#697 Choosing to Nurture Wisdom over Ignorance

     At our deepest level, we all know to what degree we're being honestly authentic.
     From this depth of authenticity, we act with innate loving wisdom, increasing joy and decreasing suffering for all.
     Yet, fear and ignorance can lock us into our small selves, small cults, small dogmas, and other self-serving ideologies, leading to hate crimes against our fellow humans, other living creatures, and our environment. 
     So all of us carry both seeds of wisdom, as well as seeds of ignorance.  
     But what determines how we actually live our lives?

     An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."
     The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
     The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
        http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TwoWolves-Cherokee.html


     “... I have seen evil men become good and that’s the only miracle that interests me.”                                     Satprakashananda
       Dana Sawyer “Huston Smith: Wisdomkeeper. Living the World’s Religions. The Authorized Biography of a 21st Century Spiritual Giant.” Fons Vitae, Louisville, KY, 2014. 

#240 Adversarial Relationships, Friction, Core Values, & Quality of Life

     Increased sensitivity to physical feelings of inner conflict or friction can be acquired if one is interested and motivated. Like any engine, we don't operate or feel well when there's friction - pitting one thing against another. And what's the basic friction in life? Going after or running away from something that's not worth catching / can't be caught - eg fame, or that can't be escaped / should be experienced instead of avoided - eg doing one's share of work.
     So where's the rub that creates friction? These shallow desires & compulsions conflict with, rub against, our deep universal human core values. When we addictively chase after or run from meaningless fluff, we rub against our own grain - we have an adversarial relationship with our true self. This conflict is impossible to win - no wonder there's so much misery.
     The only possible positive long-term outcome results from going deep within ourselves, learning who we truly are, and ACTING in congruence with & EMBODYING this evolved mature identity or consciousness. When we start living this authentic, meaningful life, the frantic chasing abates on its own, naturally. We come to realize that we are now at home in this body, in this world. This is mindfulness practice.

     There is "a longing for ways of speaking of the human experience of depth, meaning, mystery, moral purpose, transcendence, wholeness, intuition, vulnerability, tenderness, courage, the capacity to love … it arises from the hunger for authenticity, for correspondence between one’s inner and outer lives. … there is a desire to break through into a more spacious and nourishing conception of the common life we all share. … trust, loyalty, and connection, find place and resonance.”
          Parks SD. Big questions, worthy dreams. Mentoring young adults in their search for meaning, purpose, and faith. John Wiley & Sons, San Francisco, 2000.

Seize each Precious Moment to be Authentic