I loved this reading! I really enjoyed the entire reading, but a few passages stood out to me.
"The kingdom of heaven is within you."
I love that line. I realize that many will disagree with that concept and believe that salvation and wisdom is far away and only sought through Christ, as one example, but I couldn't agree more with that idea and think it's unfortunate that so many fail to see the peace and wisdom that we process within ourselves. One doesn't have to search endlessly for answers from someone or something else. A person would be surprised what they may find if they simply stopped to look inside themselves.
“If the mind is happy, not only the body but the whole world will be happy. So one must find out how to become happy oneself. Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the whole world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.”
Again, I love how this stresses the importance of knowing oneself. I don't believe that a person can successfully take on the world without first truly knowing oneself. In my opinion, going out in the world without having a clear understanding of the person you are would be like walking on stones and thorns barefoot. I love the metaphor used here. Knowing onself is like wearing shoes.
“Reality is simply the loss of the ego. Destroy the ego by seeking its identity. It will automatically vanish and reality will shine forth by itself. This is the direct method. There is no greater mystery than this, that we keep seeking reality though in fact we are reality. We think that there is something hiding reality and this must be destroyed before reality is gained How ridiculous!”
That is so true. It seems we often are in search for something real or some kind of truth when, in fact, we are reality. We don't need to search for what is blocking us from what is going on. We need to simply look at ourselves and we will see our reality and what is true.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tu-Shun
I found this reading really interesting, but a bit confusing. I read it a few times and every time I became clear on one thing, it seemed like something else didn't make sense. However, I really enjoyed the following passage:
"Every jewel is intimately connected with all other jewels in the universe, and a change in one jewel means a change, however slight, in every other jewel. Thus, by liberating yourself, you liberate all beings in the universe."
I have always been a big believer in the idea that one's actions have negative or positive consequences for not only oneself, but for others as well. This passage reminded me of one of my favorite verses in The Talmud that says,"He who saves a single life saves the world entire." I have always partly interpreted it as the idea that one person's actions effect more than just themselves or one other individual; they have an effect on the world.
I find the idea that we are way more connected to one another than we think and have a much deeper impact upon one another very fascinating. It is always shocking to me how a lot of people truly believe that their behavior does not ever effect other people when, in fact, it usually has a huge impact on another person's life. I like the idea that liberation in oneself can lead to liberation in other people. It's like a ripple effect.
"Every jewel is intimately connected with all other jewels in the universe, and a change in one jewel means a change, however slight, in every other jewel. Thus, by liberating yourself, you liberate all beings in the universe."
I have always been a big believer in the idea that one's actions have negative or positive consequences for not only oneself, but for others as well. This passage reminded me of one of my favorite verses in The Talmud that says,"He who saves a single life saves the world entire." I have always partly interpreted it as the idea that one person's actions effect more than just themselves or one other individual; they have an effect on the world.
I find the idea that we are way more connected to one another than we think and have a much deeper impact upon one another very fascinating. It is always shocking to me how a lot of people truly believe that their behavior does not ever effect other people when, in fact, it usually has a huge impact on another person's life. I like the idea that liberation in oneself can lead to liberation in other people. It's like a ripple effect.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
CHIEF SEATTLE
"The dead have power too." Wow, that was a great line.
After reading a few of my fellow classmate's responses to this reading, it seems that some have interpreted Chief Seattle as a close minded and angry individual. I could not disagree more with the opinion that he was as narrow minded and judgmental as the missionary in Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha's speech. I found him to be incredibly accepting of the fate of himself and his people.
In my opinion, any anger that may have come across, did so briefly, and was merited by the absolute horrendous treatment of Native Americans by early settlers. The settlers, as a fellow blogger so eloquently pointed out, took everything from them and then offered them the table scraps. I would say that any contempt felt by Native Americans was provoked; however, I really did not get that sort of vibe from the reading.
I felt like he was speaking the truth and sometimes the truth hurts. He seemed to have an "it is what it is" sort of attitude. He seemed to have a very realistic grasp of what his people had been through and where they would have to go from here. He really only had one option: sell the land and take his people to a reservation or refuse to sell his land and have the settlers take his land anyway and most likely kill all his people. Considering what he had been through and what his options were, I found him to be a rather enlightened and forgiving individual. He was even willing to take part of the blame for the death of his people.
I can understand how he would feel that the God the settlers spoke of must hate the red man after what they had been through. The settlers would probably have felt the same had it all been the other way around. I can also understand why he felt that the red and white man were two separate races that must remain separate. Would you want to be a part of a community that murdered your family and stole your land? I think not.
