Good
day, and welcome to the first day of summer! We hope that
you were able
to end your spring on very positive notes and are
able to begin
your summer even better!
True religion is the life
we live,
not the creed we profess.
J.F.
Wright
Many
people have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness.
It is not
attained through self-gratification, but through
fidelity to a worthy purpose.
Now, when I talk about the steps toward inner peace, I
talk about them in a framework, but there's nothing
arbitrary about the number of steps. They can be
expanded; they can be contracted. This is just a way
of talking about the subject, but this is important:
the steps toward inner peace are not taken in any certain
order. Thefirst stepfor
one may be thelast stepfor
another. So, just take whatever steps seem easiest
for you, and as you take a few steps, it will become
easier for you to take a few more. In this area we
really can share. None of you may feel guided to
walk a pilgrimage, and I'm not trying to inspire you to
walk a pilgrimage, but in the field of finding harmony in
our own lives, we can share. And I suspect that when
you hear me give some of the steps toward inner peace, you
will recognize them as steps that you also have taken.
In the first place I would like to mention some
preparations that were required of me. The first
preparation is aright attitude
toward life.This means--stop being
an escapist! Stop being a surface-liver who stays right in
the froth of the surface. There are millions of
these people, and they never find anything really
worthwhile. Be willing to face life squarely and get
down beneath the surface of life where the verities and
realities are to be found. That's what we are doing
here now.
There's the whole matter of having a meaningful attitude
for the problems that life may set before you.
If
only you could see the whole picture, if only you knew the whole
story, you would realize that no problem ever comes to you that does
not have a purpose in your life, that cannot contribute to your
inner growth. When you perceive this, you will recognize
problems as opportunities in disguise. If you did not face
problems you would just drift through life, and you would not gain
inner growth. It is through solving problems in
accordance with the highest light that we have that inner growth is
attained. Now, collective problems must be solved by us
collectively, and no one finds inner peace who avoids doing his or
her share in the solving of collective problems, like world
disarmament and world peace. So let us always think about
these problems together, talk about them together, and collectively
work toward their solutions.
The second preparation has to do withbringing
our lives into harmony with the laws that govern this universe.Created are not only the worlds and the beings but also
the laws which govern them. Applying both in the physical
realm and in the psychological realm, these laws govern human
conduct. Insofar as we are able to understand and bring our
lives into harmony with these laws, our lives will be in
harmony. Insofar as we disobey these laws, we create
difficulties for ourselves by our disobedience. We are our own
worst enemies. If we are out of harmony through ignorance, we
suffer somewhat; but if weknow betterand
are still out of harmony, then we suffer a great deal. I
recognize that these laws are well-known and well-believed, and
therefore they just needed to be well-lived.
So I got busy on a very interesting project. This wasto
live all the good things I believed in. I did
not confuse myself by trying to take them all at once, but rather,
if I was doing something that I knew I should not be doing, I
stopped doing it, and I always made aquick
relinquishment.You see, that's the easy
way. Tapering off is long and hard. And if I was not
doing something that I knew I should be doing, I got busy on
that. It took the living quite a while to catch up with the
believing, but of course it can, and now if I believe something, I
live it. Otherwise it would be perfectly meaningless. As
I lived according to the highest light that I had, I discovered that
other light was given, and that I opened myself to receiving more
light as I lived the light I had.
These laws are the same for all of us, and these are the things that
we can study and talk about together. But there is also a
third preparation that has to do with something which is unique for
every human life because every one of us hasa
special place in the Life Pattern.If
you do not yet know clearly where you fit, I suggest that you try
seeking it in receptive silence. I used to walk amid the
beauties of nature, just receptive and silent, and wonderful
insights would come to me. You begin to do your part in the
Life Pattern by doing all the good things you feel motivated toward,
even though they are just little good things at first. You
give these priority in your life over all the superficial things
that customarily clutter human lives.
There are those who know and do not do. This is very
sad. I remember one day as I walked along the highway a very
nice car stopped and the man said to me, "How wonderful that
you are following your calling!" I replied, "I
certainly think that everyone should be doing what feels right to
do." He then began telling me what he felt motivated
toward, and it was a good thing that needed doing. I got quite
enthusiastic about it and took for granted that he was doing
it. I said, "That's wonderful! How are you getting on
with it?" And he answered, "Oh, I'm not doing
it. That kind of work doesn'tpayanything."
