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The Path © 1998 by: Cirse Windom
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Love Fear Hate Faith ~ emotion subconsciousness vulnerability strength |
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"i came across an individual once who traveled alone and seemed to possess a great light."
"i observed and saw that as he approached a traveler, who also possessed illumination, he engaged them.... professing to know many things and claiming to possess great wisdom."
"i saw that, often, these engaged travelers were seekers anxious for greater knowledge and intrigued with receiving the insights of this seemingly gifted individual."
"indeed, he seemed to possess extraordinary powers."
"he seemed to pull the light of near things into his self, and claimed to see images unseen by others. he professed to have a higher sense of intuition: he spoke of voices unheard by others.... a realm unknown by others that he had traveled within.... a realm of subconsciousness."
"he spoke of subduing the physical effects of flame with his own will and convinced others that, because of his gift, he could prevent fire from visibly harming their hands ~ and demonstrated to his followers that this was so."
"each seeker then, who made his acquaintance, eventually surrendered to him their light."
"i watched long and closely; because, at first i thought they were in need of avenging; but, the longer i observed.... the more convinced i became they were volunteering their lights."
"he seemed to enthrall and influence them greatly."
"still though, they seemed to relinquish their illumination of their own free will."
"he consumed each light readily.... strengthening his own seemingly bold illumination.... leaving each newly depleted seeker seemingly weak, disoriented and vulnerable."
"i regarded him as ‘evil’. what do you know of evil?"
"i believe evil to be a product of the human mind ~ a device of distraction and aid in placating ego, suspicion and falsehood. simply another invention of fear."
"a genuine and formidable force containing and perpetuating great energy. but still.... an invention of the mind."
"influenceable."
"influenceable by whom? the perpetrator of evil or the victim of evil?" inquired assured.
"there are a great many methods or techniques for influencing the perceptions, the minds.... the wills of others ~ made particularly easy by manipulating their fear. there are as many identical techniques for influencing the perceptions, the mind.... the will of one’s self."
"these are not to be feared ~ they are to be sought, discovered and comprehended."
"evil is not to be feared either."
"it, too, is to be truthfully identified and understood."
"i learned from my confrontation with harmful that often the only ~ and the greatest advantage ~ over evil is in identifying one’s desire.... one’s need to perpetrate evil."
"for, within that need is a carefully concealed but strategic weakness."
"it requires a far stronger will to resist the desire to influence another for the purpose of personal gain."
"therein lies the influenceable mechanism of evil."
"nothing is without opposition."
"what of his teachings, his methods and techniques? were they evil?" asked assured.
"each person must assess for them selves the message in any teaching. remember, however, that one will only be taught if and what one is willing to learn. as with most actions or perceptions, it is prudent to consider the motives behind both the desire to teach and the desire to learn."
"a technique or method, in and of its self, is not evil. one would be wise to question again however, the motives behind its application."
seeker held his hand above assured’s. "if you believed.... truly, and with every sense of your being, believed.... that by placing my hand upon yours, i could cause you to fall asleep ~ then i could cause you to do so."
"by your believing it, you have allowed it."
"if you believed it because you feared it and doubted your own ability to resist it, then you have provided for it, a basis of faith ~ and your self some hope for an opportunity to resist it."
"you will have created a conflict, by making it your reality."
"if ~ in order to relieve you of say, your food supply ~ i placed my hand upon yours and you fell asleep, and i took your food supply for my self, then i will have acted out of a questionable motive. but if, at your request and for the benefit of your comfort due to a state of sleeplessness, i touched your hand and you fell asleep ~ my motives would seem less selfish."
"the fact that i can convince you to fall asleep is simply a mechanism of doubt and or faith within your own mind."
"you could possess the smallest doubt in your ability to resist. or, you could possess supreme faith that i have the ability to influence you. either way ~ by faith or doubt ~ you have rendered your self vulnerable to manipulation."
"so then," assured began, "if you chose to convince me for ill gain, is there no way that i can defend against you?"
"of course there is. nothing is without opposition."
"if you possess supreme faith that i cannot affect you. then i cannot. if you are secure in your truth, you can defend against any kind of manipulation."
