Namaste A Way of Life Part 4

[indigo]

Transforming 'Some Scars'
--by Sally Kempton

The Sanskrit word "samskara" can be translated just the way it sounds in English: as'some scars." Samskaras are energy patterns in our consciousness. I always picture them as mental grooves, like the rivulets in sand that let water run in certain patterns. Samskaras create our mental, emotional and physical default settings. The tendency to think, 'I can't do this,' when you're faced with a new challenge is a samskara, and so is the confidence that develops once you've mastered something that was hard for you. The tension lump that shows up in your right shoulder when you feel stressed is a samskara, and so are the song lyrics that pop into your mind unexpectedly and that--in my case at least-often reveal themselves to be the perfect comment on the situation you're in at the time.

Neurophysiologists mapping neural pathways in the brain report that each time we react in a certain way--falling into an anger pattern, for instance, or putting off completing a report yet one more time-we strengthen the power of that pathway. The yogic texts make the same point. The bottom line in both cases, is that the way we feel, the way we react, and the behavior we manifest at any given moment is the result of the the neural connections that are operating under the surface.

Once those neural pathways (samskaras) have been set, most people keep running down them, like rats in a maze, reacting with the same old patterns and feelings every time they find themselves in a situation that seems to mirror whatever the original trigger might have been.

You probably know, intellectually at least, how this works. When you feel abandoned because your friend hasn't called you in two weeks, you might understand that it isn't because he's stopped liking you. You may even realize, especially if you've done some therapy, that his silence is triggering one of your old samskaric grooves -- perhaps a childhood memory of abandonment. But that doesn't necessarily stop you from reacting. Samskaras are powerful, which is why knowing better doesn't always change our behavior. There's a weight to those accumulated impressions. They are, on a daily basis, the reason why we think and feel the way we do.

That's both good news and bad news. The bad news about samskaric grooves is that as long as the negative ones are in place, it's hard to escape the limitations imposed by our personal history. The good news, however, is that we can change those grooves. The brain is so fluid and malleable, so prone to take and hold impressions, that when we keep leading it into new pathways, the accumulation of new insights, practices, and experiences will eventually overwhelm the old ones, and even, given the right circumstances, eliminate them entirely.

--Sally Kempton

[citychick]

and so are the song lyrics that pop into your mind unexpectedly and that--in my case at least-often reveal themselves to be the perfect comment on the situation you're in at the time.

this morning for no apparent reason Amy Winehouse lyrics popped into my mind.

"I can't help you, if you won't help yourself."

a bit later I found myself saying those words to my son.

[indigo]

LIBERATION
A Meditation by Anthony de Mello, SJ





"How shall I get liberation?"
"Find out who has bound you,"
said the Master.

The disciple returned after a week
and said, "No one has bound me."

"Then why ask to be liberated?"

That was a moment of Enlightenment
for the disciple,
who suddenly became free.

[IO Storm]

Thanks, Indie!

I know about being "a legend in my own mind", but that really speaks

to me of being a "prisoner of my own mind..and soul."

[indigo]

If You Don't Go Within, You Simply Go Without
--by Victor Frankl

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life -- daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

When we are no longer able to change a situation -- we are challenged to change ourselves.

A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the "why" for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any "how."

Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.

Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated, thus, everyone's task is unique as his specific opportunity.

--Victor Frankl

[jurneyman]

Indie, Thank you so much, In every post on this page, what I have read has challenged me to try and do something that will change my life for the better. If I am able to discipline myself enough, while dealing with depression. If not I will try again when I can.

I have a question concerning Victor Frankl. I read a book years ago about a concentration camp survivor who was a gifted artist, and because of his talent the Nazis destroyed his ability to use his right hand. After he was freed, he learned to
paint with his left hand exhibiting the same excellence in his paintings as before.

I also believe it was this writing by Victor Frankl, that I first got the idea that every
individual is unique, and has their own specific mission in life, that must be completed and can only be carried out by them. I often wondered where I learned this idea of
our purpose in this life. Now I know. thank you again

[indigo]

Thank you jurneyman I am happy you enjoy reading my thread.

Riding the Crest of the Unknown
--by Dada

You know little about yourself -– the hidden motives and blind spots, where thought actually takes its shape, where desire is subtly formed. You are not aware of the origin of thought. You recognize thought only when it comes out with its thrust in readiness for action. You know how to choose between thoughts. But you never know the real nature and basic structure of thought.

[…]

You will have to look within to find out and understand that mechanism which chooses and discriminates. How do you choose, and why do you choose? Who and what is the thing that chooses? And what is the basis for choice?

