(p.66) "Your imagination has already played an important role in your illness. Reflect back upon your experience in receiving the diagnosis and the ensuing discussion regarding treatment and prognosis. What were your thoughts? What were your feelings? Were you primarily hopeful, imagining recovery? Or were you more fearful, dreading what was to come? The chances are that you experienced a combination of images, positive and negative, healthy and unhealthy. And all affect your body at the cellular level."
I had taken myself to the emergency department at Guelph General Hospital. Mike was at work and difficult to get hold of. I was admitted, some tests were done, a CT scan was taken on my enlarged abdomen, and then the Dr. returned saying "I'm really sorry but our radiologist feels it's cancer." He left, then the nurse came in and gave me a hug and said she was sorry. I said "You mean this is real?" And she said "This is real."
Then I was alone and tried to get through to Mike on my cell to ask him to come to the hospital after work. I didn't want to call my parents because they're older and I didn't want to worry them, and I didn't want to worry my sisters. We were supposed to pick up Mike's sister from the airport, and after Mike came to the hospital and I told him about our new situation Mike called his mom at her cottage to tell her what was happening and to say that he wouldn't be able to pick up his sister because this had just happened and his mother insisted that he had to pick up his sister. Mike ended up having his sister paged in the airport to take a Red Cab here and he never heard a further word until he went home later.
We met with an angel of a doctor who gave us great hope together, then I remained in the hospital and Mike went home.
Hopeful, fearful, dreading....
"These images are related to your beliefs about the nature of your illness and treatment in general, as well as related to your beliefs about what your personal experience and treatment will be. Remember, the beliefs that trouble us the most are often based on our interpretation of facts, not on the facts themselves. You can learn to change your frightening or unhealthy beliefs and replace them with healthy beliefs. This will help you to get well.
[C. M. Maultsby] developed a simple, 5 question test for evaluating the relative health value of any belief.
Ask yourself:
1. Does this belief help me protect my life and health?
2. Does it help me achieve my short- and long- term goals?
3. Does it help me to resolve or avoid my most undesirable conflicts (whether these conflicts
are within myself or with other people)?
4. Does it help me feel the way I want to feel?
And, when appropriate, also ask:
5. Is the belief based on facts?
If you can answer yes to 3 or more of these quesions, then the belief you hold is considered relatively healthy. If there are fewer or no yes answers, it is important you change your belief to a healthier one."
[beliefs create emotions, emotions are an important driving force in the immune system and other healing systems. Healthy images increase your sense of power, well-being, and peace of mind.
Showing posts with label Quotes to help. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quotes to help. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
From Viktor Frankl's book, Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor Frankl survived imprisonment in a concentration camp during the holocaust. He established a school of psychological thought termed Logotherapy from his experiences both before and during this time. This really is a stellar book.
"[Everything] can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." (p.66)
"It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future.....And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence, although he sometimes has to force his mind to the task." (p.73)
"[Any] attempt to restore a man's inner strength in the camp had first to succeed in showing him some future goal. [Nietzsche's words, 'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.']" (p.76)
"What we really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life -- daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right act and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way." (p.76/77)
"When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task; his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden." (p.77)
"But there is no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bear witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer." (p.78)
"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any how." (p.80)
"[Mental] health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become. Such a tension is inherent in the human being and therefore is indispensable to mental well-being." (p.104)
"[Do] not be afraid to create a sound amount of tension through a reorientation toward the meaning of one's life." (p.105)
"In a word, each man is questioned by life, and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible." (p.109)
"It is...up to the patient to decide whether he should interpret his life task as being responsible to society or to his own conscious." (p.110)
The meaning of suffering:
"When we are no longer able to change a situation -- just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer -- we are challenged to change ourselves." (p.112)
"In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of sacrifice." (p.113)
"If it were avoidable...the meaningful thing to do would be to remove its cause. To suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic." (p.113)
Logotherapy:
"As Logotherapy teaches, there are three main avenues on which one arrives at meaning in life. The first is by creating a work or by doing a deed. The second is by experiencing something or encountering someone; in other words, meaning can be found not only in work but also in love.....Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself. He may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph." (p.145/146)
"[The] priority stays with creatively changing the situation that causes us to suffer. But the superiority goes to 'know how to suffer' if need be." (p.148)
Frankl:
"I do not forget any good deed done to me, and I do not carry a grudge for a bad one." (p.162)
Transcend anything by making responsible choices.