And I shall never forget how desperately unhappy that man was.
But you see, in this materialistic age we have such a false
criterion by which to measure success. We measure it in terms
of dollars, in terms of material things. But happiness and
inner peace do not lie in that direction. If you know but do
not do, you are a very unhappy person indeed.
There is also a fourth preparation, and it is thesimplification
of lifeto bring inner and outer well-being--psychological
and material well-being--into harmony in your life. This was
made very easy for me. Just after I dedicated my life to
service, I felt that I could no longer acceptmorethan
I needed while others in the world havelessthan
they need. This moved me to bring my life down to
need-level. I thought it would be difficult. I thought
it would entail a great many hardships, but I was quite wrong.
Now that I own only what I wear and what I carry in my pockets, I
don't feel deprived of anything. For me, what I want and what
I need are exactly the same, and you couldn't give me anything I
don't need.
I discovered this great truth: unnecessary possessions are
just unnecessary burdens. Now I don't mean that all our needs
are the same. Yours may be much greater than mine. For
instance, if you have a family, you would need the stability of a
family center for your children. But I do mean that anything
beyond need--and need sometimes includes things beyond the physical
needs, too--anything beyond need tends to become burdensome.
There is a great freedom in simplicity of living, and after I began
to feel this, I found a harmony in my life between inner and outer
well-being. Now there's a great deal to be said about such
harmony, not only for an individual life but also for the life of a
society. It's because as a world we have gotten ourselves so
far out of harmony, so way off on the material side, that when we
discover something like nuclear energy, we are still capable of
putting it into a bomb and using it to kill people. This is
because our inner well-being lags behind our outer well-being.
The valid research for the future is on theinnerside,
on the psychological side, so that we will be able to bring these
two into balance, so we will know how to use well the outer
well-being we already have.
Every
generation blames the one before
And all of their frustrations come beating on your door
I know that I'm a prisoner to all my father held so dear
I know that I'm a hostage to all his hopes and fears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
Crumpled bits of paper filled with imperfect thought
Stilted conversations, I'm afraid that's all we've got
You say you just don't see it, he says it's perfect sense
You just can't get agreement in this present tense
We all talk a different language, talking in defense
chorus:
Say it loud, say it clear
You can listen as well as you hear
It's too late when we die
To admit we don't see eye to eye
So we open up a quarrel between the present and the past
We only sacrifice the future; it's the bitterness that
lasts
So don't yield to the fortunes you sometimes see as fate
It may have a new perspective on a different day
And if you don't give up and don't give in
You may just be okay
chorus
I wasn't there that morning when my father passed away
I didn't get to tell him all the things I had to say
I think I caught his spirit later that same year
I'm sure I heard his echo in my baby's newborn tears
I just wish I could have told him in the living years
chorus
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The places where we are genuinely met and heard have
great importance to us. Being in them may remind
us of our strength and our value in ways that many
other places we pass through do not.
My medical partner, who had never been ill a day in
his life, died suddenly of a massive heart attack at
fifty-six. He was a consummate healer and a
magnificent friend and he left both his colleagues and
his patients bereft. For weeks we numbly went
through papers and made referrals for the many people
who called in, many of them weeping. Finally,
the last details were attended to and we settled down
to a future without Hal.
Then the patients started coming. For almost a
year afterwards, several times a week when I would
open the door of my office and find one of Hal's
patients sitting in the common waiting room. At
first I would worry that they didn't know about Hal
and I would have to tell them, but they all
knew. They had just come to the place where they
had experienced his listening, his special way of
seeing and valuing them, just to sit there for a bit,
perhaps to think about difficult decisions which
currently faced them. Many patients came.
It was terribly, terribly moving. It made me
angry with Hal for tending every life so impeccably
except his own.
Another colleague, who is the head of the department
of family medicine at one of the East Coast's
outstanding medical schools, tells a story about one
of his patients. The patient was a homeless
woman whose possessions fit into two shopping
carts. Once a month she would bring these up the
steep hill to his clinic by lashing them alternately
to the parking meters with a belt. First she
would tie one, then wheel the other to the next meter
uphill, tie it, go back for the first one, untie it,
and wheel it to the meter above the second until both
she and the two carts were at the clinic's front
door. He saw her once a month on a
Wednesday. Her speech was sometimes rambling and
her clothing was filthy and eccentric. This
deeply kind and respectful man was not troubled by
this. With his usual grave courtesy he welcomed
her into his consulting room, listened to the details
of her difficult life, and did what he could to ease
her burden.
