Pacing Ourselves

    “The Hindu definition of hell is 'more, faster'." Iain McGilchrist

 

    Our feeling of always being in a hurry to get somewhere, do something, "be someone," is based on an underlying common sense of emptiness, "not enough", "not good enough". Even the most accomplished among us tend to suffer from chronic low self-esteem. 

    Frantic striving would make some sense IF inflating our ego could solve this imaginary problem, BUT IT DOESN'T help at all. The more our ego gets puffed up, the crazier & more destructive our behavior - as we're all witnessing.

    The solution is NOT found in grasping for & accumulating more & more, faster & faster, BUT by growing up as authentic, spiritually mature human beings.

 

 

     “... the essential practices of patience and slowing down to the speed of the soul.”  

    Francis Weller “In the Absence of the Ordinary. Soul Work for Times of Uncertainty.” 2025. 

    Whenever we notice we're rushing, no matter how worthy or even noble our task, we're trampling on & damaging ourselves, others, animals & things in our haste! EVERYONE and EVERYTHING is Divine and is to be loved & nurtured, NOT trampled.

 
    "Spiritual growth is a fine-tuning of our ear to the needs of our heart. ... Once we abandon the belief that there is a more spiritually-useful moment than the one we are in, we have embraced our life and infused it with the energy for awakening." We CAN "recover the sacred in the most remote areas of life, in the midst of difficulty and dissatisfaction, loneliness & despair. The reality of problems is challenged and investigated, and life begins to thrive free of circumstances & conditions. The heart takes over and is resurrected from the conditioned habits of mind.” Rodney Smith 


    During his Near-Death Experience Johathan Ashford learned profound spiritual lessons. This one is particularly valuable:
    “I realized on the other side that none of my previous accomplishments mattered. It wasn’t worth a single grain of sand. None of it; not all the money, the jobs, the titles, the successes, the wins, nothing. It was worthless. Absolutely worthless. And it’s scary to see how much time and effort we put into those things because you could say it keeps us from recognizing what we are. We get distracted by what we think we want. 
    And coming out of that life review, I recognize that there really is only one thing that matters. It’s a singular free-will choice that everybody in existence has - that I choose to be loving in this moment. I’m not worried about tomorrow. I’m not worried about next week. 
    Just right now, in this moment, I choose to be loving, and I recognize that or I don’t – I forget. And the times I forget, I choose to love myself for forgetting. So in essence, I’m sitting in love which is the most valuable thing here. It’s literally your entire existence without you knowing. It’s literally your entire existence. 
    It’s kind of like the Divine sense of humour that it has. I will put you into an existence where you forget what it’s about and hope you remember. I’ll give you little clues and breadcrumbs along the way, but if you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it.”  
    Jonathan Ashford Shares Wisdom from his Three-Hour Visit on the Other Side 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKivFH1-lys

    "Try to be mindful, & let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things. You will see many strange & wonderful things come & go, but you will be still. This is the happiness of the Buddha." Ajahn Chah

 

Fundamental Energy Crisis

     Very few of us seem to be aware of our real energy crisis. Yes, oil / gas / electricity availability is problematic, but to paraphrase Einstein, the energy / consciousness that got us into this dire mess CANNOT possibly lift us out of it, into a better future. Our estranged, adversarial relationship with our own hearts, each other & Nature is what's so painfully unnatural & unsustainable.

“If a living system
is suffering
from ill health,
the remedy is
to connect it
with more of itself.” Francisco Varela

    “an essential choice … confronts us all: whether to cling to the false security of our fixed ideas and tribal views, even though they bring us only momentary satisfaction, or to overcome our fear and make the leap to living an authentic life. … We can spend our whole life suffering because we can’t relax with how things really are, or we can relax & embrace the open-endedness of the human situation, which is fresh, unfixated, unbiased.” Pema Chödrön, “The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human” Tricycle, Fall 2012

     We must wake up to & follow the consistent silent summons of our true nature to unconditionally love & nurture each another and Nature as the wise elders we are. 

    “Meditation asks, ‘Who am I?’ 

    Therapy asks, ‘How do I heal and become happier?’ 

    Purpose work addresses the question, ‘Where do I belong in the ecology of life?’ Purpose guiding breaks the spell of our default purposes of safety, security, comfort & outward success, and orients us towards our true purpose, which is to embody our unique calling within. When we all have the opportunity to live our calling, we can support our collective true purpose: to become co-creators of our species’ evolution. We may, thus, give birth to more beauty, truth, & goodness into the world.” Jonathan Gustin https://batgap.com/jonathan-gustin/

    “Awakening arises in times of vulnerability and awkwardness between, before, & after where prior identities are canceled and anything is possible and nothing certain.” Lin Jensen

    "Spiritual growth is a fine-tuning of our ear to the needs of our heart. ... Once we abandon the belief that there is a more spiritually useful moment than the one we are in, we have embraced our life and infused it with the energy for awakening." We CAN "recover the sacred in the most remote areas of life, in the midst of difficulty and dissatisfaction, loneliness & despair. The reality of problems is challenged and investigated, and life begins to thrive free of circumstances & conditions. The heart takes over and is resurrected from the conditioned habits of mind.” Rodney Smith

    “Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.” Albert Einstein

    "One of the gifts of global uncertainty is that it requires us to recognize & release unconscious biases that have been passed down for generations. These include the perception that splits into opposites and values light over dark, speed over slowing down, productivity over attunement, and conclusion over not knowing. Awakening requires that we soften the habit of binary perception & restore our capacity for clear seeing. ... an embodied exploration of luminous darkness (is) our greatest ally in seeing clearly — from the heart." Deborah Eden Tull

    "Try to be mindful, & let things take their natural course. Then your mind will become still in any surroundings, like a clear forest pool. All kinds of wonderful, rare animals will come to drink at the pool, and you will clearly see the nature of all things. You will see many strange & wonderful things come & go, but you will be still. This is the happiness of the Buddha." Ajahn Chah

    "We are stars wrapped in skin.
      The light you are seeking
      has always been within." Rumi

Don't Give Up... by Mollycules www.BuddhaDoodles.com