"but to be secure in our truths, we must be completely secure in every sense of our selves. i cannot know whether any being is able to achieve such a sense of security, as long as they are dependent upon and restricted by integral as well as external forces."
"although energy is indestructible, it is vulnerable to manipulation. as vehicles of various forms of energy ~ we too, are then vulnerable."
"and thusly.... within each of us is a weakness ~ a need ~ that can be exploited by our selves and others."
"there will always be those who seek to dominate. as i discovered in my experience with opportunist ~ if one believes to know your destiny, they may attempt to manipulate it for their own gain. we can be influenced only where we are weak."
"once identified, harnessed and manipulated, the employment of any other energy greater than our own can threaten our physical and emotional stability. this is why we must strive to be secure in our selves.... to know our selves."
"we are creatures of adaptation and compromise. we often invite small and sometimes dubious allowances into our truths for the sake of convenience. this can compromise our strengths, but can paradoxically, strengthen us as well."
"the nature of our spirituality is dynamic and should always be evolving; but, to accept your self for such evolutionary potential is to be secure that you are fallible. to be secure in that truth."
"the realm of the subconscious," seeker continued, "is a realm unto us all. non-exclusive of race, gender, species or other distinctions. a common pooling of experiences collected within the psyche of all entities. the place of dreams, ideas, intuition and ancient knowledge. our selves, our common ancestry ~ as we are and could be."
"to fear the subconscious is to fear our oldest and greatest selves."
"i believe, assured, that we are of two beings ~ the elder and the child."
"the subconscious self is the reclusive elder.... the old wise one and guardian of ancient truths. the elder is there to influence, guide, nurture and protect our conscious self.... our child self.... innocent, eager, very often unsure, always questioning and examining possibilities."
"the child and the elder can share a mutually strengthening relationship, each enveloping and nurturing the other ~ but only if one regards the other honestly ~ without suspicion, assumption, or blame."
"techniques and methods for exploring such relationships and territories.... methods like visualization, hypnosis, chanting, drumming, dancing, meditation, deprivation, substances of smoke, drink, eat or ointment, the manipulation of objects, dreams, and many other methods are to be regarded as tools ~ a means of discovery ~ not evil entities to be feared, nor glorified or idolized abilities to be exploited."
"evil is an invention of fear.... our own fear and others’."
"and fear.... is the ally of ignorance."
"we
mustn’t stem the quest for knowledge ~
"it
is never enough to know what and how.
"each being possesses unique perspectives that influence and can either alter or reinforce our perceptions of what we encounter and experience."
"close your eyes." seeker picked up a small stick and handed it to assured.
"examine this and tell me what you think it is."
assured ran her thumb along the rough bark and immediately recognized it to be a stick.
"it’s a stick." assured opened her eyes and looked at seeker.
"yes." agreed seeker. "because you and i share similar experiences of sensual perception, we can both agree based upon the feel of it that it is a stick. because we have felt the pain of it in our foot, we can agree that it can be a weapon. because we have built with it, dug with it and eaten with it, we can agree that it is a tool."
"based upon our similar experiences, we agree upon a common perception of reality."
"however, if you had never built with it and i had never felt the pain of it, then perhaps neither of us could comprehend the other’s use of it and therefore, the other’s perception ~ definition of reality. but, that does not negate the existence of those possibilities."
"often we do not realize how heavily we rely upon our senses in order to define our reality. have you ever pondered what a being, blind from birth, dreams of? what kinds of images must occupy their dream world? what kind of colors?"
"many of the images a visually enabled person experiences are subconsciously forged from similar images consciously experienced."
"because a blind being must rely more heavily on their other senses, do they perhaps ‘see’ or feel textures and sound, or other intensified sensations manifest as imagery? i wonder of this.... and it reminds me of how truly sensually subjective our perceptions of ‘reality’ are."
"techniques employed for the purpose of exploring the subconscious are likewise limited by our perceptions of our selves and our relationship to what we believe to be reality."
"they simply serve as extensions of our conscious selves, useful in guiding us toward what we may perceive to be doubtable, and therefore elusive possibilities, guiding us toward our more whole selves."
