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September
12, 2006 |
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| Some
people choose their ideas the way they choose their
clothes--according to the latest fashion.
Tolstoy |
Every
step you take should be a prayer. And if every step you
take is a prayer, then you will always be walking in a
sacred manner.
Oglala
Lakota Holyman |
| People
acquire a particular quality by constantly acting a
particular way--you become just by performing just actions,
temperate by performing temperate actions, brave by
performing brave actions.
Aristotle |
Spiritual
surrender is not about doing nothing. It is about releasing
what's not working in our lives, asking for guidance, and
opening ourselves up to the opportunities that come our way,
then acting on them.
Kathy
Cordova |
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Some
Words on Words
Norman Cousins
Whatever
success The Saturday Review may have had was
directly connected to its respect for the place of
ideas and the arts in the life of the mind.
This emphasis takes on special significance in the
light of the sleaziness that has infected the
national culture in recent years. There seems
to be a fierce competition, especially in
entertainment and publishing, to find ever-lower
rungs on the ladder of taste. . . .
There
is the curious notion that freedom is somehow
synonymous with gutter jargon. At one time
people who worked in the arts would boast to one
another about their ability to communicate ideas
that attacked social injustice and brutality.
Now some of them seem to feel that they have struck
a blow for humanity if only they can use enough
four-letter words.
The
debasement of language not only reflects but
produces a retreat from civility. The
slightest disagreement has become an occasion for
violent reactions. Television has educated an
entire generation of Americans to believe that the
normal way of reacting to a slight is by punching
someone in the face.
*
* * * *
Norman
Cousins was a long-time editor of The Saturday
Review. These words probably were written in
the 1980's. |
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Eyes Wide Open
tom walsh
Antelope
and Deer
My
wife and I have been driving through South Dakota
and Wyoming over the last few days, and as we drive,
we've been doing our best to spot animals in the
woods and fields near us. We've been rewarded
with sightings of mountain goats, pronghorn
antelope, mule deer, white-tail deer, rabbits,
turkeys, elk, a peacock, and even a camel, far away
from its native land.
When
we sight an animal (other than domesticated cows and
horses, which are very common), there's something
that stirs inside of us, something that feels a
connection with the wildness in the animal we
see. It's a fascinating feeling, one that
always has perplexed me. I have to wonder if
it might not include a bit of envy for the life we
see those animals leading.
After
all, what does your typical antelope have to do to
fill its time each day? It eats, sleeps,
defecates, walks around to find better places to
eat, perhaps talks to its fellow antelopes (do they
"talk" to each other?), and perhaps mates
if it's the proper season. There doesn't seem
to be a lot of judgment or pressure in what they do,
and for this we tend to call them
"free." They're free to do what they
want, when they want to do it. But what makes
them free? Is
it the way that they're completely dependent upon
their environment for sustenance and shelter?
If there's a drought next year and the grasses don't
grow, what will they eat? And when they can't
find their normal food or water sources, there
really is nothing to keep them from dying a slow and
painful death from starvation or thirst. When
the winter cold drops to 30 degrees below Fahrenheit,
they don't really have anywhere to go to keep
warm. They just hunker down somewhere and wait
for the cold to pass. Are
they free because they don't have to go to work five
or six days a week, pay bills, buy groceries, and do
all the other menial tasks that we have to in the
normal course of our lives? It's a
tempting thought to give up the rat race and give up
working, but we human beings are wired differently
than the animals--one of the most important aspects
of our lives is that of the intrinsic reward, the
inner sense of pride and accomplishment that we feel
when we've done something that we like and can feel
proud of. Because of the presence of this
feeling, we strive to do things that are fulfilling,
and those things rarely include eating, walking
around looking for more food, defecating, sleeping,
or even mating. I
definitely wouldn't want the freedom of a deer or an
antelope during hunting season. I
can't tell you what the feeling is that comes to us
when we see wild animals. I can tell you that
it brings to mind the words of many wise people over
the last few centuries who have said that before we
envy someone else whatever it is they have, we
should put ourselves in their shoes for a while;
once we see what their lives really are like, we
tend to realize that they don't have it nearly as
good as we think they do. While
it might be nice to have the freedom to roam the
range and escape some of the pressures that everyday
life offers us, it's also important for us to
realize that many of those pressures are exactly
what help us to build character, to learn and to
grow, and to develop ourselves always a step or two
further. It all depends upon how we see those
pressures: as something that hurts us and that
we want to escape from, or as something that helps
us by presenting us with difficulties to overcome. |
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Don't
wish me happiness--I don't expect to be happy.
