A Treasury of Research Links, Resources, & Inspirations to Explore
“There is almost a sensual longing for communion with others who have a large vision.
The immense fulfillment of the friendship between those engaged
in furthering the evolution of consciousness
has a quality impossible to describe.”
~ Teilhard de Chardin
“The breezes at dawn have secrets to tell.
Don’t go back to sleep.
You have to ask for what you really want.
Don’t go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the threshold where the two worlds meet.
And the door is always open, and it’s round.
Don’t go back to sleep. ”
~Rumi
New Pioneers by Mark Henson
Dear Colleagues and Friends,
Heartfelt greetings.
This page offers a wealth of inspirations and a treasury of research and links to support your ongoing explorations of the themes we have introduce you to related to the principles and practices of meditation and Wisdom at Work. We’re just getting home and will post this page for now – and – as we have time we will post other links, quotes, readings that we shared at our recent retreat together at Indralaya. Please check back to this link for those additions!
May your practice ever deepen as an inspiration for all you meet along The Way))
Joel and Michelle Levey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Calendar of Upcoming Retreats and Teachings with Joel & Michelle Levey: https://www.wisdomatwork.com/calendar/
Dance of the 7 Directions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiviEDAjFIY
Videos from Our Retreat:
- Denmark – All We Share – https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=denmark+people+in+boxes+
- The DNA Journey – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyaEQEmt5ls
- Dance of the 7 Directions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiviEDAjFIY
“There’s a thread you follow. It goes among things that change.
But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread. But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost. Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.”
– By William Stafford, from The Way It Is
M.A.G.I.C.A.L. Meditation:
M indful of Breath and Body
A wake that you are awake and dedicated to awakening for the benefit of all beings
G ratitude – mindful of whomever or whatever you are grateful for, taking them to heart, gratitude overflowing as blessings
I ntention – clarify your personal intention for the day – and add to this the Universal harmonic of that intention….”for the benefit of all”
C connection – Refuge in the matrix/constellation of all the inspiring forces and sources of inspirations that inspire your life and awakening…receiving and radiating waves of inspiration and gratitude with each breath)))
A wareness – resting in clear, boundless, skylike awake awareness
L ove ))) Sensing deeper into boundless awareness to discover that it as inseparable from boundless love extending to and embracing all beings
Links for “Essential Practices” and Guidelines for Daily Practice:
meditations, readings, and recording from Joel and Michelle Levey
to inspire your continued practice:
https://www.wisdomatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Leveys-Essential-Practices-for-Daily-Life.pdf
http://wisdomandcompassion.us/daily-path-of-practice/
http://wisdomandcompassion.us/daily-practice/
http://WisdomAndCompassion.us <http://wisdomandcompassion.us/>
Tonglen Meditation https://www.wisdomatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Leveys-Essential-Practices-for-Daily-Life.pdf
Also see brilliant explanation of Tonglen by our friend Lama Willa Miller – at http://www.academia.edu/9119205/Compassion_and_Resilience_Slide_Show_for_Presentation_at_International_Symposium_for_Contemplative_Studies_Boston_2014
Also – see: http://WisdomAtWork.com/EssentialPractices/ for some guided audio and other links and readings
Just Like Me
Realizing that the other person is also just like me is the basis on which you can develop compassion, not only towards those around you but also towards your enemy. Normally, when we think about our enemy, we think about harming him. Instead, try to remember that the enemy is also a human being, just like me.” –His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Ask participants to sit in pairs and guide them with this script. You can also ask them to stand in two lines, facing each other; after completing the exercise with one partner, the line moves up by one and the exercise is repeated with another partner. This increases the understanding that all others are “just like me.” This practice can also be done alone, by bringing to mind a friend, a colleague, a neutral person, or a difficult person. Or it can be done silently, when meeting someone new. You can use any or all of these phrases, or any that seem more appropriate for the group.
The Instructions:
Become aware that there is a person in front of you. A fellow human being, just like you.
Now silently repeat these phrases, while looking at your partner.
This person has a body and a mind, just like me.
This person has feelings, emotions and thoughts, just like me.
This person has in his or her life, experienced physical and emotional pain and suffering, just like me.