"they are a bridge to the subconscious, but are only as useful as our projections upon them and true desire to either transcend or reinforce already established perceptions."
"they can assist us in seeking, but are ultimately manipulated to accommodate a need, or a release from need, that is already present within us."
"we often only see what we are prepared to witness."
"with our passion ~ we can always find evil, love, sadness, beauty or any other aspect within any given subject or event. we will perceive according to where we are dwelling."
"in love, we can clearly see beauty and acceptance. in hate, we can clearly see evil and repulsiveness ~ this is because we are sympathetic to that presence, for that presence is within us."
"as such, we are able to recognize and even manifest that presence."
"i have seen various groups and individuals profess to find evil in a notion, in an action, in another wanderer.... even in a plant. when none exists."
"but, because they are dwelling in fear and in hate, they see such manifestations."
"they are manifestations of their mind. manifestations of their fear and hate."
"likewise i’ve seen beauty my self in a dandelion. but this is only so, because of the way in which i regard it. only so.... in relation to my reality, not the reality of the dandelion."
"i cannot know the perspectives and perceptions.... the realities of the dandelion ~ although i strive to learn them. if i am unable, then i strive to have faith in and accept its purpose, regardless and in spite of my egocentric ability to rationalize its existence."
"all of life provides us with opportunities to see and discover our own, as well as other perspectives. to transcend, when we are held by fear and hate.... to embrace, when we feel love."
"only by knowing our purpose, maintaining faith in our selves, and accepting our selves are we prepared and able to receive insights as they are offered. otherwise, many may go unnoticed, just as they have among so many that i have known."
"when sensing emptiness, we tend to fill our selves with objects, destinations, attitudes.... all means of distraction ~ craving greater and greater distraction ~ filling our selves with all that will lead us from embracing our selves."
"filling our selves.... with denial."
"simplicity can be found within the most complex concept...."
"complexity, within the most simplistic."
"seeking to demystify the complexities often created by human ingenuity tends to be most disturbing and frustrating to the delicate sensitivity of our sensual perception."
"seeking deeper meaning within the sublimely simplistic, however, is an intriguing preoccupation and delight of intuition."
"the spirit craves only the robust fulfillment of sensual aesthetics...."
"the constant discovery of calming, clarifying contentment and passionate certainty of reflective, intentful purpose...."
"the comforting pleasure of simplistic surroundings.... and simplistic being."
"the presence of faith and trust in self recognition and acceptance."
"in
nurturing the spirit....
"if such recognition is already present within us," asked assured, "then why would we have the ability to employ and desire to indulge in such techniques or means at all?"
"we are physical creatures, and as such must meet our physical needs. however, we not only depend upon shelter, water, sustenance and air.... we also depend upon purpose."
"the employment of various techniques, methods or factors can be useful in temporarily disregarding certain physical dependencies ~ can help us to recognize and welcome other distractions like ideas or intuition into our scope of awareness in an effort to nurture our emotional selves. in an effort to discover and nurture our purpose."
"such techniques are not the only means of attaining these distractions, however. the possibility of awareness rests within and awaits only acknowledgment and acceptance to be discovered."
"but the effects of evil, you said your self are real." assured began.
she went on. "evil is a formidable force ~ so, although you or i or many others may be able to comprehend evil and so avoid, eradicate or influence it in our selves and others ~ what of the inevitable victims of evil? suppose they are unable to identify evil, or strong enough to resist it? aware enough to defend against it?"
"assured, true defeat, can only occur from within, caused by a lack of faith in one’s self. it is not the same as death; for, death is simply a transformation of a physical self and a subsequent alteration of energy. defeat is a battering of the soul, and can only occur if it is allowed."
"this is why it is crucial to revere children, for we can easily and without notice, crush their innocence and shroud their insight.... weakening their ability to defend."
"self doubt and blame.... that is true defeat...."
"and it is perpetuating."
"by believing in defeat, we create our own influences and limitations, binding our selves. but in this way.... by believing in the power of faith, we create our own empowerment."
"we
are truly vulnerable only....
"only through awareness can we employ a means of defense, which can be as simple as faith, or as complex as an indirect physical manifestation designed to guard against the physical corruption of our selves by our selves or another."
