These are old languages relearned, not to override but to balance the rational mind. There are plenty of clueless, credulous, and genuinely deluded folks using esoteric ways of living to exacerbate anxieties, avoid confronting personal problems, or shift blame for their personal failings to the cosmos or the spiritually “inferior”. But these tools... See more
Adam Gopnik: In my lexicon – which may be idiosyncratic but I think is also illuminating – “achievement”represents all the outer-directed, institutionally compelled things we do to advance our lives or those of our children. Getting grades, passing classes, pushing forward into select colleges. All of that. “Accomplishment” on the other hand, means... See more
Question: How can I judge myself less harshly and appreciate myself more?
Ram Dass on self-judgment:
I think that part of it is observing oneself more impersonally. I often use this image, which I think I have used already, but let me say it again. That when you go out into the woods and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some... See more