This person has at some point been sad, disappointed, angry, or hurt, just like me. (You can say these one at a time….)
This person has felt unworthy or inadequate, just like me.
This person worries and is frightened sometimes, just like me.
This person has longed for friendship, just like me.
This person is learning about life, just like me.
This person wants to be caring and kind to others, just like me.
This person wants to be content with what life has given, just like me.
This person wishes to be free from pain and suffering, just like me.
This person wishes to be safe and healthy, just like me.
This person wishes to be happy, just like me.
This person wishes to be loved, just like me.
Now, allow some wishes for well-being to arise:
I wish that this person have the strength, resources, and social support to navigate the difficulties in life with ease.
I wish that this person be free from pain and suffering.
I wish that this person be peaceful and happy.
I wish that this person be loved.
Because this person is a fellow human being, just like me.
After a few moments, ask the participants to thank their partners with a bow or in whatever way feels appropriate.
THE RABBI’S GIFT
Video with Leveys and the ArtMonks – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRYTJNHCWVA
From – The Different Drum Version by Dr. M. Scott Peck
The story concerns a monastery that had fallen upon hard times. Once a great order, as a result of waves of antimonastic persecution in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and the rise of secularism in the nineteenth, all its branch houses were lost and it had become decimated to the extent that there were only five monks left in the decaying mother house: the abbot and four others, all over seventy in age. Clearly it was a dying order.
In the deep woods surrounding the monastery there was a little hut that a rabbi from a nearby town occasionally used for a hermitage. Through their many years of prayer and contemplation the old monks had become a bit psychic, so they could always sense when the rabbi was in his hermitage. “The rabbi is in the woods, the rabbi is in the woods again ” they would whisper to each other. As he agonized over the imminent death of his order, it occurred to the abbot at one such time to visit the hermitage and ask the rabbi if by some possible chance he could offer any advice that might save the monastery.
The rabbi welcomed the abbot at his hut. But when the abbot explained the purpose of his visit, the rabbi could only commiserate with him. “I know how it is,” he exclaimed. “The spirit has gone out of the people. It is the same in my town. Almost no one comes to the synagogue anymore.” So the old abbot and the old rabbi wept together. Then they read parts of the Torah and quietly spoke of deep things. The time came when the abbot had to leave. They embraced each other. “It has been a wonderful thing that we should meet after all these years, “the abbot said, “but I have still failed in my purpose for coming here. Is there nothing you can tell me, no piece of advice you can give me that would help me save my dying order?”
“No, I am sorry,” the rabbi responded. “I have no advice to give. The only thing I can tell you is that the Messiah is one of you.”
When the abbot returned to the monastery his fellow monks gathered around him to ask, “Well what did the rabbi say?” “He couldn’t help,” the abbot answered. “We just wept and read the Torah together. The only thing he did say, just as I was leaving –it was something cryptic– was that the Messiah is one of us. I don’t know what he meant.”
In the days and weeks and months that followed, the old monks pondered this and wondered whether there was any possible significance to the rabbi’s words. The Messiah is one of us? Could he possibly have meant one of us monks here at the monastery? If that’s the case, which one? Do you suppose he meant the abbot? Yes, if he meant anyone, he probably meant Father Abbot. He has been
our leader for more than a generation. On the other hand, he might have meant Brother Thomas. Certainly Brother Thomas is a holy man. Everyone knows that Thomas is a man of light. Certainly he could not have meant Brother Elred! Elred gets crotchety at times. But come to think of it, even though he is a thorn in people’s sides, when you look back on it, Elred is virtually always right. Often very right. Maybe the rabbi did mean Brother Elred. But surely not Brother Phillip. Phillip is so passive, a real nobody. But then, almost mysteriously, he has a gift for somehow always being there when you need him. He just magically appears by your side. Maybe Phillip is the Messiah. Of course the rabbi didn’t mean me. He couldn’t possibly have meant me. I’m just an ordinary person. Yet supposing he did? Suppose I am the Messiah? O God, not me. I couldn’t be that much for You, could I?
