#728 Who's the busiest, most stressed-out, most exhausted?

     Don't we want to be talked about with admiration: "Oh, she's SO busy!" How many of us are workaholics, with tremendous drive & stamina, mostly wasted on busy-ness, spinning our wheels, trying to prove to ourselves & others how hard we work, how important & indispensable we are?

          “Do not confuse motion and progress.
          A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress."            Alfred A. Montapert 

 
     Then there's "non-doing" - the sense of rightness & effortlessness, arising from authenticity & congruence. It happens when behavior is skillful, decreasing suffering & increasing happiness long-term for oneself & others. There's no inner conflict, friction or noise, only silence, stillness, peace. The ego is quiet, allo- & ecocentric (rather than egocentric). Centeredness.

 

Fall in Halifax

#449 Advanced Self-development: Self-actualization, Self-transcendence & Personal Wisdom

     "Advanced self-development is characterized by mature self-awareness, self-insight, openness to experience, open-mindedness, comfort with ambiguity, & cognitive complexity in terms of self & others. These personal qualities represent an integrated type of self-development that is considered to be a form of actualization tendency.

     The concept of self-actualization ... refers to a developmental process that involves the actualization or full use of one’s abilities or potential. ... the most agreed upon attributes of self-actualization ... include: meaning in life, positive self-esteem, personal responsibility, self-awareness, intimacy, empathy, realistic perceptions, insight, and resistance to undue social pressure. ... the construct of self-actualization is represented by two essential traits: openness to experience and self-reference or centeredness. 'The first depicts interest in varied experiences for its own sake (interest or pleasure) whereas the second describes awareness and consciousness of what is taking place in one’s personal experience.' Thus ... self-actualization is 'a process through which one’s potential is developed in congruence with one’s self-perception and one’s experience.' 

     Self-transcendence is the ability to see oneself & the world in a way that is not hindered by the boundaries of one’s ego identity and, thus, it involves a heightened sense of meaning and connectedness with others and with the world. 'Being able to detach from the external definitions of the self and dissolving rigid boundaries between self and other allows for self-transcendence.' Self-transcendence is considered by wisdom researchers to be a consequence of advanced self-development or self-actualization posited that the capacity for self-transcendence is an aspect of ego growth that is motivating during each developmental period and, thus, it can be realized at any age through practice and mature coping. The key is “having a strong identity”.  

     In summary, self-actualization involves advanced self-development or actuation of growth, whereas self-transcendence involves an ability to expand or transcend the boundaries of one’s ego identity. Together, self-actualization and self-transcendence include a rich form of self-knowledge and awareness that is characterized by openness, self-reflection, and insight based in a mature identity that is not hampered by ego preoccupation. Thus, these two attributes encompass or provide a pathway to personal wisdom.

       Beaumont SL. Identity processing and personal wisdom: An information-oriented identity style predicts self-actualization and self-transcendence. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research 2009; 9(2): 95-115.

 

diadra   www.dpreview.com

 

#326 Classical Japanese Centeredness & Mindfulness

      Profound awareness of, being fully at home and thoroughly grounded in one's own body, anywhere, under any circumstance, is relatively rare these days, perhaps even in the East. Nevertheless, this mind-body-universe integrity is an important quality to regain, and mindfulness practice is an excellent way to do so.

     “Japanese women … their way of sitting still – knees together, resting on their heels, withdrawn into themselves and yet completely free and relaxed. If with a swift and supple motion they rise from this position to do something such as pouring out the rice wine, they return immediately and without loss of poise to the quiet sitting posture, upright and attentive, completely there, yet not there at all, and just wait until the next thing has to be done. … but so also sits the ballad singer, and the singing geisha, and so sits the male choir in the Kabuki, the classical theater, and so the Samurai – so they all sit and stand like symbols of life, collected and ready for anything. And as they sit and stand, so also do they walk and dance and wrestle and fence, fundamentally motionless. For every movement is as though anchored in an immovable center from which all motion flows and from which it receives its force, direction and measure. The immovable center lies in Hara.”

       Durckheim KG. “Hara – The vital center of man.” Inner Traditions, Rochester VT, 1975 (originally published 1956). 

     For more on Hara see: http://www.johnlovas.com/search?q=hara

Tai Chi on Samish Island, WA