Catherine, in response to your request, our tech team just added a feature to let people get notified of further comments when they post a comment of their own. Many will now benefit from your wish. :)
As to your question, here are a few random reflections:
1) Does your experience come from your beliefs, or do your beliefs come from your experiences? If it is the former (as I find it to be most of the time for myself, upon deeper reflection), it stands to reason that if I rewire my beliefs, my experiences will change.
2) What are some helpful beliefs to plant? This is a matter of personal reflection, but some that rise up for me are:
i) I have time
ii) I have help
iii) I have love to give and receive
iv) (most important) I am free
3) Rumi says children are not of us, they are through us. Vivekananda also reflects on mother's love in his Karma Yoga essays and warns us to be careful of confusing attachment with love. An excerpt:
4) A famous Buddhist teacher whose son passed away was in tears at the funeral. He was asked why, after a lifetime of learning and teaching detachment, he was still in tears? He replied, "Yes, I know the teaching, but sometimes, it is hard."
On Dec 7, 2010 Somik Raha wrote :
Catherine, in response to your request, our tech team just added a feature to let people get notified of further comments when they post a comment of their own. Many will now benefit from your wish. :)
As to your question, here are a few random reflections:
1) Does your experience come from your beliefs, or do your beliefs come from your experiences? If it is the former (as I find it to be most of the time for myself, upon deeper reflection), it stands to reason that if I rewire my beliefs, my experiences will change.
2) What are some helpful beliefs to plant? This is a matter of personal reflection, but some that rise up for me are:
i) I have time
ii) I have help
iii) I have love to give and receive
iv) (most important) I am free
3) Rumi says children are not of us, they are through us. Vivekananda also reflects on mother's love in his Karma Yoga essays and warns us to be careful of confusing attachment with love. An excerpt:
My master used to say, "Look upon your children as a nurse does." The nurse will take your baby and fondle it and play with it and behave towards it as gently as if it were her own child; but as soon as you give her notice to quit, she is ready to start off bag and baggage from the house. Everything in the shape of attachment is forgotten; it will not give the ordinary nurse the least pang to leave your children and take up other children. Even so are you to be with all that you consider your own. ... The greatest weakness often insinuates itself as the greatest good and strength. It is a weakness to think that any one is dependent on me, and that I can do good to another. This belief is the mother of all our attachment, and through this attachment comes all our pain. We must inform our minds that no one in this universe depends upon us; not one beggar depends on our charity; not one soul on our kindness; not one living thing on our help. All are helped on by nature, and will be so helped even though millions of us were not here. The course of nature will not stop for such as you and me; it is, as already pointed out, only a blessed privilege to you and to me that we are allowed, in the way of helping others, to educate ourselves. This is a great lesson to learn in life, and when we have learned it fully, we shall never be unhappy; we can go and mix without harm in society anywhere and everywhere.
4) A famous Buddhist teacher whose son passed away was in tears at the funeral. He was asked why, after a lifetime of learning and teaching detachment, he was still in tears? He replied, "Yes, I know the teaching, but sometimes, it is hard."
Hang in there..