Kindness in words create confidence; kindness in thinking create profoundness; kindness in feeling creates love. ~ Lao Tzu
Lao Tze's words remind us of the effects of kindness. When we speak kindly, we recall that this is who we truly are, a person of gentleness and warmth. In a world that is spinning so quickly, it is easy to lose track of the truth of our essence, to spin off into the distance until we no longer know who we are. Speaking words of kindness keeps us firmly in possession of our truth and gives us the confidence to go forward in the fullness of our authentic selves.
When we think kind thoughts, we open the channel that connects our minds to our hearts. Gifted with such a marvelous tool as our intellect, we can easily become seduced by our own cleverness and become cut off from the depths of our heart. Thinking kind thoughts brings us back to our heart, where our deepest and most profound treasures are kept.
When we feel kindness, it connects us to our love for others. Our very nature as separate individuals makes it easy to forget how deeply and intricately we are all connected. Then we begin to feel isolated, as though we are completely alone in a world full of strangers. When we feel kindness, we are immediately connected to our love for those around us, because kindness is the medium of that love. We are thus reminded that we are not alone, but rather, no matter our circumstances, are nestled in the bosom of a loving family.
Observe your kind words, thoughts, and feelings as you go about your day and notice what effect they have on you.
*+* GoodHeartz*+*
Keep The Faithz! XD
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Refrain from Harmful Speech
The Sufis advise us to speak only after our words have managed to pass through three gates. At the first gate, we ask ourselves, "Are these words true?" If so, we let them pass on; if not, back we go. At the second date, we ask "Are they necessary?" At the last gate, we ask, "Are they kind?" ~Eknath Easwaran
"I have a really bad habit - my mouth flies open before my mind gets engaged. I've always been like this; I guess i've always thought it as part of my charm - i can be a very entertaining conversationalist. But lately i've begun to notice that i have also left a lot of wounded people in my wake.
"i guess what finally woke me up was when my witty retort sent my younger brother running from the room in tears. He's fifteen years younger than me and has always looked up to me. In retrospect, I'm ashamed to admit that all this time i just accepted his adoration as my due and never even considered the responsibility i owed him. My 'clevel' comment devastated him and there is just no excuse for that. i apologized to him later that day, but i think now i need to go back and thank him, because his reaction finally convinced me that i need to close my mouth at least long enough for my mind to catch up."
Kindness is found not just in actions and in words, but also in inaction and silence. We may not often think about that because it's hard to notice. After all, if someone bites his tongue and doesnt make a cutting remark, we will never know we could have been hurt but were spared by his kindness. But the Sufi rule of speech is a good one - if we all ued kindness as a 'speech barrier', much less negativity would be verbalized.
Of course, because people are all wonderful imperfect beings, we will make mistakes and say things that we don't mean out of hurt and frustration. If we are the receiver of such misguided barbs, we don't have to react to them with equal venom. It is so much kinder if we simply choose to let them disappear without reaction.
*+* GoodHeartz*+*
Keep The Faithz! XD
"I have a really bad habit - my mouth flies open before my mind gets engaged. I've always been like this; I guess i've always thought it as part of my charm - i can be a very entertaining conversationalist. But lately i've begun to notice that i have also left a lot of wounded people in my wake.
"i guess what finally woke me up was when my witty retort sent my younger brother running from the room in tears. He's fifteen years younger than me and has always looked up to me. In retrospect, I'm ashamed to admit that all this time i just accepted his adoration as my due and never even considered the responsibility i owed him. My 'clevel' comment devastated him and there is just no excuse for that. i apologized to him later that day, but i think now i need to go back and thank him, because his reaction finally convinced me that i need to close my mouth at least long enough for my mind to catch up."
Kindness is found not just in actions and in words, but also in inaction and silence. We may not often think about that because it's hard to notice. After all, if someone bites his tongue and doesnt make a cutting remark, we will never know we could have been hurt but were spared by his kindness. But the Sufi rule of speech is a good one - if we all ued kindness as a 'speech barrier', much less negativity would be verbalized.
Of course, because people are all wonderful imperfect beings, we will make mistakes and say things that we don't mean out of hurt and frustration. If we are the receiver of such misguided barbs, we don't have to react to them with equal venom. It is so much kinder if we simply choose to let them disappear without reaction.
*+* GoodHeartz*+*
Keep The Faithz! XD
Get Rid of Grudges
The grudge you hold on to is like a hot coal that you intend to throw at somebody else, but you're the one who gets burned. ~ The Buddha
"My neighbour's husband left her twenty years ago, and she refuses to get over it. I can't tell you how many times I had to listen to her stories of what a complete jerk he was. The sad thing is that she is right; he was a jerk, and what he did and how he did it was mean, completely insensitive, and cruel. I know because he told me. He also told me that he tried to tell her the same thing many times, to acknowledge his wrongdoing and to seek her apology, but he finally gave up because she doesn't want to hear it. She think it's just him trying to be forgiven, and she isn't about to forgive him. The irony is that she thinkgs forgiveness will 'let him off the hook', but she's the one that's still hooked. He remarried andis very happy, and she has been alone and bitter for twenty years."
