Tag Archives for compassion

Enlightenment and Inner Division

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This wisdom from Adyashanti gave me pause for thought today.

Adyashanti on Enlightenment and Inner Division

“Most human beings spend their lives battling with opposing inner forces: what they think they should do versus what they are doing; how they feel about themselves versus how they are; whether they think they’re right and worthy or wrong and unworthy.
The separate self is just the conglomeration of these opposing forces. When the self drops away, inner division drops away with it.

Now, I can’t say that I never make a mistake, because in this human world being enlightened doesn’t mean we become experts at everything. What does happen, though, is that personal motivations disappear.
Only when enlightenment occurs do we realize that virtually everything we did, from getting out of bed to going to work to being in a relationship to pursuing our pleasures and interests, was motivated by personal concern.
In the absence of a separate self, there’s no personal motivation to do anything. Life just moves us.

When personal motivation no longer drives us, then what’s left is our true nature, which naturally expresses itself on the human dimension as love or compassion.
Not a compassion that we cultivate or practice because we’re supposed to, but a compassion that arises spontaneously from our undivided state. If we undertake being a good, compassionate person as a personal identity, it just gets in the way of awakening.”

As we continue on this path, the inner conflict and critical inner voice lessens, then disappears. We come to a place of inner knowing and compassion for ourselves and the world. This is the motivation that will drive us for the rest of our lives.

Namaste

Don’t Diss the “Dis”

Listen for what you need.

How come when we feel discomfort we don’t give it comfort.

When we have disease we don’t give ourselves ease.

Its like what we “dis” we DISS”.

Today, and every day day, be kind.

Don’t diss the dis.

 

 

 

Inspiration – Heart Like a River

 

immense riverIf you pour a handful of salt into a cup of water, the water becomes undrinkable. But if you pour the salt into a river, people can continue to draw the water to cook, wash, and drink.

The river is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform.

When our hearts are small, our understanding and compassion are limited. We can’t accept or tolerate others and their shortcomings, and we demand that they change. In this state, we suffer.

But when our hearts expand, these same things don’t make us suffer anymore. We have a lot of understanding and compassion and can embrace others and their shortcomings.

We accept others as they are, and then they have a chance to transform… in their own way and in their own time.

Our heart is immense, and it has the capacity to receive, embrace, and transform.

Loving Forgiveness

The most powerful wisdom is always worth coming back to. Again and again. May we find our way to peace. 🙏

ooOoo

Forgiveness is a powerful and empowering act, as it opens our hearts to ourselves and others. Finding a way to forgive is healing and freeing.

This is a three part meditation on forgiveness that I learned during my teacher training at Kripalu. All three parts should be read, preferably out loud.

May it touch your heart, bring some healing and peace.

be at peace

 

  • Part 1 Extending Forgiveness to Yourself:

I allow myself to be imperfect.


I allow myself to make mistakes.


I allow myself to be a learner, still learning life’s lessons.


I forgive myself.


If I cannot forgive myself now, may I forgive myself sometime in the future.

  • Part 2 Asking forgiveness from others for the harm that you’ve done to them:

Please allow me to be imperfect.


Please allow me to make mistakes.


Please allow me to be a learner, still learning life’s lessons.


Please forgive me.


If you cannot forgive me now, please try to forgive me sometime in the future.

  • Part 3 Extending forgiveness for those who have harmed you:

Just as I allow myself to be imperfect, so I allow you to be imperfect.

I allow you also to make mistakes.


I allow you to be a learner, still learning life’s lessons.


I forgive you. 

If I cannot forgive you now, may I forgive you sometime in the future.

 

As you come to the end of this loving forgiveness meditation, take a few moments and allow the words to absorb into your consciousness.

What do you notice in your body, mind and sense of being?

What is your relationship with whatever is coming up?

Can you be with it?

… and breathe.

Allow it to be.

Namaste

generosity

A beautiful reflection on generosity from Dhamma Footsteps.
Generosity IS everything.
Thank you T 🙏

dhamma footsteps

POSTCARD#315: Chiang Mai:  Click on ‘generosity’, then click on synonyms for that word, and you get loving-kindness, compassion, empathy, well-being, freedom. You find gratitude, grace, honor, motivation, encouragement.

Generosity is everything. Its nature is to share, recycle, circulate; it can only be given, never taken. With generosity we can accept, we can share, we can forgive. Generosity leads to wisdom – the truth is without bias. There is an understanding of things as they really are.

There is ‘generosity of spirit’, a quality we all possess. Generosity, as a mental, emotional letting go, means releasing the tenacity of holding on to things. All that heavy stuff we burden ourselves with is removed in one single act of generosity.