It's gotten beyond that, somehow. Wish me courage and
strength and a sense of humor-I will need them all.
Anne
Morrow Lindbergh |
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Twenty-two
Lessons I've Learned
Chris Knight
Dr. Wayne Dyer is a popular motivational speaker
and author. His recent books include The Power of
Intention, Ten Secrets For Success &
Inner Peace, Getting in the Gap and Everyday
Wisdom. I've been studying Dyer's principles for
the past 22 years and here are the top 22 lessons
I've learned from him:
- You get whatever you think about most.
Whatever you think about expands… and
therefore, we must be careful to not think about
what we do not want.
- You can never get enough of what you don't
want. Why? Because we're thinking
about what we don't want and we keep getting
more of it. From an abundance and
prosperity perspective, it can be costly
(meaning you can lose great opportunities) to
contemplate the conditions you do not want to
produce for your life…for fear of getting more
of what you don't want.
- Think from the end. I'm a big believer
in starting with the end outcome and working
backwards to reach it. Dyer takes a more
mental approach to it as he encourages you to
contemplate yourself surrounded by the people,
events, and things that represent your version
of a "perfect life."
- An attitude of gratitude will take you a long
way. Rumi said, "Trade your knowledge
for bewilderment." It is good to be
in awe of all that you have attracted into your
life and the more you are grateful for that--the
more that will flow freely into your life.
- Paraphrasing Dyer: There are no branches
of any trees that think it is wise to fight with
each other. In other words, there is no
value in fighting with others as we are all from
the same metaphorical human tree of life.
There is an old Zen saying that goes something
like this: Whatever you are for,
strengthens you and whatever you are against,
weakens you.
- It is only natural to have abundance and
prosperity in your life. It is unnatural
to resist the gifts you have been given in life
to share with others. Therefore act
confidently with a "knowing" that you
already have all of the resources you need to
succeed.
- You must be independent of the opinion of
others. No one can make you into what you
are not. You are responsible to no one for
your actions and thoughts except yourself.
In addition, you are not in control of your
reputation. All you can control is
yourself and how you act on a day-to-day basis.
- You alone choose your emotional state each
day. No one can make you feel any
different than you choose to feel on any
day. Therefore take full responsibility
for the emotional states that you choose to
embrace each day.
- You are not your body nor are you the
possessions that you believe you have. You
are timeless; perfect; …just the way you have
forever been and will forever be. You are
a spiritual being having a human
experience. Live your truth.
- Meditation can help you solve problems and
achieve inner peace. While mental
visualization of your intentions or goals are a
good thing to do, think of
"meditation" as quieting your mind to
achieve a place of "no where" -- It's
one of the best ways to center yourself.
- Your EGO is often at odds with universal laws
and principles. Best to identify when you
are acting from ego versus acting from your true
authentic self. Your ego wants you to feel
special and different than others, but the
reality is that we share more in common than we
have differences. Focus on radical
humility and respect for yourself and others in
order to keep your ego at bay. You can
only extend to another that which you are in
truth.
- You can only give others what you have inside
of yourself. Therefore to give love away
to others, you must cultivate love for yourself
FIRST. Dyer uses the metaphor of squeezing
an orange-- asking you what comes out when you
squeeze it. Most people answer,
"orange juice" comes out.