"His approach to psychotherapy stressed the importance of helping people to reach new heights of personal meaning through self-transcendence: the application of positive effort, technique, acceptance of limitations, and wise decisions. His goal was to provoke people into realizing that they can and should exercise their capacity for choice to achieve their own goals." (p.164)
"The world is in a bad state, but everything will become worse unless each of us does his best." (p.164)
"The meaning of [Frankl's] life was to help others find the meaning of theirs." (p.165)
"[Everything] can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms -- to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." (p.66)
"It is a peculiarity of man that he can only live by looking to the future.....And this is his salvation in the most difficult moments of his existence, although he sometimes has to force his mind to the task." (p.73)
"[Any] attempt to restore a man's inner strength in the camp had first to succeed in showing him some future goal. [Nietzsche's words, 'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.']" (p.76)
"What we really needed was a fundamental change in our attitude toward life. We had to learn ourselves and, furthermore, we had to teach despairing men, that it did not really matter what we expected, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life -- daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right act and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual. These tasks, and therefore the meaning of life, differ from man to man, and from moment to moment. Thus it is impossible to define the meaning of life in a general way." (p.76/77)
"When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task; his single and unique task. He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place. His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden." (p.77)
"But there is no need to be ashamed of tears, for tears bear witness that a man had the greatest of courage, the courage to suffer." (p.78)
"A man who becomes conscious of the responsibility he bears toward a human being who affectionately waits for him, or to an unfinished work, will never be able to throw away his life. He knows the 'why' for his existence, and will be able to bear almost any how." (p.80)
"[Mental] health is based on a certain degree of tension, the tension between what one has already achieved and what one still ought to accomplish, or the gap between what one is and what one should become. Such a tension is inherent in the human being and therefore is indispensable to mental well-being." (p.104)
"[Do] not be afraid to create a sound amount of tension through a reorientation toward the meaning of one's life." (p.105)
"In a word, each man is questioned by life, and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible." (p.109)
"It is...up to the patient to decide whether he should interpret his life task as being responsible to society or to his own conscious." (p.110)
The meaning of suffering:
"When we are no longer able to change a situation -- just think of an incurable disease such as inoperable cancer -- we are challenged to change ourselves." (p.112)
"In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of sacrifice." (p.113)
"If it were avoidable...the meaningful thing to do would be to remove its cause. To suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic." (p.113)
Logotherapy:
"As Logotherapy teaches, there are three main avenues on which one arrives at meaning in life. The first is by creating a work or by doing a deed. The second is by experiencing something or encountering someone; in other words, meaning can be found not only in work but also in love.....Most important, however, is the third avenue to meaning in life: even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself. He may turn a personal tragedy into a triumph." (p.145/146)
"[The] priority stays with creatively changing the situation that causes us to suffer. But the superiority goes to 'know how to suffer' if need be." (p.148)
Frankl:
"I do not forget any good deed done to me, and I do not carry a grudge for a bad one." (p.162)
Transcend anything by making responsible choices.
"His approach to psychotherapy stressed the importance of helping people to reach new heights of personal meaning through self-transcendence: the application of positive effort, technique, acceptance of limitations, and wise decisions. His goal was to provoke people into realizing that they can and should exercise their capacity for choice to achieve their own goals." (p.164)
"The world is in a bad state, but everything will become worse unless each of us does his best." (p.164)
"The meaning of [Frankl's] life was to help others find the meaning of theirs." (p.165)
Monday, September 1, 2008
Perspective
I have read a book that I borrowed from the hospice: Making Miracles Happen by Gregory White Smith and Steven Naifeh. Gregory Smith has brain cancer and has been fighting it for ten years. But the point I want to make is this: that reading books written by cancer "people" is a far different experience for me than reading ACIM or Eckhart Tolle. They write things that seem like nothing but hit so hard, like being fascinated by babies or putting things in plain perspective.
"'The hardest pill to swallow...is the realization that from the moment of the accident or illness or operation occurs, your life will never be the same. Everybody assumes that they're going back to the way they were. They're going to be in the same job, they're going to have the same physical capabilities. Their work, their spouse, their family, their friends, everything is always going to be the same. When, in fact, it never will be the same after.'"(MMH, p.224)
This weekend I knew was going to be beautiful, and making the decision to stay home rather than going to the cottage caused me much anguish because will I be there next year? Which books should I take the time to read? etc., etc..
Making decisions is becoming difficult for that "reasoning". Not only life situations change, but I can't help but to think in extremes. While remaining positive. And trying to function normally, greet the neighbours, and make a miracle happen.
