not afraid to forget who you are

morten brekkevold

 

When you are not

afraid to forget who you are,

life in the kitchen, or life in the office,

might contain huge and overwhelming happiness.

Everything you look at, the door, the walls meeting in the

corner of the room, the light shining on the cell phone, might be

so alive that it looks back. Other people might not be who you

thought they were. Family members might be as fresh

and surprising as strangers. And you, whom you

have only apparently known all your life,

might be fresh and surprising

to yourself too.

 

John Tarrant

bring me the rhinoceros

🦏

 

whenever something happens

the way of heaven

 

Can what happened to you

stop you from being fair, high-minded,

moderate, conscientious, unhasty, honest, moral,

self-reliant, and so on — from possessing all the qualities that,

when present, enable a man’s nature to be fulfilled? So then,

whenever something happens that might cause you

distress, remember to rely on this principle:

this is not bad luck, but bearing it

valiantly is good luck.

 

Marcus Aurelius

the annotated marcus

 

the source of light and darkness

ian bird, cape fear

 

One learns to understand

that there is a world in one’s self,

that in one’s mind there is a source of

happiness and unhappiness, the source of

health and illness, the source of light and darkness,

and that it can be awakened, either mechanically or at will,

if only one knew how to do it. Then one does not blame his

ill fortune nor complain of his fellow man. He becomes

more tolerant, more joyful, and more loving toward

his neighbor, because he knows the cause of

every thought and action, and he sees

it all as the effect of a

certain cause.

 

…Therefore, the work

of the mystic is to be able to read

the language of the mind. As the clerk

in the telegraph office reads letters from the

ticks, so the Sufi gets behind every word spoken to

him and discovers what has prompted the word to come out.

He therefore reads the lines which are behind man’s thought,

speech, and action. He also understands that every kind of

longing and craving in life, good or bad, has its source

in deep impression. By knowing this root of the

disease he is easily able to find out its cure.

No impression is such that it

cannot be erased.

 

Hazrat Inayat Khan

wahiduddin’s web

 

it is a dangerous hour

you are your own teacher

 

Darkness reappears unexpectedly.

Caution and reticence

are in order.

 
It is a dangerous hour. Through an eruption of our inferior nature darkness has interrupted the flow of light. The inferior can be quite seductive, and if we are not resolute in resisting it, the moment can be lost to misfortune.

In one’s self, this is a time to examine motives; those which are of questionable honor should be uprooted and discarded. Be wary of situations that engage your ego and tempt you into anger, self-righteousness, or desire. Actively employ your higher nature to test the correctness of tempting ideas and circumstances; that which seems to be suspicious almost certainly is.

In your conduct with others, practice modesty, independence, and patience with great discipline. Avoid anger or arrogance at all costs; withdraw whenever you cannot meet another in a balanced and independent way. Neither encourage another to forego his balance nor indulge him if he does so. Again, withdraw into stillness if the circumstances indicate the presence of inferior influences. Reticence and self-scrutiny are the order of the day.
 

The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 44, Kou / Coming to Meet

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