Contemplation: Determination
Amazing Blue Dragon River, Portugal...
Determination
Determination
brings the strength to continue, the steadiness to succeed, and the wisdom to
slip past difficulties undisturbed.
Accurate Understanding
of Knowledge
The one who has the
knowledge to know the right thing also has the
power to do it. So there is equality in thoughts, words and actions.
That means we are able to bring into action what we think and speak.
If there is no equality, it means there is not an accurate
understanding of knowledge.
power to do it. So there is equality in thoughts, words and actions.
That means we are able to bring into action what we think and speak.
If there is no equality, it means there is not an accurate
understanding of knowledge.
The Triangle Of Spiritual
Energy (cont.)
Referring to yesterday's message, in the triangle of harmonious energy, all three points (the self, the Supreme and others) need to be equidistant - not too much one way or the other. The equidistant triangle in ancient mathematics was the symbol of harmony. Harmony, peace, order and balance is what is natural in human life and if we wish to return to that condition, we need to realize the importance of equidistant relationships. It requires constant attention to keep the three points in balance and in working order. Otherwise, when we get over-focused on any one of the three, we become inflexible. This inflexibility causes us to go out of balance and the result is disharmony and disunity, which can also be called 'violence', an unnatural condition, or even hell when it reaches an extreme point.
In order to maintain a balance between the three, I need silence: times of introspection when I can check the flow of three of my relationships - with the self, Supreme Source and others. This checking mechanism protects, sustains and develops the qualities of these three points.
Soul Sustenance
Discovering
Inner Compassion (Kindness) –Part 3
When we try to describe compassion, it is worth looking at the words sympathy, empathy and interpathy.
Showing sympathy towards another person's suffering is acknowledging their suffering, for example, 'I am sorry that you have hurt yourself'. We recognize that they are injured or ill without really engaging at a feeling level.
Empathy is when we literally share a feeling with someone, we walk in their shoes, for example, 'I feel really upset that you are so depressed about losing your job'. This can bring great comfort to the person we are empathizing with, but the comfort to them can be at our expense and leave us feeling emotionally drained or sad. If we identify too closely with them, it can also make it difficult for us to help them.
An expansion of empathy is a word called interpathy where we relate to another's suffering although we may not understand why they are suffering. This may be because they are from a different culture or because their feelings may seem inappropriate given the situation, but we are curious, we try to understand.
Compassion is all these words — sympathy, empathy, interpathy - yet it is more and it is less. We acknowledge someone’s sorrow, we sense how they feel, we try to understand how it affects them, yet with compassion we do not become emotionally involved. We are engaged yet detached. We are standing back and looking on with kindness. By showing compassion in this way, it allows us to be compassionate without suffering from 'compassion fatigue' or 'emotional burnout'.
When we try to describe compassion, it is worth looking at the words sympathy, empathy and interpathy.
Showing sympathy towards another person's suffering is acknowledging their suffering, for example, 'I am sorry that you have hurt yourself'. We recognize that they are injured or ill without really engaging at a feeling level.
Empathy is when we literally share a feeling with someone, we walk in their shoes, for example, 'I feel really upset that you are so depressed about losing your job'. This can bring great comfort to the person we are empathizing with, but the comfort to them can be at our expense and leave us feeling emotionally drained or sad. If we identify too closely with them, it can also make it difficult for us to help them.
An expansion of empathy is a word called interpathy where we relate to another's suffering although we may not understand why they are suffering. This may be because they are from a different culture or because their feelings may seem inappropriate given the situation, but we are curious, we try to understand.
Compassion is all these words — sympathy, empathy, interpathy - yet it is more and it is less. We acknowledge someone’s sorrow, we sense how they feel, we try to understand how it affects them, yet with compassion we do not become emotionally involved. We are engaged yet detached. We are standing back and looking on with kindness. By showing compassion in this way, it allows us to be compassionate without suffering from 'compassion fatigue' or 'emotional burnout'.
Message for the day
Expression: We usually wait for the world to change, sometimes the world at large and sometimes our own little world. Since it is not in our hands we don't find it changing according to what we want and we give up trying. We rarely think of changing ourselves, which is possible.
Experience: When we change, our thoughts and attitudes change too. We are then able to look at the people and our world around us with a different vision. Thus, we find that our world changes, not so much in the situation as much as in our own perception.
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