More things to Ponder
| January 23, 2009 | Posted by admin under Quotes |
Nature and wisdom never are at strife.
Plutarch
I like this quote. It makes us consider that everything in nature is perfect, including ourselves. We are what we are at this moment and in this moment that is all we can be. We can not be in conflict with it…or at least should strive not to be. As we accept ourselves we accept everything around us for what it is. As we grow in love for ourselves, the love spreads out and begins to affect the world around us, for the better.
Silence does not always mark wisdom.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
This quote reminds of something in Buddhism. It is not a direct correlation to what this is saying, but I will speak of it none the less. When one becomes enlightened they are a Buddha. They live in bliss and stay in their state of bliss on earth. But then their those become enlightened, shedding their fears, fully embracing life and love thus becoming Bhudda, but they decide to go back into the world and share what they have discovered. These are the Great Bhuddas. They break their silence so to speak, by coming back into a world that may lure them into chaos. But since they know what it is like to be enlightened, that will not be lost. They come back into the world as beacons of light.
So while we don’t need to speak if we have nothing to say, I think that it is important to share if we have something to offer others that may help them. Silence does not always indicate wisdom, but silence when one is wise can be a lost treasure.
~Cory Mitchell
And in this also is a lesson, one in which I am doing much work with in my own life – how to teach. It can be so hard to watch others struggling with things that we have learned effective ways to deal with ourselves. We want to share with them what has worked for us so that they can find the peace we have.
Yet that can easily lead us down a path where we take away their dignity. If we do not respect others enough to allow them to learn from their own mistakes but instead try to guide them to the path that works for us, then we are harming them instead of helping them.
One of the lessons I am working with in my own life is how to live my life in a way that may inspire others who are in a place in their life that what I have to share may be of value to them, while still according them the dignity of living their own lives. I am learning that I may offer to them a seed that they may plant in their own lives if they choose, but if they do it is up to them to also water and tend to that seed. They can, if they wish, look to me for ideas on how I have tended the plant in my own life but each of gardens can only grow to their full potential when we all remember that each of us must be the gardener in our own lives.
This is not easy. I find myself continually stepping back when I am tempted to try to “fix” another. I remind myself constantly that the best way I can help others is to continue my inner work on myself and then being available to inspire others by what I have learned, but working hard to try to never cross that line between being an inspiration and trying to make their choices for them.
So, yes, I agree that sharing wisdom is important, one must be very careful in doing so also. And therein lies the mark of true wisdom … knowing how to share it.
~angel
This is always of the conflict of someone who decides to make views public (well, actually for anyone). We have all seen someone we know is obviously hurting themselves. We want so bad to just tell them to “snap out of it,” but we know that doesn’t work. Yet often we say that anyway, making the problem worse.
We need to be aware of where people are in their journey, and just be there for them. This is something I struggle with… I try to lead instead of just walking beside someone. But I am making strives in my own way.
I see people around me struggling, and in my own mind I am very happy, so I do want to share with others how I got to this point. That is why some things I post are psychology, some are based on Christianity, some on Bhuddism some on Hinduism, all different view points. Different ideas will resonate with different people and will help them along.
But I agree it is never good to push ideas on someone. I also agree that the best thing we can often do for people is to live by example or to simply show love.
On the topic of showing love, we often withhold love from others at the very time they need it most (dealing with addiction, after committing a crime, etc). So on this note the next post will be on the idea of expressing love in a profound way which runs somewhat counter to the way our current society works. But has a proactive and much more beneficial result, I believe. I should be posting that tonight sometime.
Thanks for sharing that. I am sure many people have had similar thoughts. I know I have.