"self honesty and acceptance are our only and greatest weapons against self defeat."
"if you avoid fearing something, striving instead to recognize it’s farthest perceivable source, it is unable to truly harm you."
"certainly, you may or may not bear scars ~ but such marks, either physical or emotional, remind us that we are fallible and teach us to be strong ~ they are not symbolic of defeat."
"they are symbolic of survival.... victory."
"for all gain, assured, there is a loss..... not a sacrifice.... simply an exchange."
"by lending reactionary forces like evil or fear credibility.... by allowing their influence ~ you are exchanging faith in your self."
"a gain needn’t be perceived beneficial to constitute gain. nor does loss need be perceived detrimental to constitute loss."
"we can easily, without regard, allow a loss of faith within our selves ~ and, because we simultaneously replace it with the substance of fear ~ it can occur quickly, literally without notice."
"this is the presence of weakness and strength, within us."
"in need there is weakness, and in resistance, there is strength."
"that does not mean that we should necessarily resist eating when we are hungry. it simply means that, in recognizing that need we have gained strength. this doesn’t mean that we should necessarily take from others that we may have ~ for in truthfully assessing and resisting that need, there is also strength."
"there is great power in evil ~ or rather in fear." commented assured. "i can see why it is alluring to one who feels otherwise powerless."
"yes," replied seeker. "fear is a powerful propulsion; and, it can manifest its self in many forms.... needfulness, blame, evil, greed."
"but, these conditions are simply symptoms of fear or self doubt. an ingenious trap of fear, is developing a fear of fear."
"yet, therein lies the opportunity for greater awareness and the understanding of so powerful an emotion."
"do you believe that fear is the strongest emotion?" assured asked. "it can move masses toward untold destruction and unspeakable horrors in colossal wars."
"war...." seeker began. "a war of one can be as destructive as a war among the masses. because fear is so strong an emotion, it can keep us from our selves ~ destroying in ways no other could. it can cause us to attack another as well as our selves for any multitude of reasons."
"among societies or selves indeed many situations beg great examination; but, many seeming complexities can be easily, honestly regarded and quickly resolved. it is an unfortunate symptom of fear that we all to readily resort to sticks and stones in an effort to gain for our selves or our societies what is often not truly ours to take."
"rarely, is such an action essential to maintain equality."
"and certainly equality is a relative term. you may be rich in blankets, but poor in baskets. we still are equal. you may be rich in intellect. i may be rich in brawn. still, we are equal."
"only when some one or some society seems to be lacking in any perceivably identifiable value is there a true threat to stability and peace among societies, between two beings, or within the self. it is equally prudent then, for both entities to identify a value within the seemingly vulnerable entity."
"in situations where one is leveraging circumstances of finance, physical or emotional constitution, knowledge.... or any number of other means to control another ~ the seemingly oppressed must examine their consequent dependency and decide whether or not to endure their subjugation."
"there is always an equal and opposing force."
"there is always the reserved ability to balance an unequal situation."
"there is always value. abilities of ideas, skills, knowledge or intuition.... often there are many undiscovered assets that are, or will be later, considered valuable. situations change ~ and so, consequently, do symbols of value."
"this potential source of strength should be recognized by those who believe they are oppressed. strength may lie simply in the numbers of those who desire change. we each influence one another. united.... great change can occur."
"there is a great difference between defending one’s self and perpetrating. it is easy to excuse our behaviors if we feel justified in them; but, we must always answer our selves honestly when we ask: are we the victim of aggression, or are we the aggressor?"
"insecurity or fear doesn’t always work in opposition to the self ~ indeed it is an essential instinct inherent in survival; but, it very often serves to cloak the true self."
"fear can drive us into not only acts of brutal behavior, but conveniently blind us to the causes and consequences of such action.... blind us to compassion and acceptance."
"for all its great influence, however.... i do not believe fear to be the strongest emotion."
"i believe love is the strongest. because it is pure and selfless, love is both and at the same time the most powerful and empowering...."
"the highest and brightest of emotion."
"love is not without its influences, however."