Can you take a close look at this mechanism of choice, which is based on wishful thinking, on habits, tradition and fear?

When you perceive the limitations of desires, choices, and habits, and thus come back within, you suddenly discover in your inner sanctuary a new pulse of sensitivity: uncommitted aloof energy.

What will happen if there is no choice, if this energy is allowed to function freely? Perhaps this energy, when free and on its own, will discover a new spontaneity, an expression of choiceless action, of natural internal intelligence. In that spontaneity you have no thought, no choice. It is a positive movement of inner sensitivity, which is feelingly attentive to everything around.

When you are intensely sensitive and watchful to everything within and without, you begin to see, sense and hear more sharply and closely, without thought.

This means you become alert. You become awake, sensitive and alive. You see and feel without any will of thought. Such a state of alert watchfulness, that state of choiceless perception, which is mere attention and anonymous existence, is meditation.

[…]

In meditation, there is freedom from time. Such timelessness is an invitation to the supreme, to the immaculate that resides beyond the mind.

There one remains in the present, merged with the flow of the timeless, riding the crest of the unknown, where all the seekings and choices of the mind come to an end.

--Dada

[indigo]

The Four Relinquishments
--by Peace Pilgrim

Once you've made the first relinquishment, you have found inner peace because it's the relinquishment of self-will. You can work on this by refraining from doing any not-good thing you may be motivated toward, but you never suppress it! If you are motivated to do or say a mean thing, you can always think of a good thing. You deliberately turn around and use that same energy to do or say a good thing instead. It works!

The second relinquishment is the relinquishment of the feeling of separateness. We begin feeling very separate and judging everything as it relates to us, as though we were the center of the universe. Even after we know better intellectually, we still judge things that way. In reality, of course, we are all cells in the body of humanity. We are not separate from our fellow humans. The whole thing is a totality. It's only from that higher viewpoint that you can know what it is to love your neighbor as yourself. From that higher viewpoint there becomes just one realistic way to work, and that is for the good of the whole. As long as you work for your selfish little self, you're just one cell against all those other cells, and you're way out of harmony. But as soon as you begin working for the good of the whole, you find yourself in harmony with all of your fellow human beings. You see, it's the easy, harmonious way to live.

Then there is the third relinquishment, and that is the relinquishment of all attachments. Material things must be put into their proper place. They are there for use. It's all right to use them; that's what they're there for. But when they've outlived their usefulness, be ready to relinquish them and perhaps pass them on to someone who does need them. Anything that you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions. We are not free.

[...]

Now the last: the relinquishment of all negative feelings. I want to mention just one negative feeling which the nicest people still experience, and that negative feeling is worry. Worry is not concern which would motivate you to do everything possible in a situation. Worry is a useless mulling over of things we cannot change. Let me mention just one technique. Seldom do you worry about the present moment; it's usually all right. If you worry, you agonize over the past which you should have forgotten long ago, or you're apprehensive over the future which hasn't even come yet. We tend to skim right over the present time. Since this is the only moment that one can live, if you don't live it you never really get around to living at all. If you do live this present moment, you tend not to worry. For me, every moment is a new opportunity to be of service.

--Peace Pilgrim

[citychick]

indie, I've just begun reading Peace Pilgrim again after some time. I love the way we all (the spirituality gang) usually end up on the same page. No coincidences!

[Rusty Zipper]

Since this is the only moment that one can live, if you don't live it you never really get around to living at all.

right on sister!

[indigo]

YAY isn't that great? family!

Ideals That Lighted My Way
--by Albert Einstein
"How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...

"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.

-- Albert Einstein

[jurneyman]

I have always admired and respected Albert Einstein, not only for his monumental scientific
achievements, but for being one of the first noted,and respected scientists, to claim that
this universe, was created by intelligence. That intelligence is what I finally was able to
accept as the power greater then myself, and my personal loving Creator. thanks Albert.

[IO Storm]

and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...

Onward..and upward, always.

Kindess, Beauty, Truth KBT

Patience, Tolerance, Kindess PTK

PBJS (Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches)

Think I could survive a long, long time, quite well, with these...

[indigo]

Forgotten Art of Deep Listening
--by Kay Lindahl

Think of the difference it would make if each of us felt really listened to when we spoke. Imagine the time it would save to be heard the first time around, instead of having to repeat ourselves over and over again. Envision a conversation in which each person is listened to with respect, even those whose views are different from ours. This is all possible in conversations of the heart, when we practice the sacred art of listening. It takes intention and commitment. We need to slow down to expand our awareness of the possibilities of deep listening. The simple act of listening to each other can transform all of our relationships. Indeed, it can transform the world, as we practice being the change we wish to see in the world.

