Thank you all for your comments, here and by direct email. My heart rejoices when we share our experiences on the Great Matters.
Paul Instead of the crash course you’re looking for, there’s this step-by-step prescription for living whole-heartedly —
1: acknowledge that it hurts;
2: locate the hurt inside your body; feel deeply; let go of the story;
3: hold everything lightly, especially when there’s resistance (the “tantrum” you mentioned), give it time and space, be patient and kind;
4: loosen the grip on your ideas of a solution, open yourself to not-knowing.
Isabel “Hope and fear are a single coin, one entity with two faces — on the other side of a moment in which we hope for more happiness will be our fear of more suffering.” ~ Tulku Pema Rigtsal and Keith Dowman (trans). (2012). Great Secret of Mind. Shambhala Publications, p. 154.
Mary I too catch myself waiting for magic, as in “any day now, someone or something will relieve me of this burden, heal all wounds, love me as I am.” It takes a leap of faith to see all that as so much smoke (a.k.a. wishful thinking) that keeps us from seeing clearly.
Thích Nhất Hạnh writes: “To dwell in the here and now does not mean you never think about the past or responsibly plan for the future. The idea is simply not to allow yourself to get lost in regrets about the past or worries about the future. If you are firmly grounded in the present moment, the past can be an object of inquiry, the object of your mindfulness and concentration. You can attain many insights by looking into the past. But you are still grounded in the present moment.” ~ (2007). The Art of Power. HarperOne.
Monica I’m always delighted to hear from you. A propos suffering vs. happiness, consider these lines from Sandokai, an 8th century Chinese poem that’s chanted daily in Zen centres around the world.
Within light there is darkness, but do not try to understand that darkness;
within darkness there is light, but do not look for that light.
Light and darkness are a pair, like the foot before and the foot behind, in walking.
Dear Peter,
Wonderful words of wisdom. Now to put it into practice:)
Thank you!
Thank you Peter, those are sage words. Letting go of things (past trauma, et al) has never been my strong point. Hope you are doing well and we are all looking forward to the fall session here.
Cheers
Paul
How about this, Paul: instead of trying to let go, embrace and love all that is you. i too catch myself believing that “happiness will reign as soon as I fix/clear/let-go of this and that.” So I remember to treat my/self the way a best friend would.
Thank you Peter… As always…. Receiving your heartmind blog post always seems timely…
I bathe in longing, work at grounding myself in the here and now, receiving everything and pushing away nothing. Thank you all for your comments too. Deep bow.
Tracy
seeing clearly is always timely, Tracy. just that one cloud is replaced by another, seemingly endless. the glimpses at the blue sky are as important to our health as those of the dark skies. happy to be of service,
Peter
I always like to see Heartmind coming into my Inbox, greetings to you on this beautiful day. Thank you Peter for sharing the deep, philosophical words of the 8th century Chinese poem and Buddhist chant.
Namaste, 🙂 May your day be a happy one.
Monica