As they contemplated in this manner, the old monks began to treat each other with extraordinary respect on the off chance that one among them might be the Messiah. And on the off off chance that each monk himself might be the Messiah, they began to treat themselves with extraordinary respect.
Because the forest in which it was situated was beautiful, it so happened that people still occasionally came to visit the monastery to picnic on its tiny lawn, to wander along some of its paths, even now and then to go into the dilapidated chapel to meditate. As they did so, without even being conscious of it, they sensed the aura of extraordinary respect that now began to surround the five old monks and seemed to radiate out from them and permeate the atmosphere of the place. There was something strangely attractive, even compelling, about it. Hardly knowing why, they began to come back to the monastery more frequently to picnic, to play, to pray. They began to bring their friends to show them this special place. And their friends brought their friends.
Then it happened that some of the younger men who came to visit the monastery started to talk more and more with the old monks. After a while one asked if he could join them. Then another. And another. So within a few years the monastery had once again become a thriving order and, thanks to the rabbi’s gift, a vibrant center of light and spirituality in the realm.
Links for Leveys’ various books and audio programmes:
https://www.wisdomatwork.com/media-and-resources/
Living in Balance: A Mindful Guide for Thriving in a Complex World (ebook – and print)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Balance-Levey/dp/1611250293/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1429911151&sr=8-5&keywords=joel+levey
http://WisdomAtWork.com/balance
Mindfulness, Meditation, and Mind-Fitness – new book in print, ebook, and -audio book (Audible) format
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mindfulness-Meditation-Mind-Fitness-Levey/dp/1573246492/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429911127&sr=8-2&keywords=joel+levey
Focus! The Power of Mindfulness and Mastery of Attention (Audible program)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Focus-Mastering-Power-Mindfulness-Attention/dp/B00QYARFEE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1429911190&sr=8-4&keywords=joel+levey
The Leveys’ Wisdom at Work YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/wisdomatwork
Favorites to introduce our work to others:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHhJ_EXHC5w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkqJMV-S6aE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzulmlWozFQ
Info on our Learning Center and gathering place on the Big Island of Hawaii:
http://WisdomatWork.com/aloha
http://KohalaSanctuary.com <http://kohalasanctuary.com/>
INSPIRING READINGS AND RESEARCH TO EXPLORE:
International Symposium of Contemplative Science – Library of Videos on Research
https://www.mindandlife.org/international-symposium-contemplative-studies/
2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5B4aRTI-zQ&feature=youtu.be&list=PLOafJ4rP1PHyAel4TaBVEvDW3U7d1C2zT
2016:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMtJQ1U1fHs&list=PLOafJ4rP1PHx3puZGREfM8quSnVaDLrdG
Rhonda McGee – Contemplative Inquiry, Research and Practice in the Work of Transformative Justice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xcNaWUt_uk&t=498s
Perspectives on Mindfulness:
Mindful Nation UK – http://www.themindfulnessinitiative.org.uk/images/reports/Mindfulness-APPG-Report_Mindful-Nation-UK_Oct2015.pdf
U. of Mass. Medical School Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society – http://umassmed.edu/cfm/
American Mindfulness Research Association (AMRA) – https://goamra.org <https://goamra.org/>
Meditation en Masse – http://www.ahandfulofleaves.org/documents/Meditation%20En%20Masse_Erik%20Braun.pdf
Mindfulness Revisited http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1056492614532315
Links regarding research showing the profound relationship and differences of empathy and compassion:
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
Tania Singer, et al,
* Compassion: Bridging Practice and Science (a remarkable and comprehensive iTunes Multimedia book.)
http://www.compassion-training.org/?page=download
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/compassion.-bridging-practice/id826628616?mt=11
* 2012/2013 Research Report: Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences ( http://static.cbs.mpg.de/publications/ResearchReport_2012-2013web.pdf ) An inspiring review of recent research.
