Tag: #love
Weekly Contemplations W6
Rule 6
Loneliness and solitude are two different things. When you are lonely, it is easy to delude yourself into believing that you are on the right path. Isolation is better for us, as it means being alone without feeling lonely. But eventually, it is best to find a person who will be your mirror. Remember only in another person’s heart can you truly see yourself and the Presence of God within you.
This week we will look at how we isolate ourselves so not to feel lonely. We will also look at ourselves in the mirror of our loved-one or loved-ones.
Let me know what you you have found in your mirror.
Week 5
RULE 5
Most of the problems of the world stem from linguistic mistakes and simple misunderstandings. Don’t ever take words at face value. When you step into the zone of Love, language, as we know it, becomes obsolete. That which cannot be put into words can only be grasped through silence.
This week we will contemplate on the or I should rather say in the Silence. We will take words such as LOVE, GOD, DIVINE, SECURITY, BELONGING, – any word that can have multiple meanings depending on context or you just simply wish to find your meaning to – and contemplate on it in the Silence.
So, what have I found int he Silence?
Tears, mostly.
It is rather interesting. I was hoping to contemplate on meanings beyond meaning but instead I found the ‘feeling’. It was amazing to realize, that for me, the words’ meaning is on a feeling level.
So, there is not much I can share about my experiences because it is rather difficult to put these feelings into words.
What have YOU found?
Weekly Contemplations W5
RULE 5
Most of the problems of the world stem from linguistic mistakes and simple misunderstandings. Don’t ever take words at face value. When you step into the zone of Love, language, as we know it, becomes obsolete. That which cannot be put into words can only be grasped through silence.
This week we will contemplate on the or I should rather say in the Silence. We will take words such as LOVE, GOD, DIVINE, SECURITY, BELONGING, – any word that can have multiple meanings depending on context or you just simply wish to find your meaning to -and contemplate on it in the Silence.
I would love to know what you have come to realize!
Week 4
Rule 4
Intellect and Love are made of different materials. Intellect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but Love dissolves all tangles and risks everything. Intellect is always cautious and advises, ‘Beware too much ecstasy,’ whereas Love says, ‘Oh, never mind! Take the plunge!’ Intelligence does not easily break down, whereas Love can effortlessly reduce itself to rubble. But treasures are hidden among ruins. A broken heart hides treasures.
So this week, I was contemplating on the different messages my Intellect and Love says. I also wondered what treasures my ‘broken heart’ hid. This is what I have found. Pls read and listen to the original post HERE (CLICK).
This past week, I experienced a split in personality so to speak. I became very aware the fragility of my intellect and that of others. It is painful to see how much we build out personality and basically our whole life on the power of our intellect.
Looking back, I know that as a child I was funny, bubbly, laud and cheeky. As a young adult, I was morose, critical and dramatic. As an aging person, I find myself in fear. When I was a child, I was in touch with Love, the essence of my being and Love said “it is all just too funny! Let’s have a ball!” In my twenties and early thirties, I was not in touch with Love any more. My intellect told me that the world was a nasty place inhabited with greedy people so I’d better guard myself. Now, I am confused. I can hear them both.
The reason I lost touch with Love was a broken heart. My heart got broken when I realized that I did not matter at all. When I understood that my presence is actually not a blessing but a burden on a mentally and psychologically challenged family. My intellect saved me and I am grateful for that.
However, I learnt over the years, that my intellect is though quick and clever it is also the home of all of my fears and insecurities. I also understand now that my intellect is incapable of fixing its fears because it is forever lost in the duality of the world. Intellect can only see through the lens of my broken heart and through the residue of my experiences as a child.
I have worked a lot on regaining my sense of hearing for what Love has to say and I still often find myself deaf. In my experience, Love though it is a gentle breeze, it is also always present. It is only audible if I focus into it.
The treasures of my broken heart is my seeking of the Truth. I was so incredibly lost and was so full of insecurities as a young adult that I basically had no other choice but to search for peace and meaning. I found it in the Silence where I can hear Love’s whisper again.
Weekly Contemplations W4
Rule 4
Intellect and Love are made of different materials. Intellect ties people in knots and risks nothing, but Love dissolves all tangles and risks everything. Intellect is always cautious and advises, ‘Beware too much ecstasy,’ whereas Love says, ‘Oh, never mind! Take the plunge!’ Intelligence does not easily break down, whereas Love can effortlessly reduce itself to rubble. But treasures are hidden among ruins. A broken heart hides treasures.
This week as we look at out life, particularly areas where we experience disturbance, we will contemplate on the following questions:
-
What does my Intellect say?
-
What does Love say?
-
What treasures my ‘broken heart’ hides?
The intellect is a cleaver; it discerns and rifts its way into the secret of things.
—Henry David Thoreau.
The greater our knowledge of anything, the more we love it.
—Leonardo Da Vinci.
GRACE
Grace
The grace of God flows freely through me.
