Excerpt from Redemption Stories: Unwasted Pain by Mary Ciofalo: The movie Gandhi inspired me - particularly one scene. In it Gandhi is fasting again to try and end the horrific riots between the Hindus and Moslems. A trio of Hindu men comes to tell Gandhi that they have stopped inciting their people, and that he must now end his fast. One of them flings a piece of bread onto Gandhi's cot and tells him, "I am going to Hell, but you must eat and live." Gandhi says, "Only God determines who goes to Hell. Why do you think you are?" The man replies, "I killed a Moslem child." Gandhi winces, then says quietly,"Why?" The man replies, "They killed my wife and my son." After a moment of silence, Gandhi says quietly, "I know a way out of Hell." The Hindu man looks shocked. It is clear that he never considered redemption for himself. Gandhi says, "Go find a child without parents and raise him as your own. Bu...
As Robert Adams reveals it:
ReplyDeleteDO NOT LET CALAMITY RULE YOU
"You have to begin to identify with the Real Self. You have to begin to let go
of all the false beliefs, conceptions, dogmas and be yourself. Be the Self
you've always been. Be the Buddha. Be Krishna. You have that quality deep within
you. Wake up. Do not let calamity rule you any longer. Know yourself. Do not use
the mind to react to conditions. Learn to be the observer."
There is no controlling life.
ReplyDeleteTry corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tide
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in -
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and success.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils your
vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.
- Danna Faulds
Let go of what has passed.
ReplyDeleteLet go of what may come.
Let go of what is happening now.
Don't try to figure anything out.
Don't try to make anything happen.
Relax, right now, and rest.
Tilopa,
The armor we erect around our hearts causes a lot of misery. But don't be
ReplyDeletedeceived, it's very transparent. The more vivid it gets, the more clearly you
see it, the more you realize that this shield - this cocoon - is just made up of
thoughts that we churn out and regard as solid. It's not made of iron. The
armor is not made out of metal. In fact, it's made out of passing memory.
Pema Chodron
People are very misguided if think that meditation is only a psychological matter.
ReplyDeleteA very good analogy: As a fish when pulled out of water and cast on land throbs and quivers,
ReplyDeleteeven so is this mind agitated.