ii. 3/3 Causal - becoming elders
We desperately need healing for groups, institutions, marriages, the wounds of war, violence, racism, and the endless social problems in which we are drowning today. But we won’t know how to heal if we don’t learn the skills at ground zero: the individual human heart.
—Richard Rohr
—Richard Rohr
Healing the world begins with ourselves
Grace in Aging
Journalist Krista Tippett describes an embodied form of grace—the surprising grace of aging. As our minds and bodies slow down, we make space for simple contentment:
To inhabit my body in all its grace and its flaws appears as a gift for the new/mundane bodily territory I’m on in midlife. Aging is the ultimate slow motion loss, inevit... See more
Journalist Krista Tippett describes an embodied form of grace—the surprising grace of aging. As our minds and bodies slow down, we make space for simple contentment:
To inhabit my body in all its grace and its flaws appears as a gift for the new/mundane bodily territory I’m on in midlife. Aging is the ultimate slow motion loss, inevit... See more
Krista tippet on Grace in aging. Beautifully written
The most powerful journeys we must take are the ones we are not ready for and cannot prepare for.
Paul Venuto • feed updates
Bayo Akomolafe
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.
Playing from 36:13
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.
To be born means from nothing you become something; from no one you become someone. But nothing can be born from nothing. A flower is born from soil, minerals, seeds, sunshine, rain, and many other things. Meditation reveals to us the no-birth of all things. Life is a continuation.
Thich Nhat Hanh • Beyond Birth and Death
Thich Nhat Hanh
9/17/20
Lion’s Roar
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.
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
my vow to support, strengthen, and awaken those devoted to the human spirit who are seeking how best to serve. May we be together in this exploration and recognition of who we are.
From Meg Wheatley