Friday, September 16, 2011
from Anam Cara
The following is from the newsletter of Anam Cara Foundation, founded and directed by Lawrence Edwards, Ph. D.
Dear Friend
We are in a period of time when great challenges face all of us no matter what region of the globe we live in. Structures of all kinds are being pressured to respond in new and creative ways, or fail and crumble.
This pressure may be felt impacting the structures of our personal relationships, even the structures of our mind - our belief structures, thought structures, ego structures.
The pressures are also obvious on our political, economic, environmental, and spiritual structures.
Meeting these demands requires that we reach deep into our wisdom source through our various means of accessing that - prayer, contemplation, meditation, study, exercise, community - and energetically, selflessly work to support the most conscious, expansive and inclusive ways forward. Our leaders need your wisdom and insights.
There are no margins for standing on the side-lines. We all need to pull together. If I'm not pulling, then I'm dead weight for someone else to drag along.
Together we will transform our world. This is a time for collective transformation and that is very challenging. Living meditation, fully integrated meditation, allows us to free ourselves and others from the suffering imposed by the afflicted mind-states of others as well as our own.
Emaho!
Lao Tzu - Tao Te Ching
Stephen Mitchell translator
The great Way is easy,
yet people prefer the side paths.
Be aware when things are out of balance.
Stay centered in the Tao.
When rich speculators prosper
while farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money
on weapons instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turn -
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao.
54
Whoever is planted in the Tao
will not be rooted up.
Whoever embraces the Tao
will not slip away.
Her name will be held in honor
from generation to generation.
Let the Tao be present in your life
and you will become genuine.
Let it be present in your family
and your family will flourish.
Let it be present in your country
and your country will be an example
to all the countries of the world.
Let it be present in the Universe
and the Universe will sing.
How do I know this is true?
By looking inside myself.
Harper Perennial Classics, 2006
