(no subject)

[geekchick]

It's not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown.  It is part of being alive, something we all share.  We react against the possibility of loneliness, of death, of not having anything to hold on to. Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.

If we commit ourselves to staying right where we are, then our experience  becomes very vivid.  Things become very clear when there is nowhere to escape.

[...]

Instructions on mindfulness or emptiness or working with energy all point to the same thing: being right on the spot nails us.  It nails us right to the point of time and space that we are in.  When we stop there and don't act out, don't repress, don't blame it on anyone else, and also don't blame it on ourselves, then we meet with an open-ended question that has no conceptual answer.  We also encounter our heart.  As one student so eloquently put it, "Buddha nature, cleverly disguised as fear, kicks our ass into being receptive."

-Pema Chödrön,  When Things Fall Apart

Comments

[geekchick]

I picked this up at McKay's this afternoon. Definitely enjoying it so far. You might also like reading Surya Das too, I enjoyed the two books of his that I've read so far.

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Just reading the online excerpts... wow. I want to read this. Openness... has been very hard for me. Thanks for the link.

[geekchick]

Yeah, I kind of thought of you while reading that excerpt. I can lend you my copy when I'm finished if you'd like.

[geekchick]

Er, I mean I thought that you might enjoy reading it, that is. I was going to recommend it to you anyway.

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing this. :-) *runs off to hunt up a used copy*