Quote of the Day – March 30 2012

“‘Q: What can each one of us do to help alleviate the suffering of the world?

‘That’s a good question. The first thing is that you be aware of it and recognize it unsentimentally… that you just be aware of what it’s really like. Then the next thing you do is that you don’t get bummed by it, because that makes you contribute to it.’

‘What you do is that you take care of the first thing at hand, which is right between your ears. Fix your head….’

Q: How do you fix your head?

‘You have to tell the truth all the time even in uncomfortable situations, even if there’s great social difficulty.’

‘What that does is that it keeps you from having [things] subconscious; and if you don’t have subconscious you should be smart enough to figure everything else out yourself. If you don’t have subconscious the clear light of God can shine through you. Your own subconscious is the filter that keeps that out.’
–Stephen Gaskin

I was thinking of only using one of the question answer pairs here but I have to admit I find the whole of it pretty awesome. He talks about compassion so off-hand. Recognize suffering and be aware of what it’s really like in an unsentimental fashion. That statement realizes that sentimentality can totally blindside empathy and stop it on its way to compassion if we let it. It seems so easy to put value judgements on what we perceive from others that rather than openly put ourselves in another’s shoes, we both romanticize and trivialize it. I know I have been guilty of this in the past and still catch myself doing it sometimes.
As a friend of mine would say “See how we are”
The total honesty all the time part is something that I wish I had the courage to try. I know that it is a necessity in order to have true lasting communication with others, still it is something I approach as a goal and have been working towards. Closer every day.
Blessings, G

Click on images to see full-size

The Sky Was Filled With Wonder by G A Rosenberg

Flowering Cosmos by G A Rosenberg

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