This is today’s Daily Word. Interesting.
Do you know why people in pain chose alcohol – or other drugs – over God? Because God does not ‘operate’ in the physical. God can ‘only’ (I say it lightly) work with the physical through us, those who has a living soul in them. People do, among many other. Though God’s energy is everywhere, like a cobweb runs through all of existence, decided action is a privilege of human beings.
God waits. God waits endlessly for humans to turn to ‘him’, chose ‘him’ and allow ‘him’ to work through the person’s faculties.
So, why don’t we chose God if it is so easy?
I am writing below comes from a personal experience.*
When you experience rejection, abuse, neglect or similar not so nice experiences as a child, you make a decision about yourself which is, in most cases, ‘I am no good’ (or similar). As an ‘unlovable’ being you perceive God as a distant punishing figure, if at all, and turn away knowing that you are alone. As a result of that, you take on a ‘strategy’ to cope in life – which is so colorfully laid down in the system of the Enneagram.
The foundation of the ego – our defense mechanism – is hurt feelings that are mostly acted out either as a narcissist, a victim or a bully. I know it is hard to recognize it because all these are covered up by layers and layers of tactics and mechanics. 🙂
*As a child, when I learnt that I was ‘no good’, I decided to become ‘helpful’. I looked around and found that what people around me needed is someone to let their frustration down on. Most of them were mentally ill of the torture and fear they had had to endure, it made them mad. So, I toughened up and offered my services as a ‘scapegoat’. I spent the past 45 years doing that in many ways.
You see the truth is, that, at the end of the day, it is just old pain and anguish that is the result of not allowing God to come in and help which is Grace.
Grace is not a miracle.
Grace is a turning back, facing the music – the original pain, the decisions we made about ourselves, the struggle we have been through – and laying it all down at the feet of God. It is surrendering.
This is NOT EASY at all. That’s why we chose a distraction be it alcohol, drug, sex, games, films, relationships, cooking … anything that keeps our minds off the hurt, the anger, the resentment, the pain, over God.
It is because in God, or with God, we must become vulnerable, we must go back to the original sin which is turning away thinking that God has forsaken us, and forgive. We must forgive the wasted years that we spent on making it ‘right’. We must cry the tears, howl in anguish, feel the penetrating fear of thunder until it dissipates and we are left as an empty vessel for God to fill.
Practically, what it all means is that you must stop fighting and distracting. Honestly, in my experience, it takes courage and perseverance and long … long … time. And then, one day, you decide to take on God’s offer and allow him to work through you. Not instead of you though! 🙂
Week 3
Rule 3
You can study God through everything and everyone in the universe because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue, or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for him: in the heart of a true lover.
So, this week we were contemplating about ‘God’s humble abode’ and asking the question: Who is the Lover?
I do not call myself ‘the Lover’. It just does not fit. Love, in my eyes, is supposed to be kind and caring. The God I know – see week 1 – is a fierce God, like Zeus. It moves me restlessly to go beyond and beyond again of what I think I am. There is never a moment of ‘rest’ until I arrive face to face with ‘him’ so I can truly know myself.
I am more like a bohemian rhapsody. I am neither happy, nor unhappy. I am neither lost, nor found. I am not a devotee or an atheist. I am a helpless wanderer, a gypsy, a wayfarer, a vagabond, a nomad, a tramp.
My abode is inside of me. Like a snail, I carry my home with me wherever I go.
As I am starting a new journey once again, I feel scared. I feel helplessly scared. Anent’ I too old now to start all over again? Not as if I have ever finished anything ever. I start it and Life just carries me on.
It maybe hard to understand me and my life if you look at it through the lens of the world. The world wants us to be ‘reliable’ and ‘fit in’. I cannot do that. I am not sure why. I am just not set up that way. Naturally, it makes me a loner and a traveller.
So, I keep on going, wayfaring, going beyond what I know of myself, looking for my true abode where God resides so we can meet face to face.
Weekly Contemplations W3
Week 3 – Rule 3
Rule 3
You can study God through everything and everyone in the universe because God is not confined in a mosque, synagogue, or church. But if you are still in need of knowing where exactly His abode is, there is only one place to look for him: in the heart of a true lover.
This week, as we are contemplating on Rule3, we will also be asking ourselves the following question:
WHO IS THE LOVER?
At the beginning of your meditation or contemplation time, I would like invite you to read (listen to) this poem by Rumi
The springtime of Lovers has come,
that this dust bowl may become a garden;
the proclamation of heaven has come,
that the bird of the soul may rise in flight.
The sea becomes full of pearls,
the salt marsh becomes sweet as kauthar,
the stone becomes a ruby from the mine,
the body becomes wholly soul.
Kulliyat-e Shams, 21
I would love to know what you have come to realize!
If you are interested, please read more about the inspiration that resulted in me walking this 40-week journey with Rumi and Shamz HERE (CLICK)
