This passage made me thoughtful of two milestones I’ve achieved, by the grace of G-d: awareness and surrender. Once I become aware of my physical and emotional reaction to my feelings --drifting thoughts-- while meditating, I can acknowledge these and then choose what to do. Surrendering all of my mental activity brings me closer to G-d, back to the here and now, to peace.
I also love Fleischman’s line that, “Dependence, loneliness, sensuality, exhaustion, hunger, petulance, perversion, miserliness, yearning and inflation are my old friends. I can greet them openly and warmly in people close to me, because I know them from the inside and therefore cannot condemn them without condemning myself.” When reading this I felt my self-judgment and judgment of others melt away. How wise, Fleischman suggests, to harness, ride and make useful that energy!
On Jul 6, 2009 Liz, iJourney Audio Editor wrote :