"all emotions influence one another, providing a cycle for necessary growth and change."
seeker thought fondly of teacher as he leaned forward and selected four pebbles near his foot.
tracing a circle in the dirt, seeker positioned the pebbles upon the circle ~ as if the circle possessed four equally spaced points.
both seeker and assured studied the ring of stones.
"this one on top," pointed out seeker, "represents love."
"the next one.... to the right.... represents fear."
"the next one.... on the bottom.... represents hate."
"this next one.... to the left.... represents faith."
seeker placed his finger upon the stone of love. "this position.... love ~ is one of compassion and reverence."
he traced his finger toward and placed it upon the stone of fear. "but great love can trigger vulnerability.... or apathy, which is the dwelling place of fear."
he traced his finger toward and placed it upon the stone of hate. "fear can spawn the defense mechanism of blame, and rage."
"the only release from hate, is a desire and willingness to understand."
seeker very slowly drug his finger toward the forth stone. "it requires great strength to pull one’s self from the perceived comforts of blame into a realm of acceptance ~ into the dwelling of faith."
seeker held his finger upon the stone. "faith...." seeker continued. "our saving grace and harbinger of love."
seeker replaced his finger upon the stone of love. "it again, requires great strength to resist the pull of fear, and remain here ~ compassionate and reverent ~ once we’ve arrived."
"in the cycle of emotions, once we’ve attained love, we must resist the pull of fear ~ for, in fear we attempt to cling to perceptions of safety, even if they are harmful to us.... cling to them because we know them and find security and trust in their familiarity."
"we often choose to blame either our selves or others for our pain or suffering. this is because we seek affirmation ~ often from the perpetrators them selves ~ that we are hurting."
"we can desire this so greatly, that we can be blind to our blame."
"but, instead of seeking solace in fear or hate, we must turn our selves instead to the emotion of faith ~ accept and affirm our selves.... trust and place control within our selves."
"fear is the flashpoint of passion."
"from
here, we can turn either "if we are alive ~ we cannot stagnate."
"we must strive to become aware of both the potentially constructive and destructive powers of all of our primary emotions.... learn their lessons, for all have many lessons to teach us."
seeker kept his finger firmly on the stone of love and gazed at his companion. "here.... assured ~ in the embrace of love ~ is where i aspire to one day exclusively dwell."
"as do i." consented assured. "but we do not live in and of our selves, exclusively, along this path. we must acknowledge the forces of fear and hatred others choose to dwell within. we must contend with those forces within them and within our selves so that we may defend our selves and others."
"how can i dwell in love when i am outraged by.... grieve and hate the acts of evil perpetrated by others?"
"i find my self desiring revenge. where is revenge? is it not of hate? and, how can i hate out of love?"
seeker leaned against the tree trunk and thought for a long while.
"that is a compelling point." seeker finally began. "and i agree that i too can be pushed as well as pulled into what seems like hate by others’ acts of evil ~ as in the abuse of children and other weaker beings."
"but, i believe that what i feel is outside of hatred ~ outside of blame and even rage. it is a simple, absolute and extremely passionate intolerance of both those acts and the individuals who commit such acts."
"and the revenge i seek at that time is simply an attempt to create equality ~ to bring some balance to an unbalanced situation. hate can be a very influential emotion; but, i believe both intolerance and revenge to be related to a sense of loss, which is of love."
"revenge, however, can be of hate as well as love. it is an impassioned trickster which ~ if we are not careful can lead us blindly into hate. it does not specify for what purpose we seek balance."
"we must be able to identify that need our selves. we must know if that need is of love or of hate."
"revenge is simply a sense of equality or balance.... not necessarily justice."
"hatred is the dwelling place of blame. it is often reactionary, irrational, and is often manifest in unexamined and unjustifiable aggression.... aggression for the purpose of oppression rather than defense."
"i have seen whole societies mobilized by revenge into a sense of hatred. i have seen whole families and populations destroyed in the name of what is perceived to be ‘just consequence’."
"never, should one target whole, arbitrary, or representative populations ~ or individuals."
"true revenge, if sought, must only be sought directly against the perpetrator."
"this is of justice and is necessary to stability."
