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Another one they didn't include: "Don't think. FEEL!"

I've found that there's no shortcut to salvation. I heard a Tom Petty song tonight that had the line, "There's no easy way out." You just have to do your best. You have to keep "chipping away at the stone." The most comforting thought for me is that everything is happening as it should. God, the Self, or however you want to put it, is in control. Keeping this in mind can make the journey easier, but still, "There's no easy way out." The thing that's so important, the factor that determines success, is living wisely. A life lived wisely will bear fruit eventually. Love is wisdom. Every choice is born either of love, or fear. Choose love. It's of utmost importance to do that, both for oneself and for the world. Part of the problem is that the humility it requires to live a very loving life is absolutely extreme. You see, we give in to pride. The many times I've failed were usually times in which I've given in to pride. Don't trust yourself when you're feeling that way. You're not thinking clearly. You don't have to "swallow your pride." It's absolutely essential to let it go however. It can take great courage to do that. Also, honesty is the key to finding wisdom imo. We tend to "see what we want to see." Be willing to see the truth, be honest with yourself. There's no other way to find truth. Finally, be strong. Be a real man, or woman. You can handle suffering, even a lot of it. No guts, no glory.

Isn't it obvious that to hate, to attack, and to get vengeance are very, very poor choices? To forgive to unspeakably wise. You bless every area of your life when you do so. Some people think they should forgive small offenses but not big ones. The bigger the offense you forgive, the greater the blessing you've offered yourself. It would be an extreme opportunity. All of this is self-evident and easily understood with simple honesty. It's best to use common sense and live wisely.

Something I thought about today, when considering my own path and the various teachings I've tried to practice, is how the concept of simplicity can apply to practice. I seem to have, in some areas of my life, made things unnecessarily complicated. For example, the teaching to "accept yourself as you are" can be simple and straightforward. IT'S NOT COMPLICATED. But we can MAKE it complicated, unnecessarily and unwittingly, if we're not careful. I've made a choice, which I feel very good about, to simplify my approach to spiritual practice. I want to stop making things complicated and over-analyzing everything. I feel that doing so can take you out of your mind and into a more direct experience of profound practice.

Common sense and reason are very important. And self-honesty. Feeling and intuition can help, but they can mislead, if not carefully interpreted. You might "feel" that you should do something, but it could be the voice of fear, greed, or anger. I've found that it's best to come from your integrity and choose love. The times when I've given in to fear have usually been instances in which I've behaved unlovingly. In terms of content, every choice is either born of love, or fear. Choose love as often as possible. That's wise imo. A major problem is that we can so very easily "see what we want to see," rather than objectively see the truth. We must be aware of that tendency in order to overcome it. Objectivity is wisdom. It's the willingness to see the truth, regardless of one's attachments or preferences.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. You could be right.

Gerard, thanks for sharing that link not only for the article but because the website seems awesome. I'm sure I'll be reading more articles there.

Spiritual growth seems to take time. It can be a rather slow process. I think we should be patient with ourselves and enjoy the journey. That may be a key to success. And I want to remember that every time I choose love, rather than fear, in whatever form the choice may happen to take, I'm doing what's right for me and everyone. Willingness, and also courage, are very necessary imo.

Hi Limahong! I like your descriptions of Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism. I would add.....Buddhism - acceptance, letting go......Taoism - simplicity. Those are three of the best teachings in those traditions imo. Have fun interacting here! edit: Of course, for Buddhism - mindfulness. That's one of the main teachings.

Thanks for sharing this. I'll have to remember to breathe slowly and deeply when I need to be at peace, or connect with Source.

To find healing, it's necessary to forgive and accept yourself. You need to know that your thoughts and emotions are OKAY- ACCEPT them. I don't recommend "trying" not to react to thoughts and emotions, that just creates conflict. People feel guilt about negative thoughts and emotions. That guilt is the real problem. It's what keeps the negativity in place. A person might not be consciously aware of that guilt. Healing is a matter of forgiveness and loving acceptance, mainly of oneself.

ACIM says that it's necessary for people to see that every choice they make MATTERS. Just as an election is won by each and every vote, the world is created by every single choice.

There might be great good in the suffering of the hurt person. They may be growing or in some way benefitting from their pain. The one who hurt the other might be even more "separate" and lost than they were before the attack. We don't see everything. We only see the surface usually. Trust that there's a deeper spiritual reality in which there really IS justice and perfection.