The hopice is also starting a group in October, where you take a lunch and talk, but I'm undecided if that is for me. I have heard that it is really a good thing to do and will extend your life, and if anyone has attended such a group for illness, please let me know your opinions on it and if you feel it helped you. I suppose I'm committing to the hospice program of a positive meditation/visualization then touch therapy which connects me with others who may have any illness and who want to be well. They all seem very kind and I can almost feel their wings cover me protectively.
Unfortunately I haven't been using the Tibetan bowl very much, but Mike is fascinated by it and loves to make a deep vibration come from the bowl and try it on different surfaces, even though I've told him he holds the pestle wrong and his quests are impossible; he continues and proves me wrong, thank God, places the bowl on my abdomen, and makes it sing a low vibration which I really do feel work its way through me and heal along the way.
I absolutely love the CD that my hypnotherapist made me because it puts me into a deep deep state of "altered" relaxation and it seems to do it to me every time I listen. I would say that this is one of the best therapies I've pursued, with the right therapist, and I absolutely recommend it.
Serene has stepped on some button which has altered the screen completely so I will post this now.
"'The hardest pill to swallow...is the realization that from the moment of the accident or illness or operation occurs, your life will never be the same. Everybody assumes that they're going back to the way they were. They're going to be in the same job, they're going to have the same physical capabilities. Their work, their spouse, their family, their friends, everything is always going to be the same. When, in fact, it never will be the same after.'"(MMH, p.224)
This weekend I knew was going to be beautiful, and making the decision to stay home rather than going to the cottage caused me much anguish because will I be there next year? Which books should I take the time to read? etc., etc..
Making decisions is becoming difficult for that "reasoning". Not only life situations change, but I can't help but to think in extremes. While remaining positive. And trying to function normally, greet the neighbours, and make a miracle happen.
The hopice is also starting a group in October, where you take a lunch and talk, but I'm undecided if that is for me. I have heard that it is really a good thing to do and will extend your life, and if anyone has attended such a group for illness, please let me know your opinions on it and if you feel it helped you. I suppose I'm committing to the hospice program of a positive meditation/visualization then touch therapy which connects me with others who may have any illness and who want to be well. They all seem very kind and I can almost feel their wings cover me protectively.
Unfortunately I haven't been using the Tibetan bowl very much, but Mike is fascinated by it and loves to make a deep vibration come from the bowl and try it on different surfaces, even though I've told him he holds the pestle wrong and his quests are impossible; he continues and proves me wrong, thank God, places the bowl on my abdomen, and makes it sing a low vibration which I really do feel work its way through me and heal along the way.
I absolutely love the CD that my hypnotherapist made me because it puts me into a deep deep state of "altered" relaxation and it seems to do it to me every time I listen. I would say that this is one of the best therapies I've pursued, with the right therapist, and I absolutely recommend it.
Serene has stepped on some button which has altered the screen completely so I will post this now.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Parallels ACIM and Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth
Here is a rather long excerpt from A New Earth, which is essentially exactly what A Course in Miracles says is the way to heal; by healing others, we heal ourselves. By overlooking others' confused behaviour and recognizing it as their illusion, we help them to heal.
(Chapter: The Core of Ego)
"Resentment is the emotion that goes with complaining and the mental labeling of people and adds even more energy to the ego. Resentment means to feel bitter, indignant, aggrieved, or offended. You resent other people's greed, their dishonesty, their lack of integrity, what they are doing, what they did in the past, what they said, what they failed to do, what they should or shouldn't have done. The ego loves it. Instead of overlooking unconsciousness in others, you make it into their identity. Who is doing that? The unconsciousness in you, the ego. Sometimes the "fault" that you perceive in another isn't even there. It is a total misinterpretation, a projection by a mind conditioned to see enemies and to make itself right or superior. At other times, the fault may be there, but by focusing on it, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else, you amplify it. And what you react to in another, you strengthen in yourself.
Nonreaction to the ego in others is one of the most effective ways not only of going beyond the ego in yourself but also of dissolving the collective human ego. But you can only be in a state of nonreaction if you can recognize someone's behaviour as coming from the ego, as being an expression of the collective human dysfunction. When you realize it's not personal, there is no longer a compulsion to react as if it were. By not reacting to the ego, you will often be able to bring out the sanity in others, which is the unconditioned consciousness as opposed to the conditioned. At times you may have to take practical steps to protect yourself from deeply unconscious people. This you can do without making them enemies. Your greatest protection, however, is being conscious. Somebody becomes an enemy if you personalize the unconsciousness that is the ego. Nonreaction is not weakness but strength. Another word for nonreaction is forgiveness. To forgive is to overlook, or rather to look through. You look through the ego to the sanity that is in every human being as his or her essence."
