One of the greatest thing about social media is the great amount of information swirling out there. There's a lot of mmm drivel, but a lot of gems too. Some are from friends, others from strangers. When something resonates, I can't help but copy, paste and share. Hope you find something precious and loving!
Dig in. Life is so fragile. We all need reminders to turn the light inwards and drop deeply into ourselves, and then to take what's there and express it in the world in the most honest and creative way possible. Inner work and it's outer expression always go hand-in-hand.
- Michael Stone
*****
A human being is part of a whole, called by us the ‘Universe’ —a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings, as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circles of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
- Albert Einstein
***
Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It's a relationship between equals. Only when we know our own darkness well can we be present with the darkness of others. Compassion becomes real when we recognize our shared humanity.
― Pema Chödrön, The Places That Scare You: A Guide to Fearlessness in Difficult Times
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At times our own light goes out and is rekindled
by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude
of those who have lighted the flame within us.
- Albert Schweitzer
*****
Richard Bach -The Bridge Across Forever:
“A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together the direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.”
*****
A tender surrender:
Something amazing happens
when we surrender and just love.
We melt into another world,
a realm of power already within us.
The world changes when we change.
The world softens when we soften.
The world loves us when we choose
to love the world.
~Marianne Williamson
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--Louise Erdrich
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You don't love someone for their looks or their clothes or their fancy cay, but because they sing a song that you can only hear.
- Oscar Wilde
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Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.
***
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled
by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude
of those who have lighted the flame within us.
- Albert Schweitzer
***
“The world without spirit is a wasteland. People have the notion of saving the world by shifting things around, changing the rules, and who’s on top, and so forth. No, no! Any world is a valid world if it’s alive. The thing to do is to bring life to it, and the only way to do that is to find in your own case where the life is and become alive yourself.”
-- Joseph Campbell
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There are lovers content with longing,
I am not one of them.
--Rumi
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Those who don't feel this Love
pulling them like a river,those who don't drink dawnlike a cup of spring wateror take in sunset like supper,those who don't want to change,
let them sleep.
This Love is beyond the study of theology,that old trickery and hypocrisy.If you want to improve your mind that way,
sleep on.
I've given up on my brain.I've torn the cloth to shredsand thrown it away.
If you're not completely naked,wrap your beautiful robe of wordsaround you,
and sleep.
Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks
***
The Invitation
by Oriah Mountain Dreamer
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.
It doesn't interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.
It doesn't interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shriveled and closed
from fear of further pain.
I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.
I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.
It doesn't interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”
It doesn't interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.
It doesn't interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.
It doesn't interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.
I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.
http://www.oriahmountaindreamer.com/
--Bernie Siegel
