Bedroom Buddha
Afternoon Buddha
Thinking about love and compassion and matters of the heart today. Pema Chodron says that “A big part of compassion is being honest with yourself, not shielding yourself from your mistakes as if nothing had happened. She also says:
“How are we ever going to change anything? How is there going to be less aggression in the universe rather than more? We can then bring it down to a more personal level: how do I learn to communicate with somebody who is hurting me or someone who is hurting a lot of people? How do I speak to someone so that some change actually occurs? How do I communicate so that the space opens up and both of us begin to touch in to some kind of basic intelligence that we all share? In a potentially violent encounter, how do I communicate so that neither of us becomes increasingly furious and aggressive? How do I communicate to the heart so that a stuck situation can ventilate? How do I communicate so that things that seem frozen, unworkable, and eternally aggressive begin to soften up, and some kind of compassionate exchange begins to happen?
“Well, it starts with being willing to feel what we are going through. It starts with being willing to have a compassionate relationship with the parts of ourselves that we feel are not worthy of existing on the planet. If we are willing through meditation to be mindful not only of what feels comfortable, but also of what pain feels like, if we even aspire to stay awake and open to what we’re feeling, to recognize and acknowledge it as best we can in each moment, then something begins to change.”
Last 5 posts by Lorien
- Last Gasp - February 29th, 2008
- Thought for the day - February 18th, 2008
- Happy Cats - February 17th, 2008
- Things My Father Taught Me - February 13th, 2008
- Walking in the Wild Woods - February 11th, 2008