Exactly what ACIM says: to forgive is to overlook, to overlook is to heal another, to heal another is to heal yourself.
The one thing that I struggle with in all of the reading that I do is the suggestion that we cause our own illnesses. This is explained to me through ACIM that the body is a learning tool. It cannot of itself make decisions, or feel emotions. The ego uses the body for pleasure, pride, and (I think) punishment. The mind is what directs the body, and a sick mind, a mind divided against itself, is under the illusion that the ego is the "I am" and not the mind itself. When you heal your mind, through forgiveness (extension) and correction of errors in perception, and are no longer subject to your ego, your body is healed also. This I can accept, but I wish I was one of those people immediately enlightened and healed in times of great strife.
Also, I have struggles with fear, fearing not, working through fear, accepting fear, and all of that. Healing can't happen when fear is present, so things are a bit difficult here.
If anyone can help me here, please let me know. Use the comments spot to talk.
(Chapter: The Core of Ego)
"Resentment is the emotion that goes with complaining and the mental labeling of people and adds even more energy to the ego. Resentment means to feel bitter, indignant, aggrieved, or offended. You resent other people's greed, their dishonesty, their lack of integrity, what they are doing, what they did in the past, what they said, what they failed to do, what they should or shouldn't have done. The ego loves it. Instead of overlooking unconsciousness in others, you make it into their identity. Who is doing that? The unconsciousness in you, the ego. Sometimes the "fault" that you perceive in another isn't even there. It is a total misinterpretation, a projection by a mind conditioned to see enemies and to make itself right or superior. At other times, the fault may be there, but by focusing on it, sometimes to the exclusion of everything else, you amplify it. And what you react to in another, you strengthen in yourself.
Nonreaction to the ego in others is one of the most effective ways not only of going beyond the ego in yourself but also of dissolving the collective human ego. But you can only be in a state of nonreaction if you can recognize someone's behaviour as coming from the ego, as being an expression of the collective human dysfunction. When you realize it's not personal, there is no longer a compulsion to react as if it were. By not reacting to the ego, you will often be able to bring out the sanity in others, which is the unconditioned consciousness as opposed to the conditioned. At times you may have to take practical steps to protect yourself from deeply unconscious people. This you can do without making them enemies. Your greatest protection, however, is being conscious. Somebody becomes an enemy if you personalize the unconsciousness that is the ego. Nonreaction is not weakness but strength. Another word for nonreaction is forgiveness. To forgive is to overlook, or rather to look through. You look through the ego to the sanity that is in every human being as his or her essence."
Exactly what ACIM says: to forgive is to overlook, to overlook is to heal another, to heal another is to heal yourself.
The one thing that I struggle with in all of the reading that I do is the suggestion that we cause our own illnesses. This is explained to me through ACIM that the body is a learning tool. It cannot of itself make decisions, or feel emotions. The ego uses the body for pleasure, pride, and (I think) punishment. The mind is what directs the body, and a sick mind, a mind divided against itself, is under the illusion that the ego is the "I am" and not the mind itself. When you heal your mind, through forgiveness (extension) and correction of errors in perception, and are no longer subject to your ego, your body is healed also. This I can accept, but I wish I was one of those people immediately enlightened and healed in times of great strife.
Also, I have struggles with fear, fearing not, working through fear, accepting fear, and all of that. Healing can't happen when fear is present, so things are a bit difficult here.
If anyone can help me here, please let me know. Use the comments spot to talk.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
ACIM cont'd
(Chapter 8 cont'd.)
Help and healing are the normal expressions of a mind that is working through the body, but not in it. If the mind believes the body is its goal it will distort its perception of the body, and by blocking its own extension beyond it, will induce illness by fostering separation [from the source of all life].....Health is therefore nothing more than united purpose. If the body is brought under the purpose of the mind, it becomes whole because the mind's purpose is one.....The power of wholeness is extension.
(pt. 8 The Body as as Means or End)
You must have noticed an outstanding characteristic of every end that the ego has accepted as its own. When you have achieved it, it has not satisfied you. This is why the ego is forced to shift ceaselessly from one goal to another, so that you cwill continue to hope it can yet offer you something.
