Archive for the ‘Liberation’ tag
Daily Reflections
*~*~*~*~*^Daily Reflections^*~*~*~*~*
THE VICTORY OF SURRENDER
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21
When alcohol influenced every facet of my life, when bottles became the symbol of all my self-indulgence and permissiveness, when I came to realize that, by myself, I could do nothing to overcome the power of alcohol, I realized I had no recourse except surrender. In surrender I found victory -- victory over my selfish self-indulgence, victory over my stubborn resistance to life as it was given to me. When I stopped fighting anybody or anything, I started on the path to sobriety, serenity and peace.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
THE VICTORY OF SURRENDER
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first steps toward liberation and strength. Our admissions of personal powerlessness finally turn out to be firm bedrock upon which happy and purposeful lives may be built.
TWELVE STEPS AND TWELVE TRADITIONS, p. 21
When alcohol influenced every facet of my life, when bottles became the symbol of all my self-indulgence and permissiveness, when I came to realize that, by myself, I could do nothing to overcome the power of alcohol, I realized I had no recourse except surrender. In surrender I found victory -- victory over my selfish self-indulgence, victory over my stubborn resistance to life as it was given to me. When I stopped fighting anybody or anything, I started on the path to sobriety, serenity and peace.
Copyright 1990 ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS WORLD SERVICES, INC.
Please Remember
He was a brave young man, the second youngest of 13 children raised in a family that didn't have much in worldly goods but filled with love.
When the war in Europe broke out, he signed up to fight for what he knew was right...freedom for all, freedom from tyrants, freedom from persecution because of race, religion, colour or beliefs.
He fought in Italy and sweated in the trenches of North Africa. He fought the last days in Holland and the joy of liberation was short lived when he saw his first mass grave uncovered...a grave filled with children. He never forgot this.
Each year he went to Cenotaph to remember those who fought with him, those who never came home and to remember that grave with prayers that this would never happen again.
He was humble in his presence, wearing his medals only when encouraged to do so by family and others who had shared his journey. He never spoke of what he saw until about 20 years after the war had ended, but he never forgot and he never stopped praying.
Today he rests in a home for the aged, no longer able to march with those who served. Today he has lost much of his short term memory, yet still remembers...those he fought with, those who were lost and that grave frilled with children.
Today I will take pause at 11 am, and I will say a prayer of gratitude, for all those who have served and given their lives to ensure that our world remains a place where I can walk in peace.
Today I will say a special thank you for the best father-in-law anyone could ever have the privilege of knowing. Today I will remember his stories, especially the story of the grave, and my heart will weep for the loss many years ago of those who fought to make my world a place where I will never see or know the atrocities that this sweet man endured.
Thank you dad, thank you for sharing your stories and may I never forget or take for granted one moment of my life.
I remember. Please take a moment and honour these men and women with me. The soldiers of wars gone by and those who continue to fight bravely for your freedom and mine.
God bless every one of them.
Hugs
When the war in Europe broke out, he signed up to fight for what he knew was right...freedom for all, freedom from tyrants, freedom from persecution because of race, religion, colour or beliefs.
He fought in Italy and sweated in the trenches of North Africa. He fought the last days in Holland and the joy of liberation was short lived when he saw his first mass grave uncovered...a grave filled with children. He never forgot this.
Each year he went to Cenotaph to remember those who fought with him, those who never came home and to remember that grave with prayers that this would never happen again.
He was humble in his presence, wearing his medals only when encouraged to do so by family and others who had shared his journey. He never spoke of what he saw until about 20 years after the war had ended, but he never forgot and he never stopped praying.
Today he rests in a home for the aged, no longer able to march with those who served. Today he has lost much of his short term memory, yet still remembers...those he fought with, those who were lost and that grave frilled with children.
Today I will take pause at 11 am, and I will say a prayer of gratitude, for all those who have served and given their lives to ensure that our world remains a place where I can walk in peace.
Today I will say a special thank you for the best father-in-law anyone could ever have the privilege of knowing. Today I will remember his stories, especially the story of the grave, and my heart will weep for the loss many years ago of those who fought to make my world a place where I will never see or know the atrocities that this sweet man endured.
Thank you dad, thank you for sharing your stories and may I never forget or take for granted one moment of my life.
I remember. Please take a moment and honour these men and women with me. The soldiers of wars gone by and those who continue to fight bravely for your freedom and mine.
God bless every one of them.
Hugs
Depression, Mysics and Gangaji
Mystics and Gangaji
I have had and most of us have had glimpses into the Infinite. They can actually make your life more miserable than ever when they fade. Where did it go? What did I do wrong? How do I get it back? In her latest book and CD's Gangaji addresses this yearning and grief directly.
Driven by a debilitating depression, I have been on a desperate search for someone or something that could give me relief. IB and Dr. Paul have really helped me in three important areas: getting me to take responsibility for my own inner world, showing me how I suffered from my own mistreatment and surrounding me with enough love to feel safe enough to learn from my pain and to break my heart wide open.
The unspoken message of IB to me has always been that there is enough love in the world to heal even your pain.
