Meditation Monday
On this Meditation Monday, I invite you to sit and quiet yourself. Take a few deep cleansing breaths and allow any tension you feel to dissipate and drift away.
If you have suffered an unkindness from another, consider these words about how to respond:
The attitudes and behaviors that we scorn in others
will be the ones that will offer us
the grandest personal and spiritual growth.
When we witness things like rudeness,
selfishness, arrogance, insensitivity, or callousness
we can remind ourselves to exhibit its opposite.
When you see someone act in this fashion,
consciously choose not to walk that path.
Choose the higher road,
the one characterized by compassion and forgiveness.
You may be surprised how your choice
of "the road less traveled"
may be the one they choose to walk in the future.
Be your own best example.*
Now, does your heart have anything to say?
~~~~~
(Image courtesy of http://www.harrisonarkansas.org)
*Excerpted from Awakening the Spirit Within by Jan Forrest Lundy
If you are a woman on the path to awakening, I invite you to visit my other blog on Monday to meet a very special friend of mine—a woman of peace and music—Dudley Evenson. She's the co-founder of the independent record label, Soundings of the Planet, and she's sharing her thoughts with us about the power of affirmations. And we're giving away CDs!
Come on over! www.awakenedliving.com
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16 comments:
what a lovely inspiring post - when I awake tomorrow I'll be ready to face the day!
Jan,
This one's difficult for me to read today. It is, because of something that happened a week ago. In which my words were not very nice at all. It's bothered me since I uttered those words in an email (and I may have done the same thing on the phone, had I had a telephone number to call). Which isn't like me - and yet, is it? Because it was most definitely me, that day - typing that email. I have since apologized - and I have since also had a phone conversation with someone about this as well. While I won't say that I was completely in the wrong on the whole situation, it's a good example of not fully understanding the whole thing before opening my mouth.
So - today, I choose to say this meditation with a heavy heart...and ask for continued guidance from that Higher Source, that I might see life not just through my own experiences, but be open to seeing them through others as well...
Elsiee,
Thank you, may your day be blessed with ease.
Lance,
Thank you for this open and honest sharing. It is true that our choices create results and that these can continue to "haunt" us for a while. It sounds as if you were attentive (in hindsight) to all that transpired and you could engage in clear seeing. This is wonderful. Awareness is half the battle. :-)
And now to address the heaviness that we carry when do speak out with words that may have been rash (and WE all do it, believe me!). Prayer helps, letting go, realignment with Spirit, as you are doing. And compassion. Compassion for self, first and foremost (metta is wonderful for this). We hold our hurt selves tenderly and with understanding. As we soften toward ourselves we can then open in a new way--both to ourselves and others. I really prefer the practice of compassion over forgiveness. It is much more accepting of us in the human condition than forgiveness, which implies wrong doing or sin. Being human is challenging and we can all use all the compassion we can get! May you be at peace in your heart, today, Lance!
"Be your own best example" - to me that, in a nutshell, is what religion and spirituality are meant to be all about. Becoming that best example.
Hi Jan,
I love the line "be your own best example". That is what I strive to do everyday. Some days I succeed and other days, I am somewhat off the mark.
As someone who has traveled the road less walked on, it can be lonely at times but so worth the journey.
Paul,
I agree. Living the principles, not just giving lip service. Being the love, the peace, the joy, the generosity of spirit. May we all...
Nadia,
The road less traveled can be lonely, for sure! but very much worth it. How else can we truly get to know ourselves but in silence and solitude? And walking a path that is uniquely our own...
Through my yoga practice, I've learned not to attach to unkindness from others. It might bother me for half a second, but then I simply note that it happened and then release it. I can't hold onto the negative or carry it around for years in a big heavy sack. Rudeness, selfishness, insensitivity can arouse deep compassion in our hearts for the other, who are likely wounded spirits.
I like that distinction you made, Jan, between forgiveness and compassion. I often think of the Amish schoolgirls who were murdered a few years ago and the compassionate response of the Amish community to the murderer and his family. I am still amazed at the quality of that type of compassion.
This meditation is beautiful in its simplicity. Since the first time I heard your thoughts on compassion I have taken your words to heart and found comfort there. I have started saying the "may you be happy" blessing for people to whom I want to feel compassion, and I find that that helps.
Hi Jan .. wonderful words and ones I need to remember and heed - I'm usually not bad, but sometimes things slip out - especially with the situation as I've been coping with. However I'm freer now it's just my mother .. and I need to start taking and learning these lessons from meditation, including this into my daily routine.
Thanks for the reminders .. so essential for us to set examples and not leave bad tastes behind.
Hilary Melton-Butcher
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"walking on the road less traveled" is very difficult at times but I'm finding the most spiritual growth on this road and it is so worth the journey. Keep holding that light ahead of me, Jan, and I will stay on the right path.
Rose,
This is a very big learning (and leap) on your part to not take unkindness personally and move beyond it with ease. Truly a grace! I commend you for this. This is one area of quandry in which I often find myself because I am "super-sensitive," so being aware of how to access compassion for others is, indeed, key!
Sharon,
Your sharing touches my heart so deeply. Thank you! And I am simply thrilled that lovingkindness practice has settled into your heart. Wonderful! May YOU be at ease today...
Hilary,
We all need reminders, that's for sure. With today's world as it is, with so many challenges facing us daily, we can all use more understanding, compassion and forgiveness. I was sorry to learn of your uncles's passing. May he and all of you be at peace.
Julie,
Yes, this "road" has its difficulties but I am so heartened to hear that you take such joy in it as well. We all the shine the light for one another. :-)
As always Jan your words are filled with compassionate wisdom.
"The attitudes and behaviors that we scorn in others will be the ones that will offer us the grandest personal and spiritual growth."
It's so true. Other people are often mirrors. When we see something in someone else that offends us, it could be a reflection of something we too display at times. When we recognize this, we have an opportunity to change and grow.
It is so important to be conscious, and choose to act from a deeper place than the automatic superficial one of attacking back. This is especially useful for me while driving.
Thanks, Jan. I could be reminded a thousand times and could still use another reminder:)
Laura,
People as mirrors, oh yes. This concept took me a long while to grasp, but when I did, everything seemed to shift. All that I saw in others I also (honestly) saw in myself. That awareness paves the way toward healing, as you know. Thank you for YOUR kind and compassionate comments. I'm glad we've connected!
Mermaid,
Driving is a big one for most people. It is an immediate opportunity to react vs. respond.
I love this notion: When something happens that could set me off, do I simply REACT or can I choose to RESPOND instead? Very powerful.
I am glad that this post helped serve as a reminder. Boy, we all need those!
Forgiveness takes us to a place that doesn't contain the opposite. It removes us from the gravitational pull of the circle that holds the issues that people tend to repeat over and over again.
The opposite point of view is a good place to start, because it shows relativity to a position. But when one travels the circle, one realizes there is no right or wrong in the circle. They are just differents points within the circle. One then moves to the Center, and from the Center one falls through a vortex and finds ones self clear of the Virus.
Liberation and Freedom is Achieved.
Inhale, exhale... I do choose to take the road less traveled. ..most of the time. When I stray I usually catch myself and start walking again. These moments get fewer and fewer the more I practice Love, Compassion, and Forgiveness. When I let work or the stresses of daily life take over too much, that's when my path takes some turns. Usually I get uncomfortable and recognize I'm off my path and I choose to get back on and breathe again. Thank you for the reminders and showing us how to get back on the path of Love, Joy, Compassion, forgiveness and Spiritual growth. Blessings to you and yours. Love and Light, Nina P
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