Why? Because that is what is inside.
When humans are squeezed, what comes out of them
is what they harbor inside of themselves.
Harbor love, acceptance, joy, confidence, peace
and harmony towards yourself so that you can
radiate it towards others.
- Your relationship with others does not really
exist. You only have your perception of
your relationship with others to act on.
Therefore you must focus on making sure you
perceive your relationship with others on the
terms that you hope for the future of the
relationship to exist. In other words, you
must see harmony within yourself and then with
the other person. You must always have
within you what you wish to see or give another.
- Our intentions create our reality. We
each create our own personal realities by what
we focus on and intend to happen for our
experiences. Therefore we have an enormous
responsibility to choose our intentions
carefully.
- Be attached to nothing, but rather connected
with what you want for your life.
Attachment can cloud your ability to attract
what you want. When you let go and
surrender to your perfect self, you will attract
what you desire.
- There is never any scarcity of opportunity,
but rather there is only scarcity of resolve to
seize the opportunities that knock on our door
every day. Scarcity does not exist unless
we choose to embrace it…therefore, it is
better to never embrace scarcity--only embrace
the possibility for abundance.
- When the teacher is ready, the students will
appear. When the student is ready, the
teachers will appear. We can not learn the
lessons we are here to learn if we are not open
and receptive to learn. Do not resist the
possibility to change, but rather expand and
become more open.
- No one was ever hurt by practicing random acts
of kindness. The law of reciprocity always
rewards kindness and even more so when you are
kind without any expectation of needing a
return. There is no difference in the
words "giving" and
"receiving."
- The best way to maximize book sales is to
release related products that can be
purchased. For example, a book could be
followed up with an audio tape, audio CD, DVD,
flip calendar, playing card decks and
more. Each of these creates additional
revenue streams that help to maximize the ROI
from each published works. (My marketing brain
wanted to insert this lesson in here.)
- Judgment: One of our purposes in life is
to find a way to free ourselves of our need to
judge others in a negative light. This is
the work of our ego and judging others prevents
us from seeing the good in them. There is
no value in judging others poorly. As we
see others, we also see ourselves.
- Dyer says, "It's never crowded along the
extra mile." That means that we must
always give more than we expect to
receive. In doing so, we join the small
percentage of achievers that consistently go
above and beyond the call of duty to serve
others. The rewards are often
disproportionate for those who go the extra mile
versus those who only do the minimum they need
to get by. We give without expectations.
- Trust in yourself, and in doing so you trust
in the very wisdom that created you. It is
impossible to become a no-limit person if you
focus on limitations…therefore only focus on
what you want to attract for your life.
You already are complete, whole and
perfect. Trust in the perfection of your
life.
About The Author:
Chris Knight is the humble moderator of the fan
discussion board for Dr. Wayne Dyer: Wayne-Dyer.InspiresYOU.com
-- He invites you to drop by, register for free, and
join the discussion. It's by fans and for fans of
Dr. Wayne Dyer, and as such, is not connected
directly with Dr. Wayne Dyer.
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The majority of people are not awake; it is only
here and there
that we find one even partially awake. Practically all of us,
as a result,
are living lives that are unworthy almost the name of lives,
compared
to those we might be living, and that lie within our easy
grasp. While it is true that each life is in and of Divine Being,
hence always
one with it, in order that this great fact bear fruit in
individual lives,
each one must be conscious of it; he or she must know it in
thought,
and then live continually in this consciousness.
Ralph
Waldo Trine
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When I was six or seven years old, growing up
in Pittsburgh, I used to take
a precious penny of my own and hide it for someone else to
find. I was
greatly excited. . . at the thought of the first lucky
passerby who would receive
in this way, regardless of merit, a free gift from the
universe.
I've been thinking about seeing. There are
lots of things to see, unwrapped
gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded
and strewn with pennies
cast broadside from a generous hand.
Annie
Dillard |
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