Let your love flow outward through the universe, To its height, its depth, its broad extent, A limitless love, without hatred or enmity. Then as you stand or walk, Sit or lie down, As long as you are awake, Strive for this with a one-pointed mind; Your life will bring heaven to earth.
- Sutta Nipata …
Image found here.
“If there is anything that works against the vanity of the ego, it is love. The nature of love is to surrender. The world of variety, which has divided life into limited parts, naturally causes every lesser one to surrender to the greater. And, again, for every greater one there is another still greater in relation to whom he is smaller, and for every smaller one there is another still smaller, in relation to whom he is greater. And as every soul is by its nature compelled to surrender to perfection in all its grades, the only thing that matters is whether it be a willing surrender or an unwilling surrender. The former comes by love, the latter is made through helplessness, which makes life wretched. It moves the Sufi when he reads in the Qur’ân that the perfect Being asked the imperfect souls, the children of Adam, Who is thy Lord? They, conscious of their imperfections, said humbly, Thou art our Lord. Surrender is a curse when, with coldness and helplessness, one is forced to surrender. But the same becomes the greatest joy when it is made with love and all willingness.”
- Hazrat Inayat Khan, Volume 5, Part 4.
Image: Rassouli
I’ve been sitting here listening to the tree frogs tonight…They are incredibly soothing. Its such a joy to listen. And there must be an owl nearby now…they’ve just got utterly silent. *smiles* I am so grateful to be alive.
Sorrow tagged me recently to do a post on quotes that feel important to me…
I think I have something to say about quotes first.
It seems as if I feel driven to find an answer to a dilemma that prevents me achieving something important to me. Sooner or later someone will drop a catch phrase in my lap that will define the moment for me and I’ll have a something to grab on to that will bring me to skills and skills building. But I have to define things in some way. Quotes do that for me.
An early one in my life was:
“Isolation is the dark room where I develop my negatives”~ Anonymous. At the time, that one just so took me where I needed to be…which was to get over my resistance to asking for help.
Another early one is “You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it.” ~ Zahira That was is still needed even today. I struggle with overcoming resistance. Over and over again, I hit a wall and can’t find it in me to do a hard thing.
A recent one that I’ve been really hanging on to is “When I’m trusting and being myself as fully as possible, everything in my life reflects this by falling into place easily, often miraculously.” ~ Shakti Gawain I really need that one, because I often doubt that my effort at something will be met. I often wonder if I’ll be left standing at the altar.
Also I had a recent dream about this: “Love is not about fixing someone, nor about anything else but listening and Loving.” ~ Dream
Thanks for asking me to do this Sorrow!
Authentic love comes from a mind that doesn’t turn away. It comes from a mind that faces the possibility of not getting what we want, of losing what we have and being separated from whom and what we love. An Awakened Life
Loving authentically can be very painful.
Still…
I would not…could not turn away…
I spent the day in a sea breeze with my eldest son having a last lunch until the end of the summer. He plans on attending to a final school project for his undergraduate degree. He’s going to need his passport to get there. I have this Mom sense that things will be vastly different when he gets home. I just get the sense that he will change dramatically over the next two months and that our relationship will change as a result.
My youngest had a lovely commencement. I am very proud of him. Here too, life will change a great deal in the next few months. I am happy for my son and excited that he’s getting to step out into the world and he’s doing so with a great deal of dignity and humor.
Its been a good weekend, but I feel a bit melancholy. I miss my boys.
Success isn’t how far you got, but the
distance you traveled from
where you started.
- Proverb
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