"to target innocent others is not revenge out of love.... it is revenge out of hatred."
"my intolerance for an individual and their act of hatred is born of the love which i feel for another individual. the compassion i feel for their pain and suffering. the reverence i feel for their sovereignty."
"intolerance is identifiable, rational and justifiable. felt not only as a defense reaction to an unconscionable act.... but experienced also before hand, as a deterrent emotion toward the potential initiation of such acts."
"there is no chance of my attaining acceptance or love for perpetrating individuals or their acts out of that level of intolerance ~ for, i would be unwilling to trade my existing compassion and reverence of an innocent.... for the potential acceptance of a perpetrator."
"to allow time for a perpetrator of such acts to gain their awareness is at the risk and expense of all others. something i am unwilling to tolerate."
"intolerance, generated by compassion and grief are of love ~ so then I, as such, am dwelling in love."
"without intolerance ~ born of compassion ~ we are equally without empathetic, indeed sympathetic capacity. we would be void of the compassion necessary to recognize those unconscionable acts, and prevent their recurrence."
"without the motivational propulsion provided by intolerance, we would be paralyzed by inaction ~ into sterile, detached, unemotional observation ~ rather than the compassionate, impassioned involvement, sufficient to manifest awareness, growth and change. without compassion ~ we would be unable to love."
"compassion is the opposition of hate. perhaps we must experience hate, experience and acknowledge the potential of hate or blame within our selves, before we can identify and defend against it within our selves.... or within others."
"sadly assured, we cannot seem to know peace unless we know war. love unless we know hate. ironically, we must often know what we believe we don’t know.... know what we are looking for, before we’ll recognize its presence or merit. have a need before we see a value."
"to understand ~ to accept the lessons of needfulness, fearfulness, harmfulness and many others, we must recognize those emotions.... those beings in our selves, as well as recognize them in others. open our selves to those very emotions. in that.... in fearlessly facing one’s self.... lie the lessons of compassion and acceptance, faith, strength and the ability to love another."
"i maintain faith that, with a heightened sense of awareness born by even our most seemingly insignificant experiences, observations, and nurtured by our keen intuitive potential, we possess a sense of hate and war ~ and can appreciate their absence without the need to engage our selves and others in their presence."
"do you believe, then, in the notion of peace?" assured began. "peace is something i dream of ~ but it eludes me."
"do you believe that it is possible to truly achieve peace?"
"i do." said seeker. "i must."
"hope. it is the birth of faith.... the fuel of my seeking."
"i nurture faith in awareness, compassion, acceptance ~ both mine and others. therein, i nurture a deep desire for and belief in peace."
"but, there are so many self deceiving, fear and hatred dwelling individuals ~ caught and desperate beyond their patience and faith essential to growth ~ that i believe those of us seeking the highest level of acceptance and compassion ~ that place of faith and love ~ must nurture our own patience while awaiting and nurturing such manifestations in others."
"we must also be ever wary of our vulnerability to being corrupted by fear and hatred dwelling individuals; for, they may employ our love of them as a lever and means to attain what they believe to be personal fulfillment."
seeker leaned against the tree trunk and, again, thought for a long while.
"though we choose our progress carefully, there will always be others who attempt to thrust their will upon us. and we can be made to defend our existence. made to, ironically, defend our peace within."
"we must strive to comprehend the nature of our dependency upon both the existence, and or desire for the non-existence, of any entity. much unnecessary violence is perpetrated on behalf of unexamined, unnecessary desire. perpetrated on behalf of greed, not need."
seeker pressed his hand hard against the trunk of the tree. "this tree," seeker began, "can resist the pressure of my hand; but, should i needlessly press upon it until i send it to the ground, it will have been cast by my will into a realm other perhaps than it intended."
"it may lay for a long while in great pain, slowly releasing its spirit ~ slowly transforming its self within the circle. its patience, its will.... exchanged for my unawareness.... and lack of compassion."
"it shall not level me, as i would have leveled it. i shall level my self by such an action ~ so that i too, will eventually suffer the long and great pain of my ignorance."
"peace must begin within."
"not so long ago," assured began, "i was asked to share my enlightenments with some one so they could gain superiority over another."
