tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post2128741690917456713..comments2023-09-28T10:08:44.827+02:00Comments on Gwynt: An Experience of the Desert of AlonenessUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-53891318043181539662015-01-30T16:59:04.864+01:002015-01-30T16:59:04.864+01:00Hullo Halle; Good to hear from you. It is such a p...Hullo Halle; Good to hear from you. It is such a pity that we seem to spend so much time struggling to maintain a completely anti-gravity position when often all we need to do is drop a few inches into rest, and let the world do its own thing. Thus all too often we assume responsibility for a world that is out of sync, but neglect our own well-being without which we cannot help the world anyway.<br />Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-68005527182115270642015-01-30T16:29:24.098+01:002015-01-30T16:29:24.098+01:00The theme of finding balance is one that is so imp...The theme of finding balance is one that is so important to me. There have been times when I was feeling overwhelmed by the emotional content of needs that affected me like a drug. Your <i>I felt that I needed to respond to something occurring inside me, and that response, call it enlightened self-interest if you wish, was to "let go" of my desire and practice of trying to control both my inner world and my outer environment.</i> is so familiar. <br />There is a tremendous power in knowing that by letting go, being prepared but not necessarily proactive, my self-interest is better served than it could possibly be any other way.Hallehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03847654451426257182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-65253728166101258232015-01-28T08:31:13.821+01:002015-01-28T08:31:13.821+01:00Thank you Natalie. This kind of clearing of the de...Thank you Natalie. This kind of clearing of the decks process to which you refer is, I think, beginning to clarify the way forward. And, yes, there is still much to be experienced.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-84013439836481210532015-01-28T00:50:13.592+01:002015-01-28T00:50:13.592+01:00Tom, it's brave of you to go over that period ...Tom, it's brave of you to go over that period of time in which you experienced such desperation but also enlightenment. It's a kind of clearing the decks and will surely help in moving on towards new horizons and new experiences.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-7645560410187707452015-01-27T17:03:17.045+01:002015-01-27T17:03:17.045+01:00Susan; Exactly! And we can get so caught up in o...Susan; Exactly! And we can get so caught up in our stories, our travelogues, that we forget why we tell those stories. To share our experiences is legitimate; to use stories for escapism, the furtherance of denial, spiritual sleep or excuse-making is never so. <br /><br />When I read your final sentence I felt moved by a sense of 'knowingness', a recognition of the ultimate truth of what you say. And I thank you for that, as I have course to thank you for so much.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-52111686930703804792015-01-27T16:53:22.160+01:002015-01-27T16:53:22.160+01:00One of the most challenging aspects of meditation ...One of the most challenging aspects of meditation is our inherent tendency to tell ourselves stories. We become prisoners of our own stories and we forget we are telling them ourselves. If we're very lucky sometimes the storytelling abates for a while and, briefly free of logic and the larger reality we share, we may reach a place where we can examine our stories from the outside.<br /><br />I have no idea where this dream of life may lead, but I do know that deep inside there's a certainty of home where love is all encompassing.<br /><br />susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16747450215034568033noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-65136799632238586922015-01-27T10:43:53.026+01:002015-01-27T10:43:53.026+01:00Hi Lindsay; I feel that any in-depth response to y...Hi Lindsay; I feel that any in-depth response to your comment would set me off on a very long treatise on doubt, uncertainty, temptation, want and painful rejection, whilst all the time, as you indicate, being required to exercise free will. I recall that around that time I futilely prayed to have free will taken away from me because I was deeply afraid of making wrong choices. I knew, and still know, the depths to which I had sunk by the arrogant use of free will, and didn't want ever to go there again. (The second verse of the hymn, "Lead, kindly Light..." still has great emotional impact on me.) Yet the really frightening aspect of that experience was that even knowing my then recent past, nevertheless I was powerfully tempted to throw in my lot with my ego, to identify with its desires. It was what I had become accustomed to over too many years. My meeting face-to-face with something of the nature of God within me was still too recent. I had not yet become "accustomed".<br /><br />I must stop here, before I launch out onto a mini-post. I will only add that somehow I managed to resist the temptation to slip back. But it would be wrong to assume that because I once overcame, the battle was won forever, that I was going always thereafter to be free from temptation dressed up in alluring, "spiritual" garments.<br /><br />Thank you for your comment and its subsequent re-awakening of those things which I must never forget.<br />Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-83483203503965719652015-01-26T23:15:16.120+01:002015-01-26T23:15:16.120+01:00Hi Tom
I can relate to that experience, or at lea...Hi Tom <br />I can relate to that experience, or at least I think I can, in what I perceive to be in a much more modest way. For it seems to me you also touch on the question of free will; where we conceivably can embrace fate, but are able to exercise our freedom to find a way forward as is intended. If I can put it this way, as in my experience, of the great comforter and refuge, who shines that light ahead. But not to the extent of a blind choice, but rather to realise a straighter pathway, so that in time we can look back and realise many of the fears or regrets have now dissipated. Thanks for sharing your journey. <br />Best wishes <br />Lindsay Byrneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11030132436987752741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-48906559669554969442015-01-26T22:47:04.418+01:002015-01-26T22:47:04.418+01:00Marja-Leena, thank you. And the best part is that ...Marja-Leena, thank you. And the best part is that the journey continues.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2683318922990064067.post-5939622035937201912015-01-26T21:16:42.804+01:002015-01-26T21:16:42.804+01:00You have had quite a journey and thankfully found ...You have had quite a journey and thankfully found that wisdom you were searching for, Tom. marja-leenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05634791656471132347noreply@blogger.com