a living reality no longer
so alive. Somehow what was clear only days or even
moments ago lost its meaning and is no longer able to
accompany us into the next phase.
to revision the ideas that have accompanied us to this
moment in our lives. Although at times the call arrives
quietly and slowly, as a whisper guiding us into new
territory, for many it comes as an unexpected visitor,
erupting in the night as we find ourselves in transition,
confused, angry, heartbroken, uncertain, or depressed.
However it arrives, it is a reminder that even our most
sacred identities and beliefs tend to become encrusted
over time, worn-out symbols of a living reality no longer
so alive. Somehow what was clear only days or even
moments ago lost its meaning and is no longer able to
accompany us into the next phase.
[.....]
To see our pain, confusion and struggle as an intelligent
communication from the deepest parts of ourselves is a
radical approach... To suffer consciously is an ancient,
sacred art lost in our time, replaced by a well-intentioned
solar self-help industry designed to take us out of the
darkness and complexity and into consistent joy, flow,
happiness, and bliss...
communication from the deepest parts of ourselves is a
radical approach... To suffer consciously is an ancient,
sacred art lost in our time, replaced by a well-intentioned
solar self-help industry designed to take us out of the
darkness and complexity and into consistent joy, flow,
happiness, and bliss...
[.....]
True healing is not a state in which we become liberated from
feeling, but freer and flexible to experience more fully the
deeper, more complex, and more nuanced dimensions of the
psyche... to touch the fullness of what it means to have taken
birth here....in the universal human experience.
feeling, but freer and flexible to experience more fully the
deeper, more complex, and more nuanced dimensions of the
psyche... to touch the fullness of what it means to have taken
birth here....in the universal human experience.
[.....]
This exploration [of befriending ourselves] is not oriented in
transcending our vulnerability - fleeing into a state of power,
untouchability, and control - or safely hiding in some protected
spiritual cocoon where we've risen above it all. It is not taking
refuge in spiritual concepts. It is in knowing that in any moment
life will reorganize and rearrange all our constructed spiritual
identities and fantasies...
transcending our vulnerability - fleeing into a state of power,
untouchability, and control - or safely hiding in some protected
spiritual cocoon where we've risen above it all. It is not taking
refuge in spiritual concepts. It is in knowing that in any moment
life will reorganize and rearrange all our constructed spiritual
identities and fantasies...
[.....]
We will never feel fully alive through embracing only those
feelings, images, and parts of ourselves that our families,
societies and [religious] authorities claim are worthy and
valid, but only through the courage required to embrace the
entire display, to befriend it all, and to transform the raw
material of our lives into the luminous expression of
wisdom and love in all its forms...
feelings, images, and parts of ourselves that our families,
societies and [religious] authorities claim are worthy and
valid, but only through the courage required to embrace the
entire display, to befriend it all, and to transform the raw
material of our lives into the luminous expression of
wisdom and love in all its forms...
Excerpts from the Introduction to his book:
A Healing Space:
Befriending Ourselves in Difficult Times
A Healing Space:
Befriending Ourselves in Difficult Times
~
Photo - from the Internet
Sounds like an interesting read. How unkind we can be to ourselves. Should a friend say to us what we say to ourselves, they wouldn't be friends for long. :)
ReplyDeleteSo true! :)
Delete