Are you an anarchist? Or are you just playing mind games with everybody again? kidding

That would probably be a great meditation. The sun has a very, very powerful energy, as an experience I had once demonstrates. I was meditating on oneness with the sun, trying to feel and experience oneness with it, and shortly into the meditation, I felt a shock, as if being jolted by the sun's infinitely powerful energy. I don't think this is a reason NOT to do energy work with the sun. Actually, I think it may be evidence that it's a good idea to do so. Working with the moon might be very helpful also, although I've never tried it. The moon has an energy of peace, whereas the sun is extreme power.

I agree that punishment isn't the answer. The law of karma is utilitarian imo, not retributivist. But on earth, we have to keep people from engaging in acts of violence, and I feel that, in the case of man-made justice, punishment (prison) is appropriate.

Hi Rick! Tell everybody something about yourself if you care to. Can you be more specific about your interests in regard to Taoism?

My brother (who introduced me to this website) shared with me once that there are two different views of justice- utilitarian, and retributivist. Utilitarian is the view that justice should be what's the highest good for all- in other words, "what works". Retributivist is, of course, retribution, vengeance. If you combine these, you could say, punishment IS what works. I believe that what we give, we receive, multiplied. That's the law of karma, what ACIM calls "the law of love". So if somebody does something like kill another person, the pain they're causing everybody, they might end up receiving, multiplied. On the other hand, I feel that we can nullify our negative karma to a great degree if we learn from our mistakes, don't repeat them, apologize when appropriate, confess what we've done, and so on.

I agree that "all is as God/love/Self wills it." Our divine nature creates the totality of our experience, which is why everything is exactly as it should be, why it's all the highest good. "Bad" isn't real. Attack is an illusion. We just don't see the good in everything, we don't see the reasons for things. I think the divine plan is for us to experience EVERYTHING, to fully experience life, love, and truth. One thing to keep in mind is that suffering is temporary, after we die we'll be free of suffering. Another thing is, I like to think of the song by Peter Cetera that goes, "We're gonna live forever, knowing together, that we, did it all, for the glory of love."

My view is that the only person we really need to forgive is ourselves. The reason people have anger and hurt towards others is because of their own guilt, shame, and self-judgment. When one forgives themselves, anger towards others naturally slips away. Self-forgiveness is the key to healing oneself of traumas, and to inner peace. We all have to learn to love and accept ourselves. Why not now?

I had a conversation with my "sage self" that helped me get clear about the way to grow and succeed spiritually. I would have posted this under the thread "Effort vs no-effort" but I felt guided to start a new one. Basically, love, being at peace, self-acceptance, letting go, following your heart, being centered, and otherwise manifesting your divine nature, are all NATURAL things to do. You don't have to TRY, you just have to TRULY be yourself, be who you really are. But here's the problem. People are so steeped in the habit of being UNNATURAL, that it may require a DELIBERATE CHOICE to ALLOW oneself to be truly natural. We're so used to NOT being who we really are that we may have to deliberately allow ourselves to be who we really are.

You might want to try mindfulness of breathing. It's the classic first technique in Buddhism. I just finished Mindfulness for Beginners by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and it was great. It gives you a very good idea of what mindfulness is all about.

dmattwads, Keep it simple. Just as a Christian would pray to God, "Protect me, Father," or, "Help please, God," you can make such requests to your Buddha nature. Our Buddha nature is a conscious part of us and is unlimited in power, love, and wisdom. Just ask that part of you to protect and help you. I hope this helps.

Effort is probably necessary imo, and I know that I've put great effort into my path. But I think that love and success have more to do with integrity and intention than with effort. It usually doesn't require effort to be kind, or to give a big tip to a waiter. There are instances in which effort is appropriate, but many of the most important aspects of life only require willingness and love.

I agree with what you're saying about the absolute, which is the non-dual, changeless reality, and the ever-changing, impermanent relative. The thing that I think is so important, and that gives one a higher perspective on the nature of everything, is that the relative is a manifestation of the absolute, and is therefore perfect just as the absolute is. That's why everything is in "divine order," and is happening as it should. I think it's good to (although I'd like to do this more than I currently do) remind oneself of this when something upsets you. If you know that the thing was exactly what was supposed to happen, you won't be as upset.