To some people, surrender may have negative connotations, implying defeat, giving up, failing to rise to the challenges of life, becoming lethargic, and so on. True surrender, however, is something entirely different. It does not mean to passively put up with whatever situation you find yourself in and to do nothing about it. Nor does it mean to cease making plans or initiating positive action.
Surrender is the simple but profound wisdom of yielding to rather than opposing the flow of life. The only place where you can experience the flow of life is the NOW, so to surrender is to accept the present moment unconditionally and without reservation.
It is to relinguish inner resistance to what "IS."
(Derived from Practising the Power of NOW - p106)
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Exercise
This morning I realized how easy it is for us to put aside our scheduled time for exercise when some other appointments come up. No doubt other appointments may concern our work or our business, but come to think about it - are we saying our own exercising is NOT so important? So our own physical health can come second or third or fourth on our priority list? Would it be possible for us to set aside our exercise time to be just as important - if not more so - then our other businesses of the day such that if we have made an appointment to go to the gym (for example) that doesn't get dropped when we are called to a meeting of some sort?
This same goes for prayers I suppose. Can we really dedicate a specific time each day to give to God - so to speak? And the follow these pre-scheduled time "religiously" without allowing for the day to day "distractions" to pull us away from these moments?
With the down in the economy, I've notice (as have many) that businesses are less inclined to spending $$ on self/personal development. It is no secret that many people would put aside this aspect of their life (personal growth and development including spirituality) for many other things. Seems like our "care for ourselves" is always at least secondary. Practically all of us have heard of the trite saying of "We have to love ourselves first before we can love others" or "how can others love you if you don't love yourself" or the many other varieties that speak to the same matter. Yet, while we know this in our head and heart - we (most of us) seem to not practice this.
Are we missing a very important point? I wonder ...
This same goes for prayers I suppose. Can we really dedicate a specific time each day to give to God - so to speak? And the follow these pre-scheduled time "religiously" without allowing for the day to day "distractions" to pull us away from these moments?
With the down in the economy, I've notice (as have many) that businesses are less inclined to spending $$ on self/personal development. It is no secret that many people would put aside this aspect of their life (personal growth and development including spirituality) for many other things. Seems like our "care for ourselves" is always at least secondary. Practically all of us have heard of the trite saying of "We have to love ourselves first before we can love others" or "how can others love you if you don't love yourself" or the many other varieties that speak to the same matter. Yet, while we know this in our head and heart - we (most of us) seem to not practice this.
Are we missing a very important point? I wonder ...
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The Joy of Being
Ask yourself: Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what I am doing? If there isn't, then time is covering up the present moment, and life is perceived as a burden on a struggle.
If there is no joy, ease, or lightness in what you are doing, it does not necessarily mean that you need to change what you are doing. It may be sufficient to change the how. "How" is always more important than "what." See if you can give much more attention to the doing than to the result that you want to achieve through it. Give your fullest attention to whatever the moment presents. This implies you also completely accept what is, because you cannot give your full attention to something and at the same time resist it.
(taken from Practising the NOW - p35)
If there is no joy, ease, or lightness in what you are doing, it does not necessarily mean that you need to change what you are doing. It may be sufficient to change the how. "How" is always more important than "what." See if you can give much more attention to the doing than to the result that you want to achieve through it. Give your fullest attention to whatever the moment presents. This implies you also completely accept what is, because you cannot give your full attention to something and at the same time resist it.
(taken from Practising the NOW - p35)
Friday, October 17, 2008
PRESENCE
Something to share from Practising the Power of NOW:
"In the stillness of your presence, you can feel your own formless and timeless reality as the unmanifested life that animates your physical form. You can then feel the same life deep within every other human and every other creature. You look beyond the veil of form and separation. This is the realization of oneness. This is love." (p84)
"In the stillness of your presence, you can feel your own formless and timeless reality as the unmanifested life that animates your physical form. You can then feel the same life deep within every other human and every other creature. You look beyond the veil of form and separation. This is the realization of oneness. This is love." (p84)
I am back!
Wow. It has been 3 weeks since I made my last post. How time flies. I wonder how people can do this on a daily basis. Guess perhaps it's just a matter of "discipline" or perhaps simply a matter of habit.
3 whole weeks! WoW!!
Life is still pretty "chaotic" at the moment. Depending on whether you are a half empty glass or half full glass - you would see the "chaotic" as either good or bad. Or perhaps it is just neither. For me - certainly this is some really trying times .. with changes on a daily basis. I guess I need to take what I can from the situation and hope I will learn and grow. You do know that even "Death" is growth, right? :)
3 whole weeks! WoW!!
Life is still pretty "chaotic" at the moment. Depending on whether you are a half empty glass or half full glass - you would see the "chaotic" as either good or bad. Or perhaps it is just neither. For me - certainly this is some really trying times .. with changes on a daily basis. I guess I need to take what I can from the situation and hope I will learn and grow. You do know that even "Death" is growth, right? :)
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