Blog Archives
The River
The River –
“Imagine yourself sitting on the bank of a river. The river is your stream of consciousness. Observe each of your thoughts coming along as if they’re saying, “Think me, think me.” Watch your feelings come by saying, “Feel me, feel me.” Acknowledge that you’re having the feeling or thought. Don’t hate it, judge it, critique it, or move against it. Simply name it: “resentment toward so and so,” “a thought about such and such.” Then place it on a boat and let it go down the river. When another thought arises—as no doubt it will—welcome it and let it go, returning to your inner watch place on the bank of the river.”
#ThomasKeating, “Open Mind, Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the Gospel”
One of the greatest and most difficult realizations is the truth that we are not our thoughts. We are not our actions. We are not our egos. True, each of these can reveal things about us and to the world but we are not these things.
The problem is we’ve been taught the opposite most of our lives. The famous quote; “Reap a thought, a word, an action, then a destiny,” seems right but our thoughts do not have to lead us to who we ultimately become. We can choose to go deeper, change paths, refuse to be captive to our thoughts by breaking free of them.
blessings,
@BrianLoging (Twitter)
thewannabesaint.com
Separating the Stuff from the Stuff
There was once a certain conceited scholar who was travelling across the sea by boat. One day, while they were out to sea, the scholar, by way of making conversation, asked the wise old captain of the boat, “Tell me, have you ever learned of languages?” When the elder sailor answered that he had not, the scholar carelessly replied, “A pity — your life is wasted without such knowledge!” This comment hurt the wise captain, but he held his tongue and continued sailing.
That night, a terrible storm overtook the boat, which was tossed about in the rough seas and began to take on water. The scholar, roused from his sleep by the commotion, came up on deck to inquire what was going on. The captain answered him by asking, “Tell me, have you ever learned to swim?” When the scholar answered that he had not, the wise elder replied, “A pity — your life is wasted without such knowledge!”
Wisdom is learning to separate the stuff we know and the stuff we need to know. Life has its share of storms, surviving them often depends on the truths we’ve discovered before the rain begins.
blessings, bdl