After he had been seeing her for some time, he became
aware that she sometimes came to the hospital on days
when he was not there. The clinic nurses were
puzzled by this at first, as she seemed to know in
some mysterious way that it was not her day to see the
doctor. After talking with her, they determined
that she simply wanted to go to his consulting
room. Once there she did not go in, but would
stand on the threshold and slowly and deliberately
place her right foot inside the empty room and then
withdraw it again and again. After a while she
would be satisfied and go away again.
The places in which we are seen and heard are holy
places. They remind us of our value as human
beings. They give us the strength to go
on. Eventually they may even help us to
transform our pain into wisdom.
Living
Life Fully, the e-zine
exists to try to provide for visitors of the world wide web a
place
of growth, peace, inspiration, and encouragement. Our
articles
are presented as thoughts of the authors--by no means do
we
mean to present them as ways that anyone has to live
life. Take
from them what you will, and disagree with
whatever you disagree
with--just know that they'll be here for you
each week.
Step into this moment, because it is the only one
you have right now.It
is not
wasted or thrown away.The divine opportunity could be stolen unless you tell
yourself it is here right now; available to you this moment,
to make of it anything
you choose.Why not choose this moment, right now, to be available
to
yourself
by declaring, I AM GOOD! . . . . The richness of
the present is here. The
fullness
of now is present.If you are not here now, it means you could be
missing
the
love, joy, peaceand brand-new ideas that are here right now.
One of these days, she tells herself, she's going to quit the job
where they treat her so badly and find one where they treat her
well. In the meantime, she's going to stick it out because
she really needs the money.
One of these days, he says, he's going to take his wife on their
dream trip. They're going to spend three weeks visiting
places that they both want to visit, probably in Europe, and
they're going to relax and enjoy themselves and not worry about
anything.
One of these days, they think, they're going to simplify their
lives and live well within their means so that they don't have to
worry so much about bills and payments, so that their stress
levels go down and their enjoyment levels go up.
There are a lot of things that are going to happen one of these
days. Our country is going to switch over to clean,
renewable energy one of these days. Our world is going to
live in peace one of these days. Somehow, though, that
particular day never seems to arrive. We keep putting that
day off because in order to reach that day, we need to make
changes and take risks. In order to achieve our dreams we
may have to let go of something or some things that are holding us
back and not allowing us to move on.
Do not sit still; start moving
now. In the beginning, you may not go
in the direction you want, but as long as you are moving,
you are creating alternatives and possibilities.
Rodolfo Costa
I really don't
want to be a person who constantly says "One of
these days" because that's that type of person
who will look back years from now and say, "If
only." Talking about what we'll do or
what will happen one of these days keeps us from
taking action today, and it keeps us from making
concrete plans to achieve our goals instead of just
dreaming about them.
Once upon a time, my wife and I were talking about
how nice it would be to take the kids on a vacation
to Disneyworld. We weren't in great financial
shape at the time, as we had just gotten married and
we were dealing with tons of financial problems from
her first marriage. But I told her that the
only way we'd make it happen would be to actually
commit ourselves to it, and that we should make the
reservations. So she did--we make the
reservations for more than a year later, and we were
committed to doing something rather than just
dreaming about it.
In the interim time, some interesting things
happened. I was able to find a part-time job
on weekends that allowed me to pay for pretty much
the entire trip over the course of four
months. And while the idea of losing my
weekends wasn't the most pleasant idea I could think
of, it was a sacrifice that I was able and willing
to make, as the trade-off was so high. I also
found a new job just about three weeks before the
trip that improved our finances significantly.
It wasn't a luxury trip by any means. It was a
very long drive (about 20 hours), but we were
willing to do that because we definitely couldn't
have afforded five plane tickets. Our room was
kind of cramped, but that was okay for a
family. We didn't buy tons of souvenirs, but
everyone did have a certain amount of money to buy
what they wanted while we were there, and they could
make their own choices.
And we ended up with a great trip that still
provides us with plenty of fond memories.
Changes
are not only possible and predictable, but to deny them
is to be an accomplice to one's own unnecessary vegetation.
