“An acrobat does not maintain his poise on a tightrope by trying to hold perfect balance. Instead, by letting his balance shift back and forth, he keeps finding new equilibrium. Similarly an alive relationship is continually going in and out of balance…So instead trying to hold on to some ideal state of harmony, we can learn to use the very act of starting to fall into one extreme or the other to wake up and see where we are, and in waking up, to find a new equilibrium.”

John Welwood – Journey of the Heart 

Spirituality is … ” an attempt to be in harmony with an unseen order of things.”

William James

The turning of a season, I’m thinking of the beauty of darkening colours and the shadows of autumn.

An astounding but simple little book exploring the shadow side of life is A Little Book on the Human Shadow by Robert Bly.

Here is a quote from Richard Rohr, Franciscan contemplative, peace activist and another great writer from New Mexico. ‘The shadow self is…the unacceptable self. It is the side of us we don’t want to show to the world, or even to ourselves. But we need to understand that our more desirable qualities are invariably accompanied by their opposites, which live in the unconscious or “shadow” self. We need to do some “shadow boxing,” or we will lack any honest self knowledge or truth.

‘The shadow contains all the parts of the self that we have scorned and sent into exile. Yet we must eventually welcome them home because they have essential lessons to teach us…the important thing is to know your shadow self and face it honestly.’

What matters is the mind

Today someone gave me a calendar of quotations from the late Ajahn Chah. This is one of them, apt I felt for times of flux; the woven joy and sorrow of a disappearing summer and new beginnings.

“Staying or going is not what matters. What matters is the mind. So, all of you, please cooperate and live in harmony. Let this be your legacy.”

Deeper into authentic action

I have no source from these quotes but wanted to share them…”The deeper I go into practice the less I’m prepared to act in ways that diminish my sense of purpose in the world.” And “Salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.” A beautiful spurring on into action that is not cluttered by needing approval from other people.

Expanding the relational field

I’m reading a new book by Franklyn Sills, the craniosacral guru of Karuna Institute and worldwide renown. It’s called the Breath of Life, and gives deep insight into ways of working with our own suffering and the suffering of others in the context of what is known as ‘biodynamics’. Here is a quote:

“In the biodynamic context, it is seen that suffering is eased when the human mind-body system truly aligns with the deeper universal forces that support life. It manifests as an alignment to something beyond the conditions and contingencies that organise our mind-body system and our sense of selfhood, to an innate Intelligence much greater than our human mentality. This occurs when the conditional forces of our past experience are reconciled within us, in states of balance and stillness. In the stillness, know only in this present moment, something else can occur beyond the suffering held.”

Foundations in Craniosacral Biodynamics: The Breath of Life and Fundamental Skills (p.3: Starting Points)

Interior solitude connects us to others

There is no true solitude except interior solitude. And interior solitude is not possible for anyone who does not accept their right place in relation to others. There is no true peace possible for the one who still imagines that some accident of talent or grace or virtue segregates them from other people and places themselves above them. Solitude is not segregation.

 Thomas Merton. New Seeds of Contemplation. (New York: New Directions Books), p 56.

Brave and lovely things

“Seek to do brave and lovely things that are left undone by the majority of people. Give gifts of love and peace to those whom others pass by”.(Paramahansa Yogananda)

The fundamental protection of care

“Committing ourselves to caring for one another and living in a way that is not harmful is the most basic and fundamental protection we can give to and receive from each other. It protects us because, when we are not carried away by greed, hatred or delusion, we do not have to suffer guilt, remorse, confusion and trouble in our hearts. It also protects others from the harm we might cause them.” Sharon Salzberg: Loving Kindness

Service as Joy

I slept and dreamt that life was joy

I awoke and saw that life was service

I acted and. behold, service was joy.

Rabindranath Tagore