Sickness is meaningful only if the two basic premises on which the ego's interpretation of the body rests are true; that the body is for attack, and that you are a body. Without these premses sickness is inconceivable.
[The body is a learning device] A learning device is not a teacher. It cannot tell you how you feel. You do not know how you feel because you have accepted the ego's confusion, and you therefore believe that a learning device can tell you how you feel.....Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly.
****
These passages are next to impossible to separate from religious overtones, which really give them their meaning, so for now I'll stop here and continue to try to live in the Now, or as ACIM states, the Holy Instant. By doing this, the past and future don't exist, and so it is easier to accept others as they come to you now and extend only healing thoughts to them.
"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."(Chapt. 16)
Chapter 16 talks all about the Holy Instant and the healing that is extended and returned by your willingness to "[release] your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them. Thus will you learn that you have been forgiven, for it is you who offered them illusions." Overlook perceived mistakes, let go of the past that condition your perception of someone in the present, and your perception of reality is transformed with this practice. "In the transition there is a period of confusion, in which a sense of actual disorientation may occur. But fear it not,for it means only that you have been willing to let go your hold on the distorted frame of reference that seemed to hold your world together."
"To forgive is merelyto remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you. All the rest must be forgotten. Forgiveness is a selective remembering, based not on your selection.....But first, be sure you fully realize what you have made the past to represent, and why. The past becomes the justification for entering into a continuing, unholy alliance with the ego against the present. For the present is forgiveness."
Help and healing are the normal expressions of a mind that is working through the body, but not in it. If the mind believes the body is its goal it will distort its perception of the body, and by blocking its own extension beyond it, will induce illness by fostering separation [from the source of all life].....Health is therefore nothing more than united purpose. If the body is brought under the purpose of the mind, it becomes whole because the mind's purpose is one.....The power of wholeness is extension.
(pt. 8 The Body as as Means or End)
You must have noticed an outstanding characteristic of every end that the ego has accepted as its own. When you have achieved it, it has not satisfied you. This is why the ego is forced to shift ceaselessly from one goal to another, so that you cwill continue to hope it can yet offer you something.
Sickness is meaningful only if the two basic premises on which the ego's interpretation of the body rests are true; that the body is for attack, and that you are a body. Without these premses sickness is inconceivable.
[The body is a learning device] A learning device is not a teacher. It cannot tell you how you feel. You do not know how you feel because you have accepted the ego's confusion, and you therefore believe that a learning device can tell you how you feel.....Health is the result of relinquishing all attempts to use the body lovelessly.
****
These passages are next to impossible to separate from religious overtones, which really give them their meaning, so for now I'll stop here and continue to try to live in the Now, or as ACIM states, the Holy Instant. By doing this, the past and future don't exist, and so it is easier to accept others as they come to you now and extend only healing thoughts to them.
"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it."(Chapt. 16)
Chapter 16 talks all about the Holy Instant and the healing that is extended and returned by your willingness to "[release] your brothers from the slavery of their illusions by forgiving them for the illusions you perceive in them. Thus will you learn that you have been forgiven, for it is you who offered them illusions." Overlook perceived mistakes, let go of the past that condition your perception of someone in the present, and your perception of reality is transformed with this practice. "In the transition there is a period of confusion, in which a sense of actual disorientation may occur. But fear it not,for it means only that you have been willing to let go your hold on the distorted frame of reference that seemed to hold your world together."
"To forgive is merelyto remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you. All the rest must be forgotten. Forgiveness is a selective remembering, based not on your selection.....But first, be sure you fully realize what you have made the past to represent, and why. The past becomes the justification for entering into a continuing, unholy alliance with the ego against the present. For the present is forgiveness."
Monday, June 9, 2008
ACIM cont'd
(Chapt.6 - The Lessons of Love)
Teach only love, for that is what you are.
Any concept of punishment involves projection 0f blame, and reinforces the idea that blame is justified. The result is a lesson in blame, for all behaviour teaches the beliefs that motivate it.....what you teach is teaching you, and what you project or extend you believe.
A wise teacher teaches through approach, not avoidance. He does not emphasize what you must avoid to escape from harm, but what you need to learn to have joy.
Everything is accomplished through life, and life is of the mind and in the mind.....If the mind can heal the body, but the body cannot heal the mind, then the mind must be stronger than the body. Every miracle demonstrates this.....there is no order of difficulty in miracles.
