Turning Tragedy into Triumph

"As this the 38th anniversary of my wounding in Vietnam approaches, in many ways I feel my injury in that war has been a blessing in disguise. I have been given the opportunity to move through that dark night of the soul to a new shore, to gain an understanding, a knowledge, an entirely different vision. I now believe that I have suffered for a reason and in many ways I have found that reason in my commitment to peace and nonviolence. We who have witnessed the obscenity of war and experienced its horror and terrible consequences have an obligation to rise above our pain and suffering and turn the tragedy of our lives into a triumph. I have come to believe that there is nothing in the lives of human beings more terrifying than war and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth.
We must break this cycle of violence and begin to move in a different direction; war is not the answer, violence is not the solution. A more peaceful world is possible." ~ Ron Kovic

Trying To Become Good

A number of spiritual teachings tell us to let go of fear and desire. But those spiritual practices are usually unsuccessful. They haven't gone to the root of the dysfunction.

Fear, greed, and desire for power are not the ultimate causal factors. Trying to become a good or better human being sounds like a commendable and high-minded thing to do, yet it is an endeavor you cannot ultimately succeed in unless there is a shift in consciousness.

This is because it is still part of the same dysfunction, a more subtle and rarified form of self-enhancement, of desire for more and a strengthening of one's conceptual identity, one's self-image.

You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge. But it can only emerge if something fundamental changes in your state of consciousness. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Wisdom

The practical application of wisdom is in understanding that all problems are wisdom problems and that in learning to apply wisdom to one problem you are actually learning the process of applying wisdom, not just solving the problem. Problems are there not just to be solved, as the linear, literal goal-oriented mind would assume. Problems are there to teach us the wisdom of solving problems, for as we have already discovered (no?) -- in Reality there is no problem to resolve! ~ Ali Ansari

The Path

The path is not 'to God' per se [for there is nowhere to go - God is not of or in any place], but, rather to the conscious recognition and realization that, in fact, nearness to God is the station of us all... "It was We Who created man, and We know what dark suggestions his soul makes to him: for We are nearer to him than (his) jugular vein" (Qur'an, 50:16). This is the Truth, to deny it is to simply deny reality itself. Embracing or entering Islam does not require doing anything other than realizing and accepting what already is. The path, therefore, is the path through the veils, the illusions, the misperceptions that God is somewhere 'out there' to go to. Islam is the path of realization, the path of Self-discovery; for it is through this process of uncovering our True Selves and negating all that stands in our way of achieving our highest potential that we achieve God-realization and become complete human beings.

Daily Reminder to Myself: Understanding Hardship

"Personal Security is only real if it abides during and withstands the testing of outward hardship. It's easy to feel secure if and when your circumstances are secure, but it's only superficial if it holds up only under secure outward circumstances. For this reason hardships exist and are expected, even desired portions of life. For they test and build the mettle of our interior strength and security, and force us to find it when it's missing. And all this is so that our transition, which is an inevitable reality of life and a common goal for us all, may be handled with the reality for the realization of which life itself was created." - Ali Ansari

Where is Love?

"Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all of the barriers within yourself that you have built against it. It is not necessary to seek for what is true but it is necessary to seek for what is false. Every illusion is one of fear, whatever form it takes. And the attempt to escape from one illusion into another must fail. If you seek love outside yourself you can be certain that you perceive hatred within, and are afraid of it. Yet peace will never come from the illusion of love, but only from its reality." - A Course in Miracles