Gail
Sheehy
Sometimes we
just have to commit ourselves to taking a risk
and/or making a change that's important in our
lives. We don't want to keep on saying
"One of these days" because that's going
to guarantee us a different time frame: never.
What would you really like to be doing with your
life right now? Are you in the job you'd
really like to be doing? If not, are you
making preparations for moving into your dream
job? If not, why not? Are you waiting
for conditions to be perfect for you to do so?
If that's the case, I've got some bad news:
conditions rarely ever become perfect for anything
to happen. We've got to create the conditions
in order for them to actually exist.
If you do want a job change that involves risk, then
perhaps it's not the time to buy that new car and
have that high payment hanging over your head when
you're ready for the change. If you want to
live somewhere else, then it's probably a good idea
to start a savings plan to give yourself a financial
buffer when you make the move. Even if you're
confident that you'll find work in the new place,
other things happen that are quite expensive,
including finding a place to live, moving and
storage expenses, waiting for the first paycheck,
etc.
It's usually important that we prepare ourselves for
big changes, though often we may be pushed into
making changes that we weren't ready for. If
that happens, then "one of these days" may
be tomorrow. If a major life event provides a
catalyst for starting something that you really
wanted to start or for doing something that you
really wanted to do, then there's a good chance that
it's a good idea to ride the wave started by that
event and make some wholesale changes at the same
time. It will lead to a pretty hectic period
of time, but we as humans are pretty good at making
our ways through adversity--and we learn some of our
most important lessons when we do so.
Any
life truly lived
is a risky
business,
and if one puts up
too many
fences
against the
risks one
ends by shutting
out life itself.
Kenneth
S. Davis
"One of
these days." They're nice-sounding words,
and often they're important. The new parents
are going to be limited in some of the things they
can do over the next ten years or so. The
person who just started a career may need to wait a
few years until he or she takes that long
back-packing trip in Europe. The phrase
becomes dangerous to us when we use it to
rationalize or justify non-action, when we use it to
express a lack of hope for the present. Some
things must wait for their time; other things are
completely up to us to change. I'm very
grateful that somewhere along the line I learned
that it's much better to make a decision and start
working to make it happen than it is to hope that my
life situations become perfect for something that I
really want to do. If you want that special
something to happen, then please don't wait for one
of these days. Identify it, define it, and
start planning it. That's what life is all
about.
The
most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and science. Those to
whom
this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to
wonder
and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; their eyes are
closed.
We
use the word "love" but we have no more
understanding of love than we do of anger or fear or
jealousy or even joy, because we have seldom
investigated what that state of mind is. What
are the feelings we so quickly label as love?
For many what is called love is not lovely at all
but is a tangle of needs and desires, of momentary
ecstasies and bewilderment. Moments of unity,
of intense feelings of closeness, occur in a mind so
fragile that the least squint or sideways glance
shatters its oneness into a dozen ghostly paranoias.
When we say love we usually mean some emotion, some
deep feeling for an object or person, that
momentarily allows us to open to another. But
in such emotional love, self-protection is never
very far away. Still there is
"business" to the relationship:
clouds of jealousy, possessiveness, guilt,
intentional and unintentional manipulation,
separateness, and the shadow of all previous
"loves" darkens the light of oneness.
But what I mean by love is not an emotion, it is a
state of being. True love has no object.
Many speak of their unconditional love for
another. Unconditional love is the experience
of being; there is no "I" and
"other," and anyone or anything it touches
is experienced in love. You cannot
unconditionally love someone. You can only be
unconditional love. It is not a dualistic
emotion. It is a sense of oneness with all
that is. The experience of love arises when we
surrender our separateness into the universal.
It is a feeling of unity. You don't love
another, you are another. There is no
fear because there is no separation.
Stephen Levine
Anything will give
up its secrets if you love it enough.
Not only have
I found that when I talk to the little flower
or to the
little peanut they will give up their secrets,
but I have
found that when I silently commune with people
they give
up their secrets also--if you love them enough.
Yes, life
can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's
actually rather dependable and reliable. Some principles apply
to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called
universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use
them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever
learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning. I use it a lot when I
teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to
the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.
What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or
generous, compassionate or arrogant? In this book, I've done my
best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life,
writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.
Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too! Universal Principles of Living Life Fully. Awareness of
these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration
out of the lives we lead.
™