I loved the way this reading ended. One fellow blogger described the idea of the "invisible dead" of Native Americans hanging out in our streets, highways, and forests as "spooky" but I got a lot more than just the idea that the dead have the power to haunt the living like a ghost. I sort of took that portion as the essence of karma. You can't do terrible things without consequence. Eventually, what goes around does come around. And that fact is why we should be just and deal kindly with all.
After reading a few of my fellow classmate's responses to this reading, it seems that some have interpreted Chief Seattle as a close minded and angry individual. I could not disagree more with the opinion that he was as narrow minded and judgmental as the missionary in Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha's speech. I found him to be incredibly accepting of the fate of himself and his people.
In my opinion, any anger that may have come across, did so briefly, and was merited by the absolute horrendous treatment of Native Americans by early settlers. The settlers, as a fellow blogger so eloquently pointed out, took everything from them and then offered them the table scraps. I would say that any contempt felt by Native Americans was provoked; however, I really did not get that sort of vibe from the reading.
I felt like he was speaking the truth and sometimes the truth hurts. He seemed to have an "it is what it is" sort of attitude. He seemed to have a very realistic grasp of what his people had been through and where they would have to go from here. He really only had one option: sell the land and take his people to a reservation or refuse to sell his land and have the settlers take his land anyway and most likely kill all his people. Considering what he had been through and what his options were, I found him to be a rather enlightened and forgiving individual. He was even willing to take part of the blame for the death of his people.
I can understand how he would feel that the God the settlers spoke of must hate the red man after what they had been through. The settlers would probably have felt the same had it all been the other way around. I can also understand why he felt that the red and white man were two separate races that must remain separate. Would you want to be a part of a community that murdered your family and stole your land? I think not.
I loved the way this reading ended. One fellow blogger described the idea of the "invisible dead" of Native Americans hanging out in our streets, highways, and forests as "spooky" but I got a lot more than just the idea that the dead have the power to haunt the living like a ghost. I sort of took that portion as the essence of karma. You can't do terrible things without consequence. Eventually, what goes around does come around. And that fact is why we should be just and deal kindly with all.
SA-GO-YE-WAT-HA
I really enjoyed reading this speech. It pointed out hypocrisy and difficult truths, but in a beautiful, eloquent, and respectful way. What is fascinating about it is the fact that although it was written a long time ago, it is still completely relevant and posed questions which many of us still ask today.
I loved the fact that he reminded the missionary of how white men "fled from wicked men in their own country and had come to enjoy their religion" and yet they would turn around and attempt to force their own religious beliefs on others. That seems to be such a typical part of human nature. We can see faults in others clear as day, but when it comes to our own behavior, we're blind.
What I found to be most interesting about this speech is the portion where he asks,"If there is only one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why don't you all agree, since you can all read the book?" That is still a relevant question and argument many use against religion today. I'm sure that many of us have had those same wonders and asked those same questions.
The part of the speech that really spoke to me and my own beliefs was his explanation of how the Great Spirit feels about worship. He stated that,"...we believe that forms of worship do not matter to the Great Spirit; what pleases him is the offering of a sincere heart, and this is how we worship him." I thought that was really beautiful and I personally related to that idea as someone who considers themselves to be more spiritual than religious and as someone who is part of a minority religion and has had many try to "save me" over the years.
It was incredibly sad to me that the missionary would behave in such a narrow minded manner and refuse to shake hands after the Native Americans had been so willing to listen to their views with such an open heart and then respond with such honesty. It is unfortunate that many of us today would react with a closed mind and heart instead of parting with mutual respect and friendship.
I loved the fact that he reminded the missionary of how white men "fled from wicked men in their own country and had come to enjoy their religion" and yet they would turn around and attempt to force their own religious beliefs on others. That seems to be such a typical part of human nature. We can see faults in others clear as day, but when it comes to our own behavior, we're blind.
What I found to be most interesting about this speech is the portion where he asks,"If there is only one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it? Why don't you all agree, since you can all read the book?" That is still a relevant question and argument many use against religion today. I'm sure that many of us have had those same wonders and asked those same questions.
The part of the speech that really spoke to me and my own beliefs was his explanation of how the Great Spirit feels about worship. He stated that,"...we believe that forms of worship do not matter to the Great Spirit; what pleases him is the offering of a sincere heart, and this is how we worship him." I thought that was really beautiful and I personally related to that idea as someone who considers themselves to be more spiritual than religious and as someone who is part of a minority religion and has had many try to "save me" over the years.
It was incredibly sad to me that the missionary would behave in such a narrow minded manner and refuse to shake hands after the Native Americans had been so willing to listen to their views with such an open heart and then respond with such honesty. It is unfortunate that many of us today would react with a closed mind and heart instead of parting with mutual respect and friendship.
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