A Guide to Worrying

Lila

“We love to see ourselves idealized in the minds of others.  That is one of the beautiful joys of love.  We become fresh, innocent, brave, strong in the mind of the beloved… After a while the lover begins to substitute what he really is in his own mind, with what he is in the mind of the other… that others assume us to be good is a great incentive to goodness.  That is why too, one of the basic principles of life ought to be to assume goodness in others; thus we make them good.”
    

–Fulton Sheen

A Dream of Long Ago

 

If “Busy filleth empty,” then the stillness of sunrise affords a proper contrast. But how will I see sunrise with so much memory? If the crush of words fevers the brain, then for that day there is no bridge to light. If I fall asleep or am noisy with the turbulence of crowds, then the wonder of life fades as a forgotten dream of long ago.

“We let ourselves become encased in a sort of dull hard shell of everydayness through which it is hard for the gift of wonder to penetrate.”

— Leaves from a Secret Journal, Jane Steger

Old and New

“Just as it is impossible to open a present-day lock with a medieval key, likewise it is impossible for men with old habits to unlock the door of the future.”

Infinity II, Helena Roerich

The old proves its value where the inherited forms still serve as living channels of inspiration. The challenge is to recognize the boundary between old and new, and distinguish between the dead and the living. The creative mind boldly advances by fresh adaptation, intelligently selecting the best of the past and adapting it to the needs of the present.

Each incarnate soul builds, drawing on the best possibilities for renewal, reshaping what is given it according to plan. And each day the sensitive soul is building a new presentation of mind and heart, a fresh statement of life and refined aspiration. The building proceeds according to the inward imperative of light—the mind of light, the heart of light, the face of light.

“God has given you one face, and you make yourselves another.”

Shakespeare

“Just as a picture is drawn by an artist, surroundings are created by the activities of the mind.”

— Buddha

Where the Semantic Sidewalk Ends

People notice thoughts and emotions within themselves. Is this simple division an adequate description of what transpires in consciousness? Often not, but this binary tends to guide and define the inner life and common discourse about it. We may speak of thoughts or feelings for which we do not yet have appropriate words, but are “feelings” and “thoughts” adequate terms for the full kaleidoscope of inner experience? And who was it that first defined or limited consciousness to the somewhat trivial sounding binary of thought and emotion?

Clear water flashes silver in the sun. So lifted are all feelings in the soul’s light.

The View from Above

One late afternoon many years ago, I was in a cab in some small city in Japan, returning to the ship. I do not recall what was in my mind at the moment as it was not especially memorable. But suddenly, I found myself up high in a very serene place. From this “height” I looked down on my thoughts as if they were a landscape viewed from high altitude aircraft. I found, that from this place of quiet, I had absolutely perfect control over every thought.

“Far below me I saw Earth as a little cold room that had opened its doors and let me free.”

– Winged Pharaoh, Joan Grant

 

NASA image

Flower Templates

Beautiful manifestations in the natural world are fitting templates for our best thoughts and expressions. Flowers, crystals, stars, are patterns for paragraphs. They are precise foci of creative forces–finely ordered, beautiful, simple, clear and colorful.