We often think of forgivenss as something we do for the other person, but forgiveness is really a kindness toward ourselves. A grudge is a contraction of the heart, a holding ourselves back from positive feelings. When we hold a grudge, it stands in the way of love and kindness flowing into and out of our lives.
Is there someone you need to forgive? It could be for a tiny misdeed or an immense hurt. Forgiveness is not something that can be forced - it must come from a true expansion of spirity. One way to begin is to say that you are open to the possibility of forgiving. After you sit with that for as many days or weeks as it takes, you can progress to being willing to forgive, and then to forgiveness itself.
In order to bring more love into our lives, we need to practice forgiveness; it's a way of clearing the weeds in front of our hearts so that they can open and love can flow.
*+* GoodHeartz*+*
Keep The Faithz! XD
"My neighbour's husband left her twenty years ago, and she refuses to get over it. I can't tell you how many times I had to listen to her stories of what a complete jerk he was. The sad thing is that she is right; he was a jerk, and what he did and how he did it was mean, completely insensitive, and cruel. I know because he told me. He also told me that he tried to tell her the same thing many times, to acknowledge his wrongdoing and to seek her apology, but he finally gave up because she doesn't want to hear it. She think it's just him trying to be forgiven, and she isn't about to forgive him. The irony is that she thinkgs forgiveness will 'let him off the hook', but she's the one that's still hooked. He remarried andis very happy, and she has been alone and bitter for twenty years."
We often think of forgivenss as something we do for the other person, but forgiveness is really a kindness toward ourselves. A grudge is a contraction of the heart, a holding ourselves back from positive feelings. When we hold a grudge, it stands in the way of love and kindness flowing into and out of our lives.
Is there someone you need to forgive? It could be for a tiny misdeed or an immense hurt. Forgiveness is not something that can be forced - it must come from a true expansion of spirity. One way to begin is to say that you are open to the possibility of forgiving. After you sit with that for as many days or weeks as it takes, you can progress to being willing to forgive, and then to forgiveness itself.
In order to bring more love into our lives, we need to practice forgiveness; it's a way of clearing the weeds in front of our hearts so that they can open and love can flow.
*+* GoodHeartz*+*
Keep The Faithz! XD
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Teacher
Some people think that a teacher implants his own thoughts into his pupil's mind. Well, only bad teachers are like that. Good teachers aren't gardeners, they are midwives: they don't transplant their own thoughts, they help bring to birth the thoughts of their pupils have conceived. There are more ways of learning from a teacher than taking over his opinions - and one of those ways involves reflecting on his opinions and then rejecting them.
~Coffee with Aristotle
~Coffee with Aristotle
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
The Songs Along the Way
Some people chase forever
The gold at rainbow's end.
Some never hear a bird sing
Nor the laughter of a friend.
Some search for fields of velvet;
Not watching where they pass.
Some never see a sunrise
Nor the daisies in the grass.
They're always looking elsewhere
For some better day
When it's always right beside them
In the songs along the way.
~Joan Stephen
The gold at rainbow's end.
Some never hear a bird sing
Nor the laughter of a friend.
Some search for fields of velvet;
Not watching where they pass.
Some never see a sunrise
Nor the daisies in the grass.
They're always looking elsewhere
For some better day
When it's always right beside them
In the songs along the way.
~Joan Stephen
The World We Make
We make the world in which we live
By what we gather and what we give,
By our daily deeds and the things we say,
By what we keep or cast away.
We make our world by the beauty we see
In a skylark's song or a lilac tree,
In a butterfly's wing, in the pale moon's rise,
And the wonder that lingers in midnight skies.
We make our world by the life we lead,
By the friends we have, by the books we read,
By the pity we shot in the hour of care,
By the loads we lift and the love we share.
We make our world by the goals we pursue,
By the heights we seek and the higher view,
By hopes and dreams that reach the sun
And a will to fight till the heights are won.
What is the place in which we dwell,
A hut or a palace, a heaven or hell,
We gather and scatter, we take and we give,
We make our world - and there we live.
~Alfred Grant Walton (1887 - 1970)
By what we gather and what we give,
By our daily deeds and the things we say,
By what we keep or cast away.
We make our world by the beauty we see
In a skylark's song or a lilac tree,
In a butterfly's wing, in the pale moon's rise,
And the wonder that lingers in midnight skies.
We make our world by the life we lead,
By the friends we have, by the books we read,
By the pity we shot in the hour of care,
By the loads we lift and the love we share.
We make our world by the goals we pursue,
By the heights we seek and the higher view,
By hopes and dreams that reach the sun
And a will to fight till the heights are won.
What is the place in which we dwell,
A hut or a palace, a heaven or hell,
We gather and scatter, we take and we give,
We make our world - and there we live.
~Alfred Grant Walton (1887 - 1970)
Monday, November 2, 2009
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