“‘Normality,’ says Howe, ‘is the paradise of escapologists, for it is a fixation concept, pure and simple.’ ‘It is better, if we can,’ he asserts, ‘to stand alone and to feel quite normal about our abnormality, doing nothing whatever about it, except what needs to be done in order to be oneself.’ –Henry Miller FromContinue reading “Reading: Towards Full Acceptance of Self”
Tag Archives: openness
Reading: Do your work
“…the nonpermanent appearance of happiness and distress, and their disappearance in due course, are like the appearance and disappearance of winter and summer seasons. They arise from sense perception,…and one must learn to tolerate them without being disturbed.” — The Bhagavad Gita 2.14
Reading: Towards Full Acceptance
“The art of living is based on rhythm — on give and take, ebb and flow, light and dark, life and death. By acceptance of all aspects of life, good and bad, right and wrong, yours and mine, the static, defensive life, which is what most people are cursed with, is converted into a dance, ‘the dance of life,’ metamorphosis.Continue reading “Reading: Towards Full Acceptance”
Re-post: Mind your business: Love thy neighbor
“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy if anything can.” -Thomas Merton HappyContinue reading “Re-post: Mind your business: Love thy neighbor”
Reading: Perspective by Proust
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust One of the aspects I love about this quote in relation to Yoga is in how we practice. The more present we are, the greater opportunity for openness…and new eyes. Allowing for curiosity in practice…allowing room for playContinue reading “Reading: Perspective by Proust”
Reading: T.S. Eliot
Was reminded of this as I prepared for my current Teacher Training — such a beautiful reflection for Yoga and life. “We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time” — T.S. Eliot I first recall hearingContinue reading “Reading: T.S. Eliot”
Reading: Hard Lessons
This suffering BS is real. “Life is difficult, the Buddha said, for everyone. Suffering, he taught, is the demand that experience be different from what it is. Of course we do what we can to address pain. Sometimes illnesses are cured. Sometimes relationships are mended. Sometimes losses are recouped. Sometimes, though, nothing can be done. The Buddha’sContinue reading “Reading: Hard Lessons”
Reading: Being Tested by Pema Chödron
“We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all ofContinue reading “Reading: Being Tested by Pema Chödron”
Reading from Louis L’Amour and a “Danger v. Comfort Zone” tangent
“Up to a point, man’s life is shaped by environment, heredity, & movements and changes in the world about him; then there comes a time when it lies within his grasp to shape the clay of his life into the sort of thing he wishes to be . . . Everyone has within his/her powerContinue reading “Reading from Louis L’Amour and a “Danger v. Comfort Zone” tangent”
Reading: Mind your business: Love thy neighbor
“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody’s business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy if anything can.” -Thomas Merton HappyContinue reading “Reading: Mind your business: Love thy neighbor”