Brother David Steindl-Rast 301 words, 23K views, 15 comments
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On Jun 24, 2010Pancho wrote :
My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all.
May 10th, Mother's day. But for me all Wednesdays are Mother's day. Today, wasn't the exception.
While I didn't resonate that much with this passage, I enjoyed a lot to learn from the different perspectives offered in the circle. That's the beauty of Wednesdays (and that's why I _love_ Wednesdays! ;-)). We can talk about pretty much anything and the collective intelligence/feeling builds up until the point where I loose myself into the infinite to become one with the tens of people at the Kindness Temple.
I didn't resonate with it because I was trying to find the positive counter parts of the "3 great forces" addressed in the piece, but perhaps I was thinking/feeling about greatest forces or the greatest force. I realized then that love has no opposite.
And because of that, I shared only one point:
1. The Greatest Force at the Disposal of Humanity: Ahimsa.
Ahimsa, nonviolence, is a powerful method to harmonize relationships among people (and all living things) for the establishment of justice and the ultimate well-being of all parties. It draws its power from awareness of the profound truth to which the wisdom traditions of all cultures, science, and common experience bear witness: that all life is one.
Ahimsa is not only the absence of violence, it is not simply the negation to cause harm, but it is something infinitely more: it is when one’s heart is so full of love, so full of courage, forgiveness, generosity, kindness and compassion, that there is no room for hatred, resentment and violence. It is not a double negative but a SUPERLATIVE POSITIVE!
Nonviolence it is a call to disobey inhumane laws and treaties; it is a call to obey the law of love; it is a call to not control anger (if it arises) but to express it under discipline for maximum effects; it is a positive force; it is love in action; it is the thoughts we have, the words we use, the things we do, the cloths we wear, the food we eat… it is a way of life!
For Gandhi women were the epitome of nonviolence:
"To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman... If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, ha she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? ... If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman."
To confirm Gandhi's insight, mamá Harshida shared the perfect reflection to close the circle. She said something like: "sitting still is the remedy to any problem." Gandhi was right and Mamá was serving as an instrument to share the Divine Radio. According to the Mahatma (and mama Harshida!):
“When one comes to think of it one cannot help feeling that nearly half the misery of the World would disappear if we, fretting mortals, knew the virtue of silence. Before modern civilization came upon us, at least six to eight hours of silence out of twenty-four were vouchsafed to us. Modern civilization has taught us to convert night into day and golden silence into brazen din and noise. What a great thing it would be if we in our busy lives could retire into ourselves each day for at least a couple of hours and prepare our minds to listen in to the Voice of the Great Silence. The Divine Radio is always singing if we could only make ourselves ready to listen to It, but it’s impossible to listen without silence.”
A powerful Mother's Day where many of the sons and daughters of mamá Harshida and papá Dinesh spent quality time/space together as a family. Indeed, home is everywhere we go.
May all become compassionate, courageous and wise.
On Jun 24, 2010 Pancho wrote :
My family calls me Pancho and I'd like you to know that I love you all.
May 10th, Mother's day. But for me all Wednesdays are Mother's day. Today, wasn't the exception.
While I didn't resonate that much with this passage, I enjoyed a lot to learn from the different perspectives offered in the circle. That's the beauty of Wednesdays (and that's why I _love_ Wednesdays! ;-)). We can talk about pretty much anything and the collective intelligence/feeling builds up until the point where I loose myself into the infinite to become one with the tens of people at the Kindness Temple.
I didn't resonate with it because I was trying to find the positive counter parts of the "3 great forces" addressed in the piece, but perhaps I was thinking/feeling about greatest forces or the greatest force. I realized then that love has no opposite.
And because of that, I shared only one point:
1. The Greatest Force at the Disposal of Humanity: Ahimsa.
Ahimsa, nonviolence, is a powerful method to harmonize relationships among people (and all living things) for the establishment of justice and the ultimate well-being of all parties. It draws its power from awareness of the profound truth to which the wisdom traditions of all cultures, science, and common experience bear witness: that all life is one.
Ahimsa is not only the absence of violence, it is not simply the negation to cause harm, but it is something infinitely more: it is when one’s heart is so full of love, so full of courage, forgiveness, generosity, kindness and compassion, that there is no room for hatred, resentment and violence. It is not a double negative but a SUPERLATIVE POSITIVE!
Nonviolence it is a call to disobey inhumane laws and treaties; it is a call to obey the law of love; it is a call to not control anger (if it arises) but to express it under discipline for maximum effects; it is a positive force; it is love in action; it is the thoughts we have, the words we use, the things we do, the cloths we wear, the food we eat… it is a way of life!
For Gandhi women were the epitome of nonviolence:
"To call woman the weaker sex is a libel; it is man's injustice to woman... If by strength is meant moral power, then woman is immeasurably man's superior. Has she not greater intuition, is she not more self-sacrificing, ha she not greater powers of endurance, has she not greater courage? ... If nonviolence is the law of our being, the future is with woman."
To confirm Gandhi's insight, mamá Harshida shared the perfect reflection to close the circle. She said something like: "sitting still is the remedy to any problem." Gandhi was right and Mamá was serving as an instrument to share the Divine Radio. According to the Mahatma (and mama Harshida!):
“When one comes to think of it one cannot help feeling that nearly half the misery of the World would disappear if we, fretting mortals, knew the virtue of silence. Before modern civilization came upon us, at least six to eight hours of silence out of twenty-four were vouchsafed to us. Modern civilization has taught us to convert night into day and golden silence into brazen din and noise. What a great thing it would be if we in our busy lives could retire into ourselves each day for at least a couple of hours and prepare our minds to listen in to the Voice of the Great Silence. The Divine Radio is always singing if we could only make ourselves ready to listen to It, but it’s impossible to listen without silence.”
A powerful Mother's Day where many of the sons and daughters of mamá Harshida and papá Dinesh spent quality time/space together as a family. Indeed, home is everywhere we go.
May all become compassionate, courageous and wise.
Pancho