I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better”. — Abraham Lincoln This quote has been with me for years as part of my long journey towards developing self-acceptance and the ability to forgive myself and others. It is the essence of metta practice. Unconditionally accepting ourselves and others can feel impossible, especiallyContinue reading “Metta: Revolutionary Love”
Tag Archives: Acceptance
Video: Guided Metta (Lovingkindness) Meditation Practice
I have been sharing abbreviated metta or lovingkindness meditation practices with each Yoga class on Zoom. Here is a longer 15 minute guided meditation practice to cultivate and strengthen love, compassion, worthiness and acceptance towards ourselves and ALL beings. Find a comfortable seated position or lie down – whatever serves you best. Repeat the followingContinue reading “Video: Guided Metta (Lovingkindness) Meditation Practice”
Reading: Towards Full Acceptance of Self
“‘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”
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: Stumblers
“… in a culture that consistently mistakes perfection for wholeness, we are discouraged from dancing with the brokenness, messiness, and imperfection of our interior lives — and yet only when do so can we begin to feel whole and measure our lives in terms of deep meaning rather than superficial success.” – Maria Popova ThisContinue reading “Reading: Stumblers”
Reading: Right and Wrong
More wisdom from When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times: “There is nobody on the planet, neither those whom we see as the oppressed nor those whom we see as the oppressor, who doesn’t have what it takes to wake up. We all need support and encouragement to be aware of what we think,Continue reading “Reading: Right and Wrong”
Reading: When Things Fall Apart…again
Revisited my notes last week from Pema Chödrön‘s “When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times” when saw it was her 80th birthday and 20th anniversary of the book – timeless…and timely: “We think that the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don’t reallyContinue reading “Reading: When Things Fall Apart…again”
Reading: B.K.S. Iyengar’s Serenity Prayer
“Yoga teaches us to cure what need not be endured and endure what cannot be cured.” — B.K.S. Iyengar “…and the wisdom to know the difference.” I was reminded of this quote with B.K.S. Iyengar’s birthday this past Monday the 14th. This reminds me of the Serenity Prayer. A benefit of practice that is foreverContinue reading “Reading: B.K.S. Iyengar’s Serenity Prayer”