The ego uses the body for attack, for pleasure and for pride.
1. To have, give all to all. (.....You learn first that having rests on giving, and not on getting.)
2. To have peace, teach peace to learn it. (.....Next you learn that you learn what you teach, and that you want to learn peace.)
3. Be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom. (.....The third step is thus one of protection for your mind, allowing you to identify only with the center.....The third step, then, is a statement of what you want to believe, and entails a willingness to relinquish everything else.)
(Chapt. 7)
If different abilities are applied long enough to one goal, the abilities themselves become unified. This is because they are channelized in one direction, or in one way. Ultimately, then, they all contribute to one result, and by so doing, their similarity rather than their differences is emphasized.
The law of extension/sharing: .....you give what you value in order to keep it in your mind.
(Chapt. 8)
When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself.
Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself.
Teach only love, for that is what you are.
Any concept of punishment involves projection 0f blame, and reinforces the idea that blame is justified. The result is a lesson in blame, for all behaviour teaches the beliefs that motivate it.....what you teach is teaching you, and what you project or extend you believe.
A wise teacher teaches through approach, not avoidance. He does not emphasize what you must avoid to escape from harm, but what you need to learn to have joy.
Everything is accomplished through life, and life is of the mind and in the mind.....If the mind can heal the body, but the body cannot heal the mind, then the mind must be stronger than the body. Every miracle demonstrates this.....there is no order of difficulty in miracles.
The ego uses the body for attack, for pleasure and for pride.
1. To have, give all to all. (.....You learn first that having rests on giving, and not on getting.)
2. To have peace, teach peace to learn it. (.....Next you learn that you learn what you teach, and that you want to learn peace.)
3. Be vigilant only for God and His Kingdom. (.....The third step is thus one of protection for your mind, allowing you to identify only with the center.....The third step, then, is a statement of what you want to believe, and entails a willingness to relinquish everything else.)
(Chapt. 7)
If different abilities are applied long enough to one goal, the abilities themselves become unified. This is because they are channelized in one direction, or in one way. Ultimately, then, they all contribute to one result, and by so doing, their similarity rather than their differences is emphasized.
The law of extension/sharing: .....you give what you value in order to keep it in your mind.
(Chapt. 8)
When you meet anyone, remember it is a holy encounter. As you see him you will see yourself. As you treat him you will treat yourself. As you think of him you will think of yourself.
Never forget this, for in him you will find yourself or lose yourself.
From A Course in Miracles
This really is because I need to remember what I've read in ACIM, I've gotten into a bit of a cloud today, I could not remember how to spell "news" the other day no matter how hard I tried (noos, nuise) and these are parts that I've high-lighted. Again, I'm leaving out direct religious content, although personally I can relate to the religious content.
(Chapt.2, VI Fear and Conflict)
The presence of fear shows that you have raised body thoughts to the level of the mind.....The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it is only at this level that you can exercise choice. What you do comes from what you think.....You must change your mind, not your behaviour, and this is a matter of willingness. You do not need guidance except at the mind level.....The correction of fear is your responsibility.....You should ask for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about.
(Chapt.3, IV Error and the Ego)
.....The ego is a wrong-minded attempt to perceive yourself as you wish to be, rather than as you are.....you cannot escape from fear until you realize that you did not and could not create yourself.
(Chapt.4,VI This Need Not Be)
(Be vigilant against the demands of the ego).....actively refuse to let your mind slip away. The problem is not one of concentration; it is the belief that no one, including yourself, is worth consistent effort.
(Chapt. 5, Healing and Wholeness) ( This deals with extension, as in the example below of an idea, vs. ego projection and the thought or fear of loss.)
You are being blessed by every beneficent thought of any of your brothers anywhere. You should want to bless them in return, out of gratitude.
.....If you share a physical possession, you do divide its ownership. If you share an idea, however, you do not lessen it. All of it is still yours although all of it has been given away. Further, if the one to whom you give it accepts it as his, he reinforces it in your mind and thus increases it.
(In this way, when you choose only to see the best in someone, overlooking what you feel has been somehow wrong, you heal them and also yourself).
(Chapt.2, VI Fear and Conflict)
The presence of fear shows that you have raised body thoughts to the level of the mind.....The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it is only at this level that you can exercise choice. What you do comes from what you think.....You must change your mind, not your behaviour, and this is a matter of willingness. You do not need guidance except at the mind level.....The correction of fear is your responsibility.....You should ask for help in the conditions that have brought the fear about.
