[Ashes and Snow]
This courage is what I seek in my life and in my practice. It is also what I seek through this blog. Because this blog is a mirror of who I am, there will be days when I am not at my best. I need people to call me on my sh!t when that happens, and even if there is not a consensus, I will still make every attempt to look at myself and question my motives, my intentions, my courage to face who I am.Practioners who train in courage become true warriors. The war we wage is not with enemies outside of ourselves but with the powerful forces of our own habitual tendencies and negative emotions. The greatest of these is fear. In order to become fearless, we need to experience fear. Facing fear changes our perspective and gives rise to the courage to face our neuroses as well as our enlightened qualities.
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It takes courage to accept life fully, to say yes to our life, yes to our karma, yes to our mind, emotions, and whatever else unfolds. This is the beginning of courage. Courage is the fundamental openness to face even the hardest truths. It makes room for all the pain, joy, irony, and mystery that life provides.
~ Dzigar Kingtrul, It's Up to You
I have no illusions of ever becoming enlightened, and I doubt that I will ever fully be "second tier," whatever that might mean, but I am dedicated to my growth.
I started this blog with the hope that it would become part of the integral community and that I would be able to learn from other people who are thinking about integral ideas. It feels like that has happened, and I am grateful for that.
I want to say Thank You to everyone who reads this blog and sometimes kicks me in the arse when I am befuddled by ego, not thinking clearly, or otherwise misguided. My promise to all of you is that I will make every attempt at cultivating the kind of courage that allows me to face myself clearly and without fear.
Technorati Tags: Courage, It's Up to You, Dzigar Kongtrul, Buddhism, Blogging, Integral
3 comments:
Ha! The majority -- I dare say -- of your readers [including me] don't think there was anything "wrong" with your July 12 posts in the first place. That little imbroglio, relating to you 7/12 posts, with Anon & Colmar chiding you, is what your writing now, here, springs from.
But if you want to do penance, get Coulter's book from the library, or whatever the hotest Righty book or web-blog is, and try to see things from their side of the divide. Don't force yourself, or be untrue to your compassion and wisdom, but try 'thinking Big' politically. Put up a post, then, about that experience.
Bill, you don't know how exemplary and inspiring I find your attitude and your approach to this blog. But I hope you have at least an inkling of it and that this helps inspire you to keep doing what you're doing.
Namaste,
Steve
Thanks Steve, that means a lot coming from you.
And Tom: Coulter does not have anything of substance to say, so there would be nothing to try to get my head around with her. She is one of the most hateful people in the public forum.
Someone recommended Crunchy Cons in the Enviro post, though, and that is something I'd like to read. Or maybe some David Brooks or another conservative who is a thinking person.
But I don't feel a need to do penance, just to be a more conscious person.
Peace,
Bill
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