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November
2 |
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Today's
Quotation:
Carefully observe the natural laws in operation
in the world
around you,
and live by them.
From following them, you will
learn the morality of
modesty, moderation, compassion, and consideration (not just
one society’s rules and regulations),
the wisdom of seeing
things as they are (not of merely collecting “facts”
about them), and the happiness of being in harmony
with the
Way (which has nothing to do with self-righteous
“spiritual” obsessions and fanaticism).
And you will live
lightly, spontaneously, and
effortlessly.
Benjamin Hoff |
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Today's
Meditation:
What
are the "natural laws," and why don't we see them
clearly? Why do we seem to buy into all of the
human-made laws that usually are created to benefit some
group or another, yet ignore the way the world is?
There's much that we can learn from observing the world in
which we live and the way that life goes on, with or without
us. And there's much to learn from the laws of other
nations and societies, for they are just as valuable a
reflection of their people as your own laws are of yours. People
tell us that learning is about gathering and maintaining
information and facts, but wisdom tells us it's about being
a part of things and feeling them as part of
ourselves. People tell us that success is about
earning money and coming in first and gathering possessions,
but few people reach any sort of happiness that way.
People tell us that we have to look out for number one, but
life tells us that by looking out for our friends and
neighbors, we really are looking out for ourselves. Careful
observation is one of the most valuable skills that we can
learn in life. But it's not enough in itself--we also
have to learn from what we observe, and allow ourselves to
take valuable lessons from all that we see and hear.
We've been put on this planet with the ability to observe
carefully, yet it seems to be one of those skills or talents
that almost all of us neglect. And when we neglect it,
our ability lessens. Can a runner take three months
off and then come back and run at the same speed as
before? Hardly. Then why do we think that we can
observe carefully without practicing, and without
maintaining our skills regularly? It
really is worth it. There really is a lot to be said
for living lightly, spontaneously, and effortlessly. |
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Questions to ponder:
1. How much time do you spend each
day
practicing your observation skills?
2. How much do you learn from your
observations?
3. Do you feel that you're in
harmony with life? |
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For further thought:
Imagine
how our lives might be if everyone had even a bit more of
the Wisdom that comes from seeing clearly. Suppose
people everywhere, simultaneously, stopped what they were
doing and paid attention for only as long as it took to
recognize their shared humanity. Surely the heartbreak
of the world's pain, visible to all, would convert everyone
to kindness. What a gift that would be.
Sylvia
Boorstein |
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Living
Life Fully's Daily Meditations, Year One
now available in Kindle and Nook editions!
After many years of sending out the daily meditations via e-mail, we've
decided to make the first year's worth of them available as digital
editions. Now you can have the entire year of insightful and
inspiring meditations available on your Amazon Kindle or Barnes and
Noble Nook. For the Kindle edition, just click on the link to the
left, and you'll be on your way to a consistently uplifting reading
experience!
For the
Nook edition, click here. |
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