(Chapt.3, IV Error and the Ego)
.....The ego is a wrong-minded attempt to perceive yourself as you wish to be, rather than as you are.....you cannot escape from fear until you realize that you did not and could not create yourself.
(Chapt.4,VI This Need Not Be)
(Be vigilant against the demands of the ego).....actively refuse to let your mind slip away. The problem is not one of concentration; it is the belief that no one, including yourself, is worth consistent effort.
(Chapt. 5, Healing and Wholeness) ( This deals with extension, as in the example below of an idea, vs. ego projection and the thought or fear of loss.)
You are being blessed by every beneficent thought of any of your brothers anywhere. You should want to bless them in return, out of gratitude.
.....If you share a physical possession, you do divide its ownership. If you share an idea, however, you do not lessen it. All of it is still yours although all of it has been given away. Further, if the one to whom you give it accepts it as his, he reinforces it in your mind and thus increases it.
(In this way, when you choose only to see the best in someone, overlooking what you feel has been somehow wrong, you heal them and also yourself).
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
What's up the night of the appointment day
Well now Mike's in bed and I'm up with what seems to be some kind of energy boost, whether from doing this blog or awakening to something new or accepting my situation. I've had to make the switch, from off to on and permanently on, looking it in the face even if I can't make it out. And of course, that's the way I want it to be: distant, and a long way off from coming closer. And of course, it is death. God please lead me. This is my, "Even though I walk through the valley of of the shadow of death....." time.
Psalm 23 >>King James Bible
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23 >> New American Standard Bible ©
The LORD, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd,I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul;He guides me in the paths of righteousnessFor His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I fear no evil, for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You have anointed my head with oil;My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Psalm 23 >>King James Bible
1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Psalm 23 >> New American Standard Bible ©
The LORD, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
1 The LORD is my shepherd,I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul;He guides me in the paths of righteousnessFor His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I fear no evil, for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You have anointed my head with oil;My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Some of the things I've been reading in Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now
To seek something through another is wrong.
'..."All that rises, passes away. This I know." What he meant was this: I have learned to offer no resistance to what is; I have learned to allow the present moment to be and accept the impermanent nature of all things and conditions. Thus have I found peace.
To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general condition of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no effort or struggle on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them -- while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.(p.158)
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(That was Serene, my cat)
All inner resistance is experienced as negativity in one form or another. All negativity is resistance.(p.158)
Negativity is totally unnatural. It is a psychic pollutant, and there is a deep link between the poisoning and destruction of nature and the vast negativity that has accumulated in the collective human psyche. No other life from on the planet knows negativity, only humans, just as no other life form violates and poisons the Earth that sustains it.....The only animals that may occasionally experience akin to negativity or show signs of neurotic behaviour are those that live in close contact with humans and so link into the human mind and its insanity.(p.159)
I'll stop for now.
'..."All that rises, passes away. This I know." What he meant was this: I have learned to offer no resistance to what is; I have learned to allow the present moment to be and accept the impermanent nature of all things and conditions. Thus have I found peace.
To offer no resistance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your inner dependency on form is gone, the general condition of your life, the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions that you thought you needed for your happiness now come to you with no effort or struggle on your part, and you are free to enjoy and appreciate them -- while they last. All those things, of course, will still pass away, cycles will come and go, but with dependency gone there is no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.(p.158)
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(That was Serene, my cat)
All inner resistance is experienced as negativity in one form or another. All negativity is resistance.(p.158)
Negativity is totally unnatural. It is a psychic pollutant, and there is a deep link between the poisoning and destruction of nature and the vast negativity that has accumulated in the collective human psyche. No other life from on the planet knows negativity, only humans, just as no other life form violates and poisons the Earth that sustains it.....The only animals that may occasionally experience akin to negativity or show signs of neurotic behaviour are those that live in close contact with humans and so link into the human mind and its insanity.(p.159)
I'll stop for now.
Things that I felt while sitting in the backyard reading today after the Dr. appointment
The God who made you, made me.
I can (also) do no harm
We're the same
I have my touch therapy,
The hands of the trees giving away
Balsam fir sweeping away the negative, the fear
I balance what I could have lost
had alot of time to think
and practice
new behaviour therapy
of listening with open ears
and heart and mind
Don't get stuck on an idea
let it go and
be as honest as you feel you can
The hand that made thee, made me
We ARE alive
So I get my hair back
and my neuropathy goes away
and I accept as real
that I have these cancers in me
and now I take my best steps
step as best as I can.
