"I do all the evil I can before I learn to shun it?
Is it not enough to know the evil to shun it?
If not, we should be sincere enough to admit that we love evil too well to give it up."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"It is unwise to be too sure of one's own wisdom. It is healthy to be reminded that the strongest might weaken and the wisest might err."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Man's nature is not essentially evil.
Brute nature has been know to yield to the influence of love.
You must never despair of human nature."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to recommend it.
Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary;
the evil it does is permanent."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Interdependence is and ought to be as much the ideal of man as self-sufficiency. Man is a social being."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Peace is its own reward."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"I know, to banish anger altogether from one's breast is a difficult task.
It cannot be achieved through pure personal effort.
It can be done only by God's grace."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind.
It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Power is of two kinds.
One is obtained by the fear of punishment and the other by acts of love.
Power based on love is a thousand times more effective and permanent then the one derived from fear of punishment."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Non-violence requires a double faith, faith in God and also faith in man."
Mohandas Gandhi
"Non-violence, which is the quality of the heart, cannot come by an appeal to the brain."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr, but let no one lust for martyrdom."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"When restraint and courtesy are added to strength, the latter becomes irresistible."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
"In a gentle way, you can shake the world."
~ Mohandas Gandhi
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Against Hesitation
"If you stare at it long enough
the mountain becomes unclimbable.
Tally it up. How much time have you spent
waiting for the soup to cool?
Icicles hang from January gutters
only as long as they can.
Fingers pause above piano keys for the chord
that will not form.
Slam them down
I say. Make music of what you can."
~ Charles Rafferty, from "Against Hesitation"
the mountain becomes unclimbable.
Tally it up. How much time have you spent
waiting for the soup to cool?
Icicles hang from January gutters
only as long as they can.
Fingers pause above piano keys for the chord
that will not form.
Slam them down
I say. Make music of what you can."
~ Charles Rafferty, from "Against Hesitation"
This Is The Shadow
| "Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr. | |
On What to Do
"You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks,
jump over the hurdles
and break through the brick walls
that are always going to be placed in front of you.
If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing,
you'll stop at the first giant hurdle."
~ George Lucas – Star Wars Film Writer, Director and Producer
jump over the hurdles
and break through the brick walls
that are always going to be placed in front of you.
If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you are doing,
you'll stop at the first giant hurdle."
~ George Lucas – Star Wars Film Writer, Director and Producer
Where is the Truth?
“Truth only reveals itself when one gives up all preconceived ideas.”
~ Shoseki
“If you cannot find truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
~ Dogen
~ Shoseki
“If you cannot find truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?
~ Dogen
Voluntary Poverty and Interdependence
"The importance of detachment from things,
the importance of poverty,
is that we are supposed to be free from things that we might prefer to people.
Wherever things have become more important than people, we are in trouble.
That is the crux of the whole matter."
~ Thomas Merton
Ideoforms Note
And wherever things have become more important than the other living things which we share this Earth with, and with the Earth itself, which sustains our lives.
It isn't the materiality of the Earth that is important as such (in terms of ownership of parts of it) -- it is our inextricable connection to it and that we are its trusted stewards. It is the water in which we swim like fish, we don't know we utterly depend on it until we are flopping gasping on dry land.
And so, we must protect the earth and in so doing we are protecting all the others on the earth.
Instead of competing with them for parts of it, we must protect it in spite of our personal interests which, in the end is our personal interest.
The material world is like a baby that two women brought to the wise man to settle a dispute. Both claimed the child as their own. The wise man, after deliberation, said to have his helpers to cut the child in half and give half to each woman. The real mother gave up the child to save its life.
If we tear this world apart, fighting for it, we might end up with a dead world.
In addition,
When our standing in this world, our ego's position, becomes more important than the principles and people we are standing up for, then the position, whether it is attained or not, will mean nothing. The ego cannot judge what is important. It is impossible for it to both exist as a separate identity from all others, and also truly understand the meaning of, and maintain its position amongst those others.
the importance of poverty,
is that we are supposed to be free from things that we might prefer to people.
Wherever things have become more important than people, we are in trouble.
That is the crux of the whole matter."
~ Thomas Merton
Ideoforms Note
And wherever things have become more important than the other living things which we share this Earth with, and with the Earth itself, which sustains our lives.
It isn't the materiality of the Earth that is important as such (in terms of ownership of parts of it) -- it is our inextricable connection to it and that we are its trusted stewards. It is the water in which we swim like fish, we don't know we utterly depend on it until we are flopping gasping on dry land.
And so, we must protect the earth and in so doing we are protecting all the others on the earth.
Instead of competing with them for parts of it, we must protect it in spite of our personal interests which, in the end is our personal interest.
