the battle......................

 

     Upon the battlefield of the human soul two masters are ever contending for the crown of supremacy for the kingship and dominion of the heart; the master of self, called also the Prince of this world, and the master of truth, called also that Father God.  The master self if that rebellious one whose weapons are passion, pride, avarice, vanity, self-will, implements of darkness; the master truth is that meek and lovely one whose weapons are gentleness, patience, purity, sacrifice, humility, love, instruments of light.

     In every soul the battle is waged, and as a soldier cannot engage at once in two opposing armies, so every heart is enlisted either in the ranks of self or of truth.

-James Allen, From Poverty to Power

hardness.................

 

     The intellectual as a champion of the masses is a relatively recent phenomenon.  Education does not naturally waken in us a concern for the uneducated.  The distinction conferred by education is more easily maintained by a sharp separation from those below than be a continued excellence of achievement.  When Gandhi was asked by an American clergyman what it was that worried him the most, he replied: "The hardness of heart of the educated."

-Eric Hoffer, The Ordeal of Change

Two humilities...........

 

Western civilization, it seems to me, stands by two great heritages.  One is the scientific spirit of adventure—the adventure into the unknown, an unknown which must be recognized as being unknown in order to be explored; the demand that the unanswerable mysteries of the universe remain unanswered; the attitude that all is uncertain; to summarize it—the humility of the intellect.  The other great heritage is Christian ethics—the basis of action on love, the brotherhood of all men, the value of the individual—the humility of the spirit.

 

These two heritages are logically, thoroughly consistent.  But logic is not all; one needs one's heart to follow an idea.  If people are going back to religion, what are they going back to?  Is the modern church a place to give comfort to a man who doubts God‑more, one who disbelieves in God?  Is the modern church a place to give comfort and encouragement to the value of such doubts?  So far, have we not drawn strength and comfort to maintain the one or the other of these consistent heritages in a way which attacks the values of the other?  Is this unavoidable?  How can we draw inspiration to support these two pillars of western civilization so that they may stand together in full vigor, mutually unafraid?  Is this not the central problem of our time?

-Richard Feynman, from this talk

pick a story..................

 

     According to Illich, society fosters a consumerist mindset and diminishes the self in the process. The beauty of individualism is lost, like a field of spring flowers wilted to a dull grey.  It becomes harder to find satisfaction and happiness in life,

     That's why we should read books that preserve our sense of self.  Not just buy books, but to read them and understand the world.  Instead of blindly following what the media tells us, we should find our own happiness.  When we're feeling lonely, we shouldn't head to a shop but visit a friend.  When we crave stability, instead of dreaming of a perfect home, we should find perfection in a simple life within our means.

     Be aware of our own anxieties, know how to prioritize ourselves, understand and manage our inner desires, and books will help us find our way forward,

     The media is full of sensationalized stories and temptations.  To fight against its influence, we need to build a 'story vending machine' for ourselves. Each time we need something to lift our spirits, we can pick a story and let it play in our hearts.

-Hwang Bo-Reum,  Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books

Checking in with.......................

 

.......................................Alan Watts:

. . . only doubtful truth needs defense.

. . . to know truth one must first get rid of knowledge . . .

Logic, intelligence, and reason are satisfied, but the heart goes hungry.

Man, as a being of sense, wants his life to make sense, and he has found it hard to believe that it does so unless there is more than what he sees—unless there is an eternal order and an eternal life behind the uncertain and momentary experience of life-and-death.

If happiness always depends on something expected in the future, we are chasing a will-o'-the-wisp that ever eludes our grasp . . .

For it is the essence of scientific honest that you do not pretend to know what you do not know, and of the essence of scientific method that you do not employ hypotheses which cannot be tested.

At once new myths come into being—political and economic myths with extravagant promises of the best of futures in the present world.  These myths give the individual a certain sense of meaning by making him part of a vast social effort, in which he loses something of his own emptiness and loneliness.  Yet the very violence of these political religions betrays the anxiety beneath them—for they are but men huddling together and shouting to give themselves courage in the dark.

Faith, on the other hand, is an unreserved opening of the mind to the truth, whatever it may turn out to be.  Faith has no preconceptions; it is a plunge into the unknown.  Belief clings, but faith lets go.

Belief has thus become an attempt to hang on to life, to grasp and keep it for one's own.  But you cannot understand life and its mysteries as long as you try to grasp it.

To "have" running water you must let go of it and let it run.  The same is true of life and of God.

a vague nobleness.................

 

     A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.  With consistency a great soul has nothing to do.  He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall.  Speak what you think now in hard words, and to-morrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.—'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.'—Is it so bad, then, to be misunderstood?  Pythagoras was misunderstood, and Socrates, and Jesus, and Luther, and Copernicus, and Galileo, and Newton, and every pure and wise spirit that ever took flesh.  It is great to be misunderstood.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, from his essay, Self-Reliance

"He is a man so sui generis, that I do not wonder at his not being apprehended till he is seen.  His influence is of a curious sort.  There is a vague nobleness and thorough sweetness about him, which move people to their very depths, without their being able to explain why.  The logicians have an incessant triumph over him, but their triumph is of no avail.  He conquers minds, as well as hearts, wherever he goes; and without convincing anybody's reason of any one thing, exalts their reason, and makes their mind worth more than they ever were before."

-Harriet Martineau, as quoted in Mary Oliver's Upstream essay on Emerson

words.........................

 

Sometimes you just have to stay silent because no words can explain what’s going on in your heart and mind.

-attributed to Maanayata Dutt

via

projections................

