Category: Be fully present

Knowing in a new way

Karl Duffy2 Comments

Wisdom is not the gathering of more facts and information, as if that would eventually coalesce into truth.

Wisdom is precisely a different way of seeing and knowing the “ten thousand things” in a new way.

I suggest that wisdom is precisely the freedom to be truly present to what is right in front of you. Presence is wisdom! People who are fully present know how to see fully, rightly, and truthfully. Presence is the one thing necessary for wisdom, and in many ways, it is the hardest thing of all. Just try to keep 1) your heart space open, 2) your mind without division or resistance, and 3) your body not somewhere else — and all at the same time!

Most religions just decided it was easier to believe doctrines and obey often-arbitrary laws than the truly converting work of being present. Those who can be present will know what they need to know, and in a wisdom way.

Richard Rohr, The Naked Now, Learning to See as the Mystics See

Rest

Karl Duffy2 Comments

In the rhythm of the Christian Tradition, Holy Saturday was a day of waiting, of bare church decoration, of things pared down and distractions minimized.

Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought. T. S. Eliot

Wise intention and skillful service need to be nourished by periods of quiet and prayer. Every great tradition includes some from of the Sabbath. In the West we inherited the blessing of the Christian and Jewish Sabbath. Muslims have Friday as their holy day, and likewise Hindus and Buddhists renew their vows of simplicity on full moon, new moon, and quarter moon days. When I was young, Massachusetts had Sabbath “Blue Laws” requiring all forms of business to stop on Sundays. But now, one generation later, we have twenty-four-hour supermarkets and twenty-four-hour banking, seven days a week; our consumer society has claimed the right to operate without constraint. This is a recipe for burnout.

Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the heart grows wise on the Spiritual Path

Harmony

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Praying for peace entails believing that peace begins with you, and aligning yourself with peacefulness.

Peace is understood in the Christian tradition as “tranquillitas ordinis”, the quietness of order, the calm that comes with harmony.

And order is arranging things so that each gives to the other its proper place.

Even God must do this.

In the Jewish tradition it is said that, in order to create the world, God had to step back.

David Steindal Rast

Heartened, disheartened…

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Once out of our particular bondage, self-made or otherwise, the long pilgrimage of spiritual work demands a commitment to wander into a life of authenticity and truth. Once awake, the journey of our promise is always near and challenging. At the same time, the journey of our bondage is still near and disheartening. This is our crooked path to enlightenment: two steps forward, one step back; two days of being heartened, one day of being disheartened. This is the dynamic of being alive. This is what we work with and for.   

Mark Nepo, The One Life We’re Given

The tone and quality of your life

Karl Duffy1 Comment

When you take the time to draw on your listening-imagination, you will begin to hear this gentle voice at the heart of your life. It is deeper and surer than all the other voices of disappointment, unease, self-criticism and bleakness. All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul. To enter into the gentleness of your own soul changes the tone and quality of your life. Your life is no longer consumed by hunger for the next event, experience or achievement. You learn to come down from the treadmill and walk on the earth.  You no longer squander yourself on things and situations that deplete your essence. You know now that your true source is not outside you. Your soul is your true source and a new energy and passion awakens in you.

John O’Donoghue, Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace

New life

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Letting go of all the theories from the past frees us to go with how it is actually unfolding

Throw away the light, the definitions,

and say of what you see in the dark

Wallace Stevens