Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Via LionsRoar: Meditation: Be Kind to Yourself

 

A three-step contemplation to give yourself the compassion you need (and deserve).

  1. Put both hands on your heart, pause, and feel their warmth. You can also put your hand anyplace on your body that feels soothing and comforting, like your belly or face.
  2. Breathe deeply in and out.
  3. Speak these words to yourself, out loud or silently, in a warm and caring tone:
This is a moment of suffering. Suffering is a part of life.
May I be kind to myself in this moment.
May I give myself the compassion I need.

The first phrase, This is a moment of suffering, is designed to bring mindfulness to the fact that you’re in pain. Other possible wordings are I’m having a really tough time right now, This hurts, or anything that describes the suffering you are experiencing.

The second phrase, Suffering is a part of life, reminds you that imperfection is part of the shared human experience. Other possible wordings are Everyone feels this way sometimes, This is part of being human, etc.

The third phrase, May I be kind to myself in this moment, helps bring a sense of caring concern to your present-moment experience. Other possible wordings are May I love and support myself right now, May I accept myself as I am, etc.

The final phrase, May I give myself the compassion I need, firmly sets your intention to be self-compassionate. You might use other words such as May I remember that I am worthy of compassion, May I give myself the same compassion I would give to a good friend, etc.

Find the wordings for these four phrases that are the most comfortable for you and memorize them. Then, the next time you judge yourself or have a difficult experience, you can use these phrases as a way of reminding yourself to be self-compassionate. This practice is a handy tool to soothe and calm troubled states of mind.

Make the jump here to read the original and more!

Calling My Childhood Bully


Via Sri Prem BabaFlor do Dia- Flor del Día - Flower of the Day 13/10/2015

“De todos os estágios da desidentificação com a natureza inferior o mais difícil é a identificação do prazer negativo. Mas, estando verdadeiramente comprometido, você consegue. E quando você vê os desdobramentos e o impacto que essa condição causa na sua vida e na vida das pessoas a sua volta, você começa a querer largar esse padrão. Nesse momento você pode enxergar o que está te prendendo e encontrar o núcleo do apego. E esse é o início do desapego.”

“De todos los estadios de la desidentificación con la naturaleza inferior el más difícil es la identificación del placer negativo. Pero estando verdaderamente comprometido, lo consigues. Y cuando ves los desdoblamientos y el impacto que esa condición causa en tu vida y en la vida de las personas cercanas, comienzas a querer soltar ese patrón. En ese momento puedes ver lo que te está tomando y encontrar el núcleo del apego. Y ese es el inicio del desapego.”

“Of all the stages within the process of de-identifying from the lower self, the most difficult is to identify our negatively orientated pleasure. If we are truly committed to this endeavor, then we will succeed. When we see all of its unfoldings and the impacts it has had on our lives and the lives of those around us, we begin to truly want to let go of this pattern. In this moment, we are able to see what has been keeping us stuck and we encounter the root of this attachment. This marks the beginning of the detachment process.”

Today's Daily Dharma: Understanding Understanding


Understanding Understanding
The idea of understanding is linked to capture and containment, to a break in an ongoing flow of movement. As if understanding were a great tiger that we must take into custody and keep enclosed and tightly controlled. But . . . what if we were able to give up this way of understanding understanding and see it not as a captured stillness or singularity but rather as a momentary pause in an ongoing movement of unfolding, like a rest in a musical score, or a pause in a story, or a swirling eddy in an inexorable, ongoing river of meaning?
—Lisbeth Lipari, "Understanding Understanding"
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