Two of my most powerful experiences happened at IB intensives. I can tell from Dr. Paul's reaction, they were not typical. I have had to look elsewhere for information and support. I investigated western and eastern religions and came up almost empty. There is a fringe group I was repeatedly drawn to. Mystics. They come from various religious backgrounds. They all value awareness and experience over knowledge and understanding and most of them say over and over that this experience is available to all of us. Sometimes called oneness or love or God or life or reality or enlightenment or truth or light or joy or liberation or freedom or salvation, it is best left undescribed.
There are many myths about these experiences. Most include words like permanent and perfect.
Gangaji in THE DIAMOND IN YOUR POCKET asks what do you want enlightenment for?
The answer exposes the agenda behind the search.
She explains quickly that we get no thing out of enlightenment. That experiences by their very nature must pass. That we don't get to own it or control it but we can let it own and control us.
My favorite word to describe these experiences is delicious, during these experiences I get to experience the deliciousness of life and myself as a part of it. And now whether based on present experience or memory, I can let my behavior be guided by that deliciousness.
Gangaji's message is STOP. Stop any searching, doing, itinerary or procedure you are using to get anything that you think you are missing or lacking. And realize that it is already here because you are it. You brought it with you (actually it brought you) and you can never be separated from it except in your mind.
I call it getting lost in the present moment or melting into the present moment. It's a choice to stop searching, denying and avoiding and just relax into this present situation with its attendant thoughts and feelings. If you are afraid, lose yourself in the fear, if you are in pain, lose yourself in the pain, then look for the source of it, the truth of it, the gift of it. Backtrack to the point, where you can see yourself choosing it and choose again.
Gangaji calls this the choiceless choice after we see the absurdity of choosing suffering. We can and will still do it but it takes the power away from it and adds humor. This might be one way to say that enlightened beings take life lightly. She also points out that seemingly negative emotions are just as much a part of life as love and bliss and call for investigation and correction not punishment. That pain is necessary but suffering is optional.
She's the first person I have heard talk about the grief and shame of losing a spiritual experience. Her book is highly recommended as are her CD's: THE MOMENT OF CHOICE and INNOCENCE, TRUST AND SELF-BETRAYAL.
In the service of Love and Truth, Monte
I have had and most of us have had glimpses into the Infinite. They can actually make your life more miserable than ever when they fade. Where did it go? What did I do wrong? How do I get it back? In her latest book and CD's Gangaji addresses this yearning and grief directly.
Driven by a debilitating depression, I have been on a desperate search for someone or something that could give me relief. IB and Dr. Paul have really helped me in three important areas: getting me to take responsibility for my own inner world, showing me how I suffered from my own mistreatment and surrounding me with enough love to feel safe enough to learn from my pain and to break my heart wide open.
The unspoken message of IB to me has always been that there is enough love in the world to heal even your pain.
Two of my most powerful experiences happened at IB intensives. I can tell from Dr. Paul's reaction, they were not typical. I have had to look elsewhere for information and support. I investigated western and eastern religions and came up almost empty. There is a fringe group I was repeatedly drawn to. Mystics. They come from various religious backgrounds. They all value awareness and experience over knowledge and understanding and most of them say over and over that this experience is available to all of us. Sometimes called oneness or love or God or life or reality or enlightenment or truth or light or joy or liberation or freedom or salvation, it is best left undescribed.
There are many myths about these experiences. Most include words like permanent and perfect.
Gangaji in THE DIAMOND IN YOUR POCKET asks what do you want enlightenment for?
The answer exposes the agenda behind the search.
She explains quickly that we get no thing out of enlightenment. That experiences by their very nature must pass. That we don't get to own it or control it but we can let it own and control us.
My favorite word to describe these experiences is delicious, during these experiences I get to experience the deliciousness of life and myself as a part of it. And now whether based on present experience or memory, I can let my behavior be guided by that deliciousness.
Gangaji's message is STOP. Stop any searching, doing, itinerary or procedure you are using to get anything that you think you are missing or lacking. And realize that it is already here because you are it. You brought it with you (actually it brought you) and you can never be separated from it except in your mind.
I call it getting lost in the present moment or melting into the present moment. It's a choice to stop searching, denying and avoiding and just relax into this present situation with its attendant thoughts and feelings. If you are afraid, lose yourself in the fear, if you are in pain, lose yourself in the pain, then look for the source of it, the truth of it, the gift of it. Backtrack to the point, where you can see yourself choosing it and choose again.
Gangaji calls this the choiceless choice after we see the absurdity of choosing suffering. We can and will still do it but it takes the power away from it and adds humor. This might be one way to say that enlightened beings take life lightly. She also points out that seemingly negative emotions are just as much a part of life as love and bliss and call for investigation and correction not punishment. That pain is necessary but suffering is optional.
She's the first person I have heard talk about the grief and shame of losing a spiritual experience. Her book is highly recommended as are her CD's: THE MOMENT OF CHOICE and INNOCENCE, TRUST AND SELF-BETRAYAL.
In the service of Love and Truth, Monte
