Riding The Dragon
Some great ideas regarding handling your emotions in a manner to work with people. The book is sort of Henry David Thoreau with a dash of sprituality. Great reading that offered me some ideas in working with others this coming year. And it did and does allow you to build your inner strength.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I will offer three examples that appealed most to me in the book:
ReplyDelete1. Clarity - p. 91:
My mother asked me to prepare her two front barrels for summer plants. I knew this meant weeding out the old dry spring plants and adding new fertilizer to the soil.
I did what I thought was a good job, and proudly announced in a loud voice, "I'm finished!"
She came up beside me and poked her garden stick into the barrels. She smiled, nudged me, and in a lilting voice teased, "Well, my heavens, you're like a hen; you've only just scratched the surface."
When I looked at her with a question on my face, she put her arm around me, pointed to the soil, and advised, "Dig down deep and shake up the soil. In this way, you will allow the air to get through & you will be getting the fertilizer to mix down deep in the soil where it is needed."
She also took out her new plants and prepared them for me by shaking the life out of the tightly bound roots. Reading my look of concern over this "rough treatment," she smiled in a gentle, wise way and said "Shaking up can be very good for growth." Then as I set off to industriously and meticulously follow her advice, she added as she walked away, "Think especially about this last bit as you do the job."
I knew what she meant. I had been having a tough time of it as of late...So, as I worked my hands down deep into the soil, making room, creating space, and shaking the roots of the plants, my tears watered them.
Clarity helps us see what we are avoiding, holding on to, or fearing...such as attachments, worries, and daily idols are evident when we feel the emotions of anger, depression, or stress. They point to difficult situations, losses to be grieved, and areas in our life where we have stubbornly proclaimed: "If I don't have ________, I can't be happy."
2. Honesty - pg. 123:
ReplyDeleteThey speak of spiritual simplicity, which means they must also travel light within themselves. Zen addresses this by saying that in becoming freer we don't obtain something, we drop it. Christian mystics refer to this as purity of heart. Psychologists and psychiatrists refer to it as to the need to be self-aware so we would have a less fractious inner self. We waste little energy on defenses and have more available for creativity and generativity.
In the end, they all speak of the naturalness and freedom we experience when we are totally honest with ourselves and know who we are; when we are simply ourselves and this becomes a gift to others who encounter us. True ordinariness is indeed tangible holiness. We know where the psychological furniture is within ourselves and we don't trip over it as often. The space within us that we share with others doesn't come from being totally empty of problems and immature behaviors. Instead it comes from humbly acknowledging that our whole lives consist of continual mistakes and encounters that can teach us. Knowing this can make all the difference.
3. Honor Your Resistances - p. 135:
ReplyDeleteA place of meditation is more than a place of peace...it is a place of life, of truth, and therefore of challenge. So recognizing our resistances is an important step in finding peace and hearing the voice of God. Some common resistances:
-worries about what we need to do or didn't do
-resentment of others
-shame about ourselves
-boredom and restlessness because we are always on the move
-a stream of "great ideas" that we must write down now
-regrets about how we have lived
-fears about living differently because, after all, what will people think? How will they react?
-concern about how hard change will be
-discouragement that our prayer or meditation doesn't seem as good, refreshing, or as natural as that of those who teach or write about it
-feelings that meditation is a luxury, lacks importance, or isn't as practical or as effective as action
Many people are discouraged at the very onset of a life nourished by quiet prayer. There is no spiritual graduation.
In silence and solitude, we clear our consciousness and create a vacuum. Since nature abhors vacuums, the thoughts impulses, memories, and other unpleasant material in our preconsciousness rise to fill it.
However, avoiding it only makes us live a life that is so much less than it could be.