"i had never before felt such conflict within my self."
"because of the nature and purpose for which it was sought, i knew this person to be unable to comprehend the broad and self seeking scope of enlightenment, so i refused."
"for this, i lost a long time friend. i have never forgotten that wound."
"i know they could not have understood my reasons ~ and so, they doubted my intentions. but still, i was left feeling as though i may have made a mistake. that perhaps i should have shared my insights with them."
"assured, you would have been an active, willful participant in whatever consequences your friend may have manifest. we can never know the extent of how our consequences will affect others ~ but we can be aware of that potential."
"when we are made aware of that evident potential, and elect to willfully share insight ~ the scope of which no one can know ~ with one who hasn’t the capacity to receive it in the spirit of achievement or the wisdom to assume responsibility for that insight, then we risk knowingly jeopardizing them, our selves and all to their obvious ignorance."
"we can share our knowledge of our particular experience of enlightenment; but, broad and lasting individual insight will come only to those prepared to receive it for ultimately broad and beneficial reasons ~ not ultimately narrow and self serving reasons."
"as such.... insight is not yours even to give, assured."
"accept their right to be angry ~ and allow them responsibility for their emotions."
"only from this ~ can they begin to gain insight for them selves."
"sometimes, we are like this tree, and must occupy our selves with claiming the situation we are thrust into.... reclaiming, owning, influencing our selves."
"the lessons of our hands.... war, famine, technology ~ are all to quickly forgotten to the next generation. left behind as the dynamic of society changes and ushers forth new situations demanding new ideas and attentions."
"yet.... our lessons, are always the same ~ our consequences similar, assured."
"we are bound to dwell within a cycle of repetition unless we are able to honor the memory, the meaning, the importance, the influence and relative lessons of our past."
"because of our instincts of insecurity and laziness, unless we can recall those lessons, those consequences ~ even in an era of relative peace ~ we are only one perceptible threat in others.... one self doubt within our selves.... away from war, away from devastation.... even within our selves."
"spirit and psyche recall all pain and loss, all joy and insight. we must always look within. maintain our faith in ancient wisdom and recommit with each encounter to our direction ~ our light. hear and heed the pain of our elders with the honest innocence and faith of an infant."
"listen to our voices within."
"though many will tell us that there are easier ways of achieving awareness ~ they are mislead, deceived. creators, consumers of distractions designed to detract from each wanderer’s journey of enlightenment. they are those who exchange patient observation and reflection for the attainment of speed." seeker paused, and sighed.
"as i have once done, my self...."
"but," seeker continued, "theirs can create a false sense of fulfillment ~ for, they have lost much in their rush. and should they actually arrive at some perceived destination, they likely will be essentially unable to recognize and honor their attainment ~ for, they will have forsaken and failed to honor the process of achievement."
"in that, they will be frustrated and discontent. in that, they will seek new, different and greater distraction."
"there will always be others who inflict upon us the consequences of their non-awareness. those who’ll view us as a threat or commodity, and interact with us without compassion."
"in light of the perils and frailty of our life form, each breath is miraculous; and, we mustn’t allow the elusive destination to compromise the quality of our quest, and keep us from fulfilling our sense of experience. for ~ such is the stuff of intuition."
"there are those who will curse the rain when it falls, and curse the rain when it doesn’t. such people know little of the nature of rain and are unable to appreciate its existence at any time."
"as such they are spiritual paupers. endlessly begging for whatever they perceive they do not possess, self cursed and unwilling, thus unable, to value whatever gifts are within and bestowed upon them continually."
"one who hurries in their journey of enlightenment will know little of them selves."
"we mustn’t miss the little opportunities for grand lessons, assured."
"rather, i see that we must embrace our selves and our destinies by accepting or changing our circumstances and situations.... refraining from allowing our circumstances, our situations, or others to overly influence and keep us from our peace, our happiness, and from sharing peace and happiness with others."
assured sat for a long while beside seeker who, like her, continued silently observing the four stones....
thinking of the tree....
its patience.... its will.... its vulnerability.
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Writing - Home The
Gift of Everlasting Cheer | Tide Pool
Surprise |
Can You See What I See |
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