What’s wrong with being generous, cultivating an inward disposition to give? A glad willingness to share what we have with others – why not? We have more than enough. Give it away…

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Compassion and Connection – Just like me

just like me

When you find yourself judging, blaming, criticizing, resenting, or being frustrated and annoyed with an other person … here are some phrases to bring to mind.

“This person in front of me has a body and a mind… Just like me.
This person in front of me has feelings, emotions and thoughts… Just like me.
This person in front of me has in his or her life, experienced physical and emotional pain and suffering… Just like me.
This person in front of me wishes to be free from pain and suffering… Just like me.
This person in front of me wishes to be healthy and loved… Just like me.
This person in front of me wishes to be happy… Just like me.”*

All people have similar needs, wants and desires. Fundamentally we act in order to protect ourselves and what we believe matters to us.
We all wish to be happy.
Others may go about it differently, to what we would want for ourselves.

Yet who are we to judge…. Our thoughts tell us that our way is the right way, but that is the small ego mind trying to stay in charge.

When we remind ourselves, that other people are just like us, we can pause and come from understanding instead of a righteous ego.

May we all find more acceptance and understanding in challenging times with difficult people.

Namaste

 

* Taken from Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan

* True Love

light within us

When we truly love someone, it isn’t because of  their looks, personality, how they behave, or their values. It isn’t about how they make us feel either…

When we truly love someone, we love the Light within the person. Our soul, or divine essence, recognizes the soul or divine essence of the other.

As enlightened human beings we see this Light within ourselves and in those we love.

As we evolve more, we see the Light within all people. We open ourselves to be loving and compassionate towards all others.

Namaste

_/\_

(Namaste = I bow to you as the Light within me recognizes the Light within you)

* Facing the unknown

The unknown can be a scary place to face.

facing the unknown

Our mind creates scenarios and one thought feeds an other… into distortion and fortune telling of disaster. We feel anxious, out of control and extremely vulnerable.

Yet, when we begin to experience the unknown, we start to believe we understand and feel more in control. “Yep – I can handle this after all. I can even be proud of myself for overcoming my fear.” It is a reassuring place to be…. until the next round.

So what can we do to ensure that we don’t keep going through the same anxiety and fear?

What works for me is to take myself into a quiet place and roll out my yoga mat.  I meditate and then allow my body to move through the emotions. My mat is like a magic carpet that takes me to a safe and loving place inside of me.
I believe that all emotions are energy, and when we are able to use our breathe and move our bodies in yoga, we allow the energy to move through us and release what is ready to be let go of.  It is a wonderful thing to be able to be present with everything that is going on and surrender to it in our body and mind using the breath.

Yet I also know that I am a fairly independent, grounded and spiritual person. I am a yogini. What helps me, may not work for others who have different perspectives and beliefs.

Today, I once again let go of wanting someone to be more like me. There is no right here, only finding a way to come together and help relieve suffering.

Others may find that distraction works well to keep the mind otherwise occupied. Action packed movies, car programs on cable TV and reruns of baseball games work well for someone I know. When the mind is distracted in this way, the body can relax and lets fear subside.
Compassion and reassurance from an other also brings comfort.

Ultimately, when we are in pain and struggling, it means so much to know we are cared about: a gentle touch from a loved one; a reassuring word from a friendly doctor;  a gesture of understanding from someone who has been through the same experience; a nurse with a sense of humor and warm knowing eyes; a friend who watches a movie with you.

Whether we find that feeling of love within ourselves or through connection to others, love really is the answer.

There is no right way to face the unknown and what lies ahead.
Finding the way to our own middle ground, where peace and love reside, can take many forms.

* Asking for help

asking for help

It takes courage to admit that we are struggling and to ask for help.

We often think that admitting struggle is a sign of weakness, yet it happens to all of us.  We all get overwhelmed sometimes. We all experience the highs and lows of life.

We all need help sometimes.

Acknowledging this, is not a sign of weakness, but is rather a sign of acceptance and humility. We recognize that we are not perfect, and are simply human. We all need each other.

To deny that we need help is to deny reality. To choose not to ask for it, is a choice that comes from a false sense of who we “should” be.

It can be hard to let go of this ego thinking, yet the good news is that people really do care.

If someone you know is hurting, would you offer your support? If someone you know got into a tough situation, and they ask you for help, would you give it?  I expect you would, because you have been there too.

young hand giving flower to old hand

It takes courage to open our hearts to being vulnerable and letting go of ego thinking and judgments.

If you are carrying more than you can handle right now then take heart, ask for help and let someone else in.

You are not alone.