Sunday, August 18, 2013

Centering myself


I am glad to say that I was lucky enough to have met Val in this blog world.
Reading her previous two posts, I feel that it is getting stronger.
I have the same view as her.  Comparing ourselves with others and feeling bad boesn't achieve anything.
The same can be said of our children; comparing them to other children and pushing them will not accomplish anything.  The important thing is accepting ourselves for what we are or accepting them for what they are and also loving ourselves and loving them. That brings us confidence and peace.  If you accept them, they will accept you.  If you love them, they will love you.




There is something I do regularly these days.  That's "centering myself"; it's like a kind of meditation.
First, I focus on the center of my heart.  Next, I imagine letting my mind empty as much as possible, and imagine filling my center with something that makes me feel happiness, peace and love (such as nature, sunlight, animals, birds, etc.), for about five minutes in the morning.  Then, it's funny, I find myself filled with love, and I can handle anyone or anything, with a smile and without any negative feelings.  If possible, I do this in the afternoon and also before going to bed, focusing on feeling love at the center of my heart.




"Walden; Or, Life in the Woods" by Henry David Thoreau is a book I read when I was young and I loved it.  I would like to share the following quotes from this book, because whenever I read this book, I deeply feel centering myself is important:

Let us spend one day in the same slow way that nature spends it. Let us rise early without hurry or rush.
Let us not get excited over the small things that lie in our way. Let company come, let company go.
Let children cry, let bells ring.  But we will still have our day.

Let us be steady and stable. Let us plant our feet on the hard rock of the earth. Let us not get caught up in the mud and mess of opinion and prejudice and tradition and delusion and appearance, wherever we find it.Whether it is religion or politics or poetry or philosophy, let us find the place we can call reality, where we can simply say, This is.

If you stand in front of a fact, face to face, you will see it shining with the light of the sun.  You will see it shining with the light of the sun.  You will feel it in your heart of hearts, and you will then be happy to end your time on this earth.  Whether in life or in death, what we want is reality.  If we are dying, then let us face that fact.  If we are alive, let us go about our business.

Time is a stream I fish in.  I drink its waters.  As I watch the thin current flow by, I see how shallow it is.  Only never-ending time remains.  I would like to drink deeper.  I would like to be as wise as the day I was born.

My deepest feeling tells me that my mind is a tool for digging into the heart of things.  It digs deep until it gets to the secret center.  I do not wish to use my hands.  My mind is my hands and my feet.  My mind wants to dig its way through these hills.  Gold is to be found there, and Walden is where I will begin my search.

3 comments:

  1. I'm glad I came across you and Val. It makes me happy to know that all around the world there are those who value goodness and peace and kindness -- that, differences in religious belief, cultures, etc. aren't nearly as important as the things of the soul that can be shared. You both view the world and how you should live in it, in a beautiful way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I count myself lucky that I have met you, Sachi! And I have found that there are people in this blogging world who are really beautiful people, beautiful in their soul and heart I mean, like Nancy (above comment!) and other people who move my heart. In their posts I find echoes of my own feelings and aspirations, hopes and worries and attitudes. I find inspiration, help, connection, knowledge...This meditation of yours sounds really interesting and efficient! It is true that Nature is one of the greatest sources of well being and comfort. I am so fond of Thoreau by the way, and these quotations fill my heart with happiness :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Nancy and Val,
    I can't find enough words to express my gratitude to both of you! But simply, thank you so much for your comments. Those really mean a lot to me!You both encourage me to believe that we are all one at the core, and convince me that there are more people who could share the same feelings, beyond any religious or cultural differences as Nancy says.
    Nancy, I'm so happy to have met YOU! Val, we are lucky to have Nancy here:) As you say, there are many people who enjoy their lives so beautifully. I hope we can share a lot, with many people:)

    ReplyDelete