The material world is like a baby that two women brought to the wise man to settle a dispute. Both claimed the child as their own. The wise man, after deliberation, said to have his helpers to cut the child in half and give half to each woman. The real mother gave up the child to save its life.
If we tear this world apart, fighting for it, we might end up with a dead world.
In addition,
When our standing in this world, our ego's position, becomes more important than the principles and people we are standing up for, then the position, whether it is attained or not, will mean nothing. The ego cannot judge what is important. It is impossible for it to both exist as a separate identity from all others, and also truly understand the meaning of, and maintain its position amongst those others.
The Impact of the Courage of the Bystander
“Courage, her mother had once told her, was not simply the fact that you weren’t scared of anything…
it was being scared and doing whatever it was anyway.
Courage was dealing with your fears and not letting them rule you.”
~ Missy Good
“Courage is a special kind of knowledge:
the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared
and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.”
~ David Ben-Gurion
“Courage is not the absence of fear,
but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.”
~ Ambrose Redmoon
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence
by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"A man can do only what a man can do.
But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day."
~ Albert Schweitzer
"Bystanders that do nothing or laugh when a classmate is bullied actually reinforce bullying behavior. Parents and teachers can help children to understand that standing by and doing nothing actually empowers a bully. It gives him or her permission to continue harassing their victim.
Bullies love an audience and humiliating a victim in the presence of others gives them more enjoyment. Tacit approval by being silent encourages inappropriate behavior. The research shows that if one person speaks out to say that isn’t fair after a bullying act and then another, the bully is less likely to continue.
Other research studies show that children who simply watch and do nothing to interrupt the event can become upset during the bullying event. One study that examined 2,000 English students age twelve to sixteen reported more feelings of depression, anxiety, hostility and inferiority than either the bullies or the victims themselves. This may relate to feelings of helplessness and guilt that happen during vicarious witnessing of aggression. And guilt at not taking a stand against wrong doing.
There is strength and safety in numbers! Bystanders can stand together to defuse the situation if they are taught this social skill of speaking up against unfair behavior. Teachers and parents can teach this skill directly. Speak with your children about how several children can band together and say “Stop it!” to offset abuse and defuse the situation.
Someone has to be the first to speak out and call bullying for what it is. It often feels risky for children to speak up in social situations that are unclear. It takes courage. Help your children understand that one form of courage is doing that which you fear. Open up the discussion by reading some of these quotes and asking them to comment on them."
From: "The Anti-Bullying Stand against People who Enjoy Hurting Others: Ideas for Teachers and Parents" by Lynne Namka, Ed. D. © 2010
http://www.angriesout.com/
“Teach your child not to become a bully assistant!”
it was being scared and doing whatever it was anyway.
Courage was dealing with your fears and not letting them rule you.”
~ Missy Good
“Courage is a special kind of knowledge:
the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared
and how not to fear what ought not to be feared.”
~ David Ben-Gurion
“Courage is not the absence of fear,
but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.”
~ Ambrose Redmoon
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence
by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.
You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”
~ Eleanor Roosevelt
"A man can do only what a man can do.
But if he does that each day he can sleep at night and do it again the next day."
~ Albert Schweitzer
"Bystanders that do nothing or laugh when a classmate is bullied actually reinforce bullying behavior. Parents and teachers can help children to understand that standing by and doing nothing actually empowers a bully. It gives him or her permission to continue harassing their victim.
Bullies love an audience and humiliating a victim in the presence of others gives them more enjoyment. Tacit approval by being silent encourages inappropriate behavior. The research shows that if one person speaks out to say that isn’t fair after a bullying act and then another, the bully is less likely to continue.
Other research studies show that children who simply watch and do nothing to interrupt the event can become upset during the bullying event. One study that examined 2,000 English students age twelve to sixteen reported more feelings of depression, anxiety, hostility and inferiority than either the bullies or the victims themselves. This may relate to feelings of helplessness and guilt that happen during vicarious witnessing of aggression. And guilt at not taking a stand against wrong doing.
There is strength and safety in numbers! Bystanders can stand together to defuse the situation if they are taught this social skill of speaking up against unfair behavior. Teachers and parents can teach this skill directly. Speak with your children about how several children can band together and say “Stop it!” to offset abuse and defuse the situation.
Someone has to be the first to speak out and call bullying for what it is. It often feels risky for children to speak up in social situations that are unclear. It takes courage. Help your children understand that one form of courage is doing that which you fear. Open up the discussion by reading some of these quotes and asking them to comment on them."
From: "The Anti-Bullying Stand against People who Enjoy Hurting Others: Ideas for Teachers and Parents" by Lynne Namka, Ed. D. © 2010
http://www.angriesout.com/
“Teach your child not to become a bully assistant!”
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