ii. 3/3 Causal - becoming elders
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Ep. 268 – Ram Dass and Stephen Levine: The Heart of Healing
Experience of working with those dying. They’re a mirror for our own fear and pain. Can we be with a dying person with love rather than fear and heal each other in those moments? Can we move toward the pain and let the healing in?
Pain throws us into separateness which can lead us to the universal. Connects to tonglen practice of picturing those around the world feeling same emotion or sensation you’re feeling at that same time.
PRACTICE: What’s mine to do that I haven’t done?
and
What might I do to move this forward? Contemplate all the things I could do to move my work forward, list them, and notice what’s mine to do.
“Becoming fire means letting our passion for life and beauty ignite us in the world…. We are called to set the whole world on fire with our passion for God.”
-Christine Valters Paintner
Swap “God” for “Life.” Its the same. God inadvertently frames as an exterior motivator. Life is us, and everything around us. Its both inside and out, unifying.
But just understanding a concept does not create a set of brain-links. You must practice a new concept to create the set of brain-links. Understanding and practice go together.
Barbara Oakley PhD • Learning How to Learn: How to Succeed in School Without Spending All Your Time Studying; A Guide for Kids and Teens
The science showing its understanding + practice to develop intentionally
Sometimes our journey takes place in the context of a vital, mythologically grounded culture, whereby one feels open to and supported by the mysteries. Then one experiences purpose in being, a sense of harmony with the world and with one’s self—both the world and the individual journey are clothed in meaning. For so many more of us, our journey tak... See more
Daily Review | Readwise
What does a modern cultural grounding look like? Is modern culture even sufficient to ground a soul? (I don’t think so - the over emphasis on the individual has led to a severing of the connection to place, community, culture, lineage, religion, or any other larger narrative.)
We must use that hyper individuality to our advantage - dive deeply into the individual - who am I, what am I, what are the big questions that I’ve been taught to avoid about my place in existence, where and to what do I feel connected or disconnected in a self, other, system framework. Take what would feel selfish - a deep excavation of the self - and the way through the self will illumninate the connection to something bigger than the self.
You might be wondering at this point what comes after Finding. The answer is exploring and simply being. In a very real sense, people go from seekers to Finders and then on to explorers. Simply being in existence is amazing, and there’s no shortage of it to explore
Daily Review | Readwise
On a spiritual path working with different modalities that move forward in simplicity (though it may appear to be complexity - like mahamudra) the next question or feeling is often “ok I’ve done this, so now what?”
The question, as you move forward, morphs into “ok, so now how?”
The question ‘what am I doing’ loses its pull and interest. “How am I being” becomes much more alive, and focuses on the individual as a vessel connected to the whole, and therefore allowing that whole to come through based on how the individual shows up.
My culture does not honor the ancestors as a quaint spirituality of the past, but as a living source of strength for the present. They did it and so will we.
Ancestors and Wisdom
to show us our mistakes before we make them
Ancestors and Wisdom
if the next kin are ready and open to listen. even if not, we will still speak and offer what we can
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