I don't have to sit in the chemo room.
I get my nephrostomy internalized.
I have an excellent Dr..
God please guide me, please protect me, please rejeuvinate me, please lead me, please heal me.
Take these steps with me.
Eckhart Tolle, Power Of Now:
"What is God? The eternal One Life underneath all forms of life. What is Love? To feel the presence of that One Life deep within yourself and within all creatures. To be it. Therefore, all love is the love of God... Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective.. It does not make one person special. It is not exclusive. ... All you can do is create a space for transformati0n to happen, for grace and love to enter." (p.131)
I don't know if I've navigated well, thus far, in terms of my behaviour towards others and towards life itself. I'm very gullible, with myself.
I can (also) do no harm
We're the same
I have my touch therapy,
The hands of the trees giving away
Balsam fir sweeping away the negative, the fear
I balance what I could have lost
had alot of time to think
and practice
new behaviour therapy
of listening with open ears
and heart and mind
Don't get stuck on an idea
let it go and
be as honest as you feel you can
The hand that made thee, made me
We ARE alive
So I get my hair back
and my neuropathy goes away
and I accept as real
that I have these cancers in me
and now I take my best steps
step as best as I can.
I don't have to sit in the chemo room.
I get my nephrostomy internalized.
I have an excellent Dr..
God please guide me, please protect me, please rejeuvinate me, please lead me, please heal me.
Take these steps with me.
Eckhart Tolle, Power Of Now:
"What is God? The eternal One Life underneath all forms of life. What is Love? To feel the presence of that One Life deep within yourself and within all creatures. To be it. Therefore, all love is the love of God... Love is not selective, just as the light of the sun is not selective.. It does not make one person special. It is not exclusive. ... All you can do is create a space for transformati0n to happen, for grace and love to enter." (p.131)
I don't know if I've navigated well, thus far, in terms of my behaviour towards others and towards life itself. I'm very gullible, with myself.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Living in the present
This is a new growing strength developing within me but it doesn't get full-time access to now because fears keep cropping up and I have to keep meditating/medicating/praying them away. Even sometimes when I do this the fear keeps swirling around and shifting its form. I have all this time to relax and I have to either read or remind myself to relax. This has to be the most difficult time of my life, and even that I'm struggling against realizing that it's real, and realizing that it's real. If you know what I mean.
There are ideas, there's living in the Now, the Holy Instant, the ego and what seems real at the time. There are sounds that go deep into the background, there's buzzing sometimes in my ears. Once upon a time my memories did happen and I cannot predetermine all future events. (Notice I didn't say any future events. I don't know, can we, or do we have to surrender that?) I know what I do now counts for later.
And I know sunny days are nicer than gloomy days.
As I get closer to knowing do I live or do I die, and even then do I live or do I die, I find that there's not much joy in pretending. Old roles have changed for me, or they're accellerated to now, blown up for view, studied and thrown away. I could cry all the time or I can really really do anything I can to bring myself into the now and stay here for a while, more and more. I guess that's how we or I accept things.
I have found that in moments of clarity I like to be with Mike, and that he makes the moment fun and good. Being present with him is great. I have had clarity with my family I think only because Mike's there and I feel safe, or because someone in my family has come forward to be present with me in love and understanding. I love my friends but I find that it can be awkward to be in this state around them, even though they would do anything to be helpful or loving.
I'm just so sad. But I become okay.
There are ideas, there's living in the Now, the Holy Instant, the ego and what seems real at the time. There are sounds that go deep into the background, there's buzzing sometimes in my ears. Once upon a time my memories did happen and I cannot predetermine all future events. (Notice I didn't say any future events. I don't know, can we, or do we have to surrender that?) I know what I do now counts for later.
And I know sunny days are nicer than gloomy days.
As I get closer to knowing do I live or do I die, and even then do I live or do I die, I find that there's not much joy in pretending. Old roles have changed for me, or they're accellerated to now, blown up for view, studied and thrown away. I could cry all the time or I can really really do anything I can to bring myself into the now and stay here for a while, more and more. I guess that's how we or I accept things.
I have found that in moments of clarity I like to be with Mike, and that he makes the moment fun and good. Being present with him is great. I have had clarity with my family I think only because Mike's there and I feel safe, or because someone in my family has come forward to be present with me in love and understanding. I love my friends but I find that it can be awkward to be in this state around them, even though they would do anything to be helpful or loving.
I'm just so sad. But I become okay.
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