* “Raising Compassion” Movie ( https://vimeo.com/73685698 )
CCARE: Center for Compassion & Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University
http://ccare.stanford.edu <http://ccare.stanford.edu/>
Videos – https://www.youtube.com/user/CcareStanford/videos
A Force For Good – from Dan and Tara Goleman and the Dalai Lama:
http://www.joinaforce4good.org/learn
Atlas of Emotions:
http://www.paulekman.com/atlas-of-emotions/
The British Parliament’s “Mindful Nation UK Report”
https://www.wisdomatwork.com/mindfulnation/
http://www.themindfulnessinitiative.org.uk/images/reports/Mindfulness-APPG-Report_Mindful-Nation-UK_Oct2015.pdf
http://www.themindfulnessinitiative.org.uk
Greater Good Science Center – http://greatergood.berkeley.edu <http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/>
Mind and Life Institute – http://MindandLife.org <http://mindandlife.org/>
https://www.mindandlife.org/international-symposium-contemplative-studies/
Overview of recent research in contemplative sciences: http://www.mindandlife.org/email/ISCS2014_Program_Schedule.pdf
Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin
http://www.investigatinghealthyminds.org/cihmDrDavidson.html
Institute of Noetic Sciences
http://Noetic.org <http://noetic.org/>
Profound and Inspiring Books:
*Dan Siegel’s brilliant new book – Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human – https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=aOKvCwAAQBAJ&source=productsearch&utm_source=HA_Desktop_US&utm_medium=SEM&utm_campaign=PLA&pcampaignid=MKTAD0930BO1&gclid=CPicoJGEutMCFVUVfwodwcMH5g&gclsrc=ds&dclid=CKLDqJGEutMCFdiPYgod31sPlw
* A Force for Good (Dan Goleman with the Dalai Lama)
* Alan Hamilton, M.D. – The Scalpel and the Soul – http://allanhamilton.com/the-scalpel-and-the-soul/
* Altruism: The Power of Compassion to Change Yourself and the World (Matthieu Ricard) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p_GKCr8rq8#t=49
*A Fearless Heart: How the Courage to Be Compassionate Can Transform Our Lives (Thupten Jinpa Ph.D.) also video from his talk at UW – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m50Hwrxi2uE
Into the Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon’s Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart (James Doty, M.D. From Stanford’s CCARE Program)
• Living in Balance: A Mindful Guide for Thriving in a Complex World (Joel & Michelle Levey, Foreword by the Dalai Lama) – http://Wisdomatwork.com/Balance
• Coming Back to Life (Joanna Macy and Molly Brown)
• A Pocket Guide to Interpersonal Neurobiology (Daniel Siegel) – also – http://www.mindful.org/the-science-of-mindfulness/
Two Inspiring Movies on Mindfulness/Vipassana Practice:
Doing Time Doing Vipassana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkxSyv5R1sg
Dhamma Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKUr-hhy0Es
Mindfulness Research:
U. of Mass. Medical School Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society – http://umassmed.edu/cfm/
American Mindfulness Research Association (AMRA) – https://goamra.org <https://goamra.org/>
Exploring Mindfulness and Medicine
Podcast from University of Auckland Medical School with Dr. Joel Levey
Joel Levey a mindfulness pioneer explores practices and techniques of mindfulness with Prof Bruce Arroll on his recent trip to New Zealand. http://www.goodfellowunit.org/podcast/mindfulness-joel-levey
Mindfulness for Health – Joel and Michelle Levey – Pioneers in mindfulness for health
Podcast from University of Auckland Medical School
Joel and Michelle Levey offer a unique and rich blend of insights and experience distilled from 47 years of intensive contemplative study/practice and work bringing this wisdom into higher education, medicine, and business.
http://www.goodfellowunit.org/events/mindfulness-health-joel-and-michelle-levey-pioneers-mindfulness-health
Info on our work with leaders, teams, and organizations is posted at:
https://www.wisdomatwork.com <http://wisdomatwork.com/>
https://www.wisdomatwork.com/wp-content/uploads/Leveys-WisdomAtWork-DATA-2013.pdf
Leveys’ Huffington Post Blog
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-michelle-levey/
Blog regarding finding a credible teacher:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-michelle-levey/finding-a-spiritual-teach_1_b_949566.html?
Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook:
Twitter – https://twitter.com/wisdomatwork
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/pages/Joel-and-Michelle-Levey/184438048260908
Also – https://www.facebook.com/groups/126645112920/
Living in Balance book page – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Living-In-Balance/424953690980915
Meditation with children (some of you asked about this)
Mindful eating video of 6 year old Amelia that we showed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhR4OSnGEyc
Kids Explain Mindfulness – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awo8jUxIm0c
IONS – Worldview Explorations for youth http://www.noetic.org/education/worldview/overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhR4OSnGEyc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awo8jUxIm0c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AWfqw23jzM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhcsPVLAeXU&feature=youtu.be
See also Daniel Siegel’s brilliant book:- Whole Brain Child
The very useful biofeedback device from Thought Technologies, Inc. that we demonstrated at the retreat:
http://evutps.com/en/ http://thoughttechnology.com <http://thoughttechnology.com/>
Subtle Energies and Intention at a Distance:
http://ISSSEEM.org
Margins of Reality – book by Robert Jahn
Research and Writings of Dean Radin, Larry Dossey,
and William Tiller (from Stanford)
Muse neurofeedback device:
http://mbsy.co/muse/22700901 (for a 15% discount)
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Some quotes and info of interest:::
Wisdom of the Ages by Autumn Skye
“What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is to be aware of everything you do every day. Mindfulness is a kind of light that shines upon all your thoughts, all your feelings, all your actions, and all your words. Mindfulness is the Buddha. Mindfulness is the equivalent of the Holy Spirit, the energy of God. Doing everything in our daily lives in the presence of God is mindfulness.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh in Jesus and Buddha as Brothers
“Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful.
To practice meditation is to be in touch with both aspects.
Smiling (tenderly to our selves as we behold whatever is arising in this moment of mindful self-reflection) means that we are ourselves, that we have sovereignty over ourselves, that we are not drowned in forgetfulness.
How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow?
It is natural—you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”
–Thich Nhat Hanh
“We clasp the hands of those who go before us,
and the hands of those who come after us;
we enter the little circle of each other’s arms,
and the larger circle of lovers
whose hands are joined in a dance,
and the larger circle of all creatures,
passing in and out of life,
who move also in a dance,
to a music so subtle and vast
that no one hears it except in fragments.”
~Wendell Berry, “Healing”
When we “feel felt” by another person, we feel our inner life is seen and respected by the other. When we are present, when we attune by focusing attention on the inner world of the other, when we resonate and become changed by this interaction, we develop the state of trust. This…is the presence, attunement, resonance, and trust that reveal the PART we play with secure attachments…
…This is interpersonal integration at the heart of an integrated relationship. Each person is honored for their differences and then linked by compassionate communication. How might this parallel mindful awareness? Is integration a part of what being mindful is all about?
In my own experience of mindfulness training, I could sense that separate streams of awareness were each differentiated and could become linked within the spaciousness of being mindful.
– Siegel, Daniel J. (2016-10-18). Mind: A Journey to the Heart of Being Human (p. 229)
“The world we have made as a result of the level of the thinking we have done thus far creates problems that we cannot solve at the same level of thinking (i.e. consciousness) at which we have created them… We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humankind is to survive.”
– Einstein
“Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness, nothing will change for the better in the sphere of our being as humans, and the catastrophe towards which this world is headed – be it ecological, social, demographic or a general breakdown of civilization – will be unavoidable. . .The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness, and in human responsibility.”
– Vaclav Havel, former president of Czech Republic in his historic address to the U.S. Congress
Four Keys to Self-Compassion – From Kristin Neff:
• This is a moment of suffering.
The first phrase helps to mindfully open to the sting of emotional pain. (You can also just say “this is really hard right now” or “this hurts”.)
• Suffering is a part of life.
The second phrase normalizes our experience and reminds us that suffering unites all living beings and reduces the tendency to feel ashamed and isolated when things go wrong in our lives.
• May I be kind to myself.
The third phrase begins the process of responding with self-kindness rather than self criticism.
• May I give myself the compassion I need.
The final phrase reinforces the idea that you both need and deserve compassion in difficult moments.