"When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen." There are some interesting statistics that validate this claim by Ernest Hemingway. Most of us spend about 45 percent of our waking hours listening, yet we are distracted, preoccupied, or forgetful about 75 percent of that time. Marketing studies indicate that the average attention span for adults is 22 seconds. (Think about television commercials, which usually last 15 to 30 seconds). When someone has finished speaking, we remember about half of what we heard. Within a few hours, we can recall only about 20 percent. The number of adults who have had any training in listening skills is less than 5 percent of our population. It hasn't been part of the curriculum in most schools.

After hearing these statistics, a business executive reflected: "This is very interesting. I just realized that I spend a great deal of time preparing myself to speak. I don't think I have ever prepared myself to listen." Deep listening is a forgotten art.

Listening is not a passive activity. It's not about being quiet or even hearing the words. It is an action, and it takes energy to listen.

--Kay Lindahl

[Fluttering]

Thank You Indie

I am listening attentively

[IO Storm]

Envision a conversation in which each person is listened to with respect, even those whose views are different from ours.

And I wonder what has happened to our culture? I watched another "fair

and balanced" news show today..the host continually interrupting the guests.

My goodness..I learned to not do that in Speech classes in college.

The speaker always has he floor.

Anyhow..it insults my intelligence, and hurts my soul, somehow.

Thanks Indie.

This was good reading today..

[Ann]

The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.

-- Albert Einstein

I'm just catching up around here, and this just touched my heart. Annie, thank you for posting these, they just light up my mornings.

Hugs

[indigo]

Leave No Trace
--by Les Kaye

"Zen master Dogen said that when birds fly in the sky, they leave no trace. And when fish swim in the water, they leave no trace. With this metaphor, Dogen encourages us to understand how to express spirituality in our everyday lives. He is saying that there should be nothing left over from our activity, nothing to clean up."

"Because of the flowing nature of water and air, the gentle traces of the birds' activity and the fish's activity are quickly gone and air and water return to equilibrium. So we say that they leave no trace. But unlike birds or fish, people do not move in the air or in the water. We move on the ground and we also move in each other's minds. That is the nature of human beings. [...] If we create a trace in someone's mind because of what we say or do, that trace may last for a lifetime. So out of our feeling of compassion, we try not to leave a trace in someone's mind."

"Allowing our minds to be like air or water lets them return quickly to equilibrium and leave no trace of disturbance. When our minds are that way we can notice their tendencies, that is, the times when they do not act like water, when they are stubborn, angry, greedy, or distracted. So we continue our determined practice to let our minds be "no-trace mind." We do this so we will know how to take care of others' minds without leaving a trace."

-- Les Kaye

[indigo]

Good in Countless Ways
--by Kahlil Gibran


You are good when you are one with yourself. Yet when you are not one with yourself you are not evil.

For a divided house is not a den of thieves; it is only a divided house. And a ship without rudder may wander aimlessly among perilous isles yet sink not to the bottom.

You are good when you strive to give of yourself. Yet you are not evil when you seek gain for yourself.

For when you strive for gain you are but a root that clings to the earth and sucks at her breast. Surely the fruit cannot say to the root, "Be like me, ripe and full and ever giving of your abundance." For to the fruit giving is a need, as receiving is a need to the root.

You are good when you are fully awake in your speech, Yet you are not evil when you sleep while your tongue staggers without purpose. And even stumbling speech may strengthen a weak tongue.

You are good when you walk to your goal firmly and with bold steps. Yet you are not evil when you go thither limping. Even those who limp go not backward.

But you who are strong and swift, see that you do not limp before the lame, deeming it kindness.

You are good in countless ways, and you are not evil when you are not good, You are only loitering and sluggard. Pity that the stags cannot teach swiftness to the turtles.

In your longing for your giant self lies your goodness: and that longing is in all of you.

But in some of you that longing is a torrent rushing with might to the sea, carrying the secrets of the hillsides and the songs of the forest.

--Kahlil Gibran

[jurneyman]

Thank you again Indi, I need to see again and again, that it is OK to be a human being who can get lost, make a few wrong turns, but never gives up, no matter what the obstacles in this life are. Learning from making mistakes, and instead of quitting, finding strength through humility to continue, by admitting when wrong then changing. The wisdom gained by personal experiences both good and bad, when given to help others is never lost. I am trying to believe, and doing the best that I can with what I have been given to work with. Knowing perfection is an attribute of God and not of man, why can't I just let myself be human?

[indigo]

Goethe:

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.

[Ann]

Annie, these always give my day a good start.