      In order to observe the movement of your own mind and heart, of your whole being, you must have a free mind, not a mind that agrees and disagrees, taking sides in an argument, disputing over mere words, but rather following with an intention to understand—a very difficult thing to do because most of us don't know how to look at, or listen to, our own being any more than we know how to look at the beauty of a river or listen to the breeze among the trees.

     When we condemn or justify we cannot see clearly, nor can we when our minds are endlessly chattering; then we do not observe what is; we look only at the projections of what we think we are or what we should be, and that image, that picture, entirely prevents us from seeing ourselves as we actually are.

-J. Krishnamurti, Freedom from the Known

Union............................

 "Compassion arises when the jewel of the mind rests in the lotus of the heart."*

     In the West, we tend to separate the mind and the heart.  The mind thinks rationally.  It knows hard and objective truths.  It judges good from bad, right from wrong.  The heart is emotional and soft.  If we pay too close attention to it, it will make us weak and or lead us astray.  But the truth lies outside of this dichotomy altogether.  The mind is powerful when it is situated in the heart, when striving and trying to get something right is held with love and compassion. 

-Brad Stulberg, The Practice of Groundedness

*quote attributed to Jack Kornfield

straight............................?

 What is straight? A line can be straight, or a street, but the human heart, oh, no, it’s curved like a road through mountains.

-Tennessee Williams, as channeled by David Kanigan

the best we can................

 . . . we don't need to do great, powerful, spectacular things to make a genuine difference or to become heroes.  Nor do we need to be powerful beings or important leaders.  We simply need to do the best we can, even if it seems impossible that we'll end up doing anything special in the long run.  It is purely our motivation and great-hearted Bodhicitta in action that counts, not any attachment to a specific outcome.

-Lam Surya Das, Buddha Is As Buddha Does

the line separating..................

 It was granted me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil and how good. In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer, and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. And it was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains … an unuprooted small corner of evil.

-Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Gulag Archipelago.

Heart.....................

 The enemies of those struggling for freedom and democracy are not man. They are discrimination, dictatorship, greed, hatred, and violence, which lie within the heart of man.  These are the real enemies of men - not man himself.

-Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King, Jr, from here

operate on the diagonal..............

When you're faced with a tough decision, which do you go with: your head or your heart?

     If you chose either one, I'm sorry to say that you missed the point of this rule.  Nowhere is it more important than in decision making to embrace the power of the both/and point of view.

     Rather than head versus heart, how about using an empathetic head?  Or a logical heart?

     It takes practice to see the world this way.  But one of the skills that defines an entrepreneur and an innovator is the capacity to generate new lines of sight.  That means cracking problems open along a new dimension.  It means rejecting old either/or choices and finding new both/and syntheses.  You learn to do that when you operate on the diagonal.  You learn to slice a problem along a new line and then recombine its elements in a fresh way.

-Alan Webber, Rules of Thumb:  52 Truths for Winning at Business Without losing Your Self

heart........................

 

I want something more concise, more simple, more serious; I want more soul and more love and more heart.

-Vincent van Gogh

art work from here

quote from here

Heart......................

 More says to his arch-enemy Cromwell, “What you have hunted me for is not my actions, but the thoughts of my heart. It is a long road you have opened. For first men will disclaim their hearts and presently they will have no hearts. God help the people whose Statesmen walk your road.”

-as culled from here

spiritual immune systems...............

 Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory worldview grafted upon them from birth through social conditioning. They begin sensing that something is amiss, and start looking for answers. Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a side of reality others are oblivious to, and so begins their journey of awakening. Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of following the crowd and by choosing knowledge over the veils of ignorance.

-Henri Bergson

Investing with your heart.............

 Money — the making of it — is never part of that purpose. It’s a byproduct of one or more of these other more lofty goals. The only purpose the money really serves for us is to allow us to do it all over again.

-Patrick Rhone, full story here

Verse....................

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

-From the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (as read aloud here by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry)

Love..................................

But the world's problems are very simple.  They are the lack of love between human beings, the lack of compassion, of tolerance, of humility, and of acceptance.  They are the arrogance, hatred, and violence that have polluted human hearts.  They are prejudice and intolerance.  If a person has no peace in their heart, there can be no peace around them.  Such a person will always find a reason to argue and fight.  Only when a person's own heart is peaceful can their interactions be peaceful.
     How to solve the problem of hatred?  Is there any political solution?  Can love and acceptance be legislated and enforced?  Can any law change the human heart?   The heart only changes when it decides to change.  And that is a personal choice that each person must make for themselves.  We cannot enforce it upon them.  We can only inspire them and offer them the tools.
     Therefore, rather than trying to transform others, let us devote ourselves to our own transformation.  As for others, let us be nondemanding of them.  Let us be content to love them as they are, to accept them as they are, and to be ever ready to serve them as we would members of our own family.  This is the humanity that the world sorely needs.
     Only love can make it possible to accept another person's flaws.  Have you ever seen a mother give up on her children?  Even if her child constantly misbehaves, getting thrown out of school or worse, the mother remains by their side, even after everyone else is fed up.  This is due to the mother's love.  Where there is love, there is forgiveness.  Where there is love, there is compassion.
Love is the root of every noble quality.  Therefore, when there is love, do you need any other quality?  When love is present, acceptance, forgiveness, and compassion all become redundant.  Love alone is sufficient.  No other quality is required.  We all know this.  The great teachers of the past and present have all said so.  But if teachings were enough, wouldn't we be transformed by now?

-Kamlesh D. Patel and Joshua Pollock,  The Heartfulness Way:  Heart-Based Mediations for Spiritual Transformation