Also:: from our Living in Balance book: Mindful Transformation:
One very helpful way to approach the practice of mindfulness is to understand the four transformational powers of R.A.I.N. inspired by Jack Kornfield. Here is how we teach it:
R – Recognition allows us to clearly apprehend the nature of experience arising and passing in any given moment. Moment to moment we recognize what we are experiencing, “a joy…. a sorrow…. a hunger… a fullness… a fleeting pleasure… a pain… an experience of seeing… of hearing… of physical sensation….a memory of the past… a fantasy of the future” … Each experience is recognized simply for what it is.
A – Acceptance is the power of fully embracing each experience as it is without resistance of any kind. Especially when we appreciate that every experience is impermanent, flowing, and changing moment to moment, we can simply welcome whatever arises with an attitude of, “This sound is with me… this emotion is present… this pattern of thought is passing through my mind…, Ahhh….” Each experience is clearly seen, deeply felt, and accepted just as it is like a cloud dancing through the clear sky of our mind.
I – Investigation is the capacity to apply mindfulness to look deeply into the nature of our experience in order to awaken insight. In this mode, mindfulness actively inquires, “what is this?” Mindfulness is not simply an open clear awareness here, but also allows for a lucid quality of investigation, discernment, and discovery. This analytical quality of investigation illuminates how everything is constantly changing, and how every experience is interdependent with a myriad of other experiences and influences.
N- Non-Identification is the power of simply regarding experiences as they are in themselves without needing to personalize them as defining “me” or “mine.” Through the process of Identification we define ourselves by our experiences, while the power of non-indentification opens a spacious freedom to simply regard experiences as mere experiences. With mindfulness we realize that we can simply rest in present moment awareness and witness the changing flow of life experiences like clouds arising and passing– dynamic appearances in the clear sky of being. As emotions arise we notice them and note: “Ah …. Anger is with me… sadness is with me… joy is with me…. Frustration is present in this clear open space of mindful awareness.”– rather than identifying with the emotions as in “I am angry/sad/joyful/frustrated” etc.
Understanding these transformative powers of R.A.I.N. offers a useful way to calibrate and fine-tune our mindfulness to realize the true fruit of mindfulness practice. While the benefits of mindfulness certainly include a sense of calm, focus, presence, clarity, and peace of mind, the highest realization of mindfulness practice is transformational insight that cuts through confusions, liberating us from misconceptions and misidentifications, and inspires us to awaken ever more deeply and completely to the true nature of ourselves, our experience, and all things.
“Basically, when we are talking about mindfulness, we are talking about awareness – pure awareness. It is an innate human capacity that is different from thinking but wholly complementary to it. It is also “bigger” than thinking, because any thought, no matter how momentous or profound, illuminating or destructive, can be held in awareness, and thus looked at, known, and understood in a multiplicity of ways which may provide new degrees of insight and fresh perspectives for dealing with old problems and emergent challenges, whether individual, societal, or global. Awareness in its purest form, or mindfulness, thus has the potential to add value and new degrees of freedom to living life fully and wisely and, thus, to making wiser and healthier, more compassionate and altruistic choices – in the only moment that any of us ever has for tapping our deep interior resources for imagination and creativity, for learning, growing, and healing, and in the end, for transformation, going beyond the limitations of our presently understood models of who we are as human beings and individual citizens, as communities and societies, as nations, and as a species.”
~ Jon Kabat-Zinn (Excerpt from Mindful Nation UK)
“Despite immense progress in the fields of democracy, women’s rights, human rights in general, justice, solidarity, and the eradication of poverty and epidemics, much remains to be done. It would be regrettable to neglect the role of personal transformation in facilitating further changes. One of the tragedies of our time seems to be considerably underestimating the ability for transformation of the human mind, given that our character traits are perceived as relatively stable. It is not so common for angry people to become patient, tormented people to find inner peace, or pretentious people to become humble. It is undeniable, however, that some individuals do change, and the change that takes place in them shows that it is not at all an impossible thing. Our character traits last as long as we do nothing to improve them and we leave our attitudes and automatisms alone, or else let them be reinforced with time. But it is a mistake to believe they are fixed in place permanently.” Matthieu Ricard in his brilliant book, Altruism
The Guesthouse
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Rumi
~~~~
Joel & Michelle Levey
http://WisdomAtWork.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/wisdomatwork