No more Swatting

"We all suffer the uncertainty of being hurt by the life that surrounds us, and we all have a changing ring of safety beyond which we are likely to hurt other living things in the guise of self-defense.  How often we imagine things are dangerous when they are only doing what comes naturally.  This is too much like the dance we do with strangers and loved ones alike.  How often we murder parts of ourselves by not letting things advance or come close.  How often we let fear and the swat rule our emotional lives.  How often we kill or chase away everything that moves.  I think of Francis of Assisi, who held so still the birds landed on his branchlike arms, and we wonder why we are so lonely when we won't let anything full of life come near.   If we could only see the bee, or the bird, or our enemy as a brief living center like ourselves, we could let them go on their way without pulling us into opposition."   Mark Nepo

Opposition

"Withstanding the tension between opposites until we know it is "enough" releases us from the swing between one extreme and the other."   Helen Luke

Fearlessness

"A fearless sort of living allows us to delight in the koan of human existence.   We stop fearing the opposite of happiness, or the opposite of success, or the opposite of love, because we no longer believe in opposites.  Unity within duality reduces the sense of drama and tragedy in daily life."  Elizabeth Lesser

Contradiction

"When we discover the supreme happiness of unity within ourselves we reconcile what once seemed irreconcilable.  Opposites become partners.   Our longing for stability in a constantly changing world becomes humorous.  Our desires for connection and our troubles with intimacy become grist for the spiritual mill.  We allow diversity to flourish within the context of unity.   We understand that the unadulterated, pure, singleness of feeling we long for can be experienced only when we allow all feelings to live in peace within our hearts."  Elizabeth Lesser

Wholeness

"We surrender our wholeness for a variety of reasons.   Among the most compelling are our ideas of what being a good person is all about.   The nature of self, a complex living inter-change of seemingly opposite characteristics get whittled down against some acquired standard of social and spiritual acceptability."  Rachel Naomi Remen

Black Sheep

"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." Albert Einstein