Self Awareness

I like the idea of participating in reality.

My understanding is limited.

My senses are limited.

There are times during which I act with care, energy, and enthusiasm.

I'd like to understand more.

What I see at this moment is not true to our best understanding.

I have a world that exists in my mind.

I believe in a world outside of my mind that will exist when my mind does not.

I expect to change and grow.

I think that is good to act in accord with my best understanding.

I believe in reality within me and around me.

I could use some help to become a better student.

I encourage the development of my awareness.
 

Good

It is good to:

~ cultivate a happy disposition, a happy mood;

~ accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative;

~ be alert to much and to focus on the best;

~ take care of fear promptly and to let it go;

~ be willing to be happy;

~ attend a bit more to strength, beauty, joy;

~ take care in speech and thought;

~ us the best word I can;

~ be aware of the facts as one focuses on love, cheerfulness, gladness, hopefulness;

~ deepen ones understanding of the words one uses; 

~ so order ones speech that each word one say should be the highest truth one knows;

~ avoid slang;

~ Know that right speech is the forerunner of right conduct;

~ Know that by attending to ones speech the action of ones life tends to purification;

~ breathe tranquilly;

~ seek knowledge, skill, truth, understanding;

~ learn to do ones work;

~ act;

~ do;

~ master doing;

~ become able;

~ let life be beautiful.

Christians

For most Christians an important part of the Bible are the New Testament words of Jesus.

According to a Bible I  looked into recently, the most important words of Jesus are in what the publisher calls "The great Commandment."

The Apostle Mark calls it the "First Commandment,"  which is closely followed in important by the "Second Commandment." It appears to be Jesus Himself who says, "There are no other Commandments greater than these."

These two greatest of Commandments are about love. Love seems to be a big deal for Jesus. It seems that the Greeks who wrote out thees Commandments had about half a dozen ways to write 'love;' each with a different meaning  The Greeks  selected one of them to use for the Word Jesus used. The Greeks were a discriminating  people as Jesus was a discriminating being. What meaning do you believe is meant in the Bible?

It is important to many Christians to give the words of the New Testament careful attention.

Looking at the first of these Greatest of Commandments, I see that the word 'thy' is used. 'Thy' refers to that which is your very own, but i contains much more meaning that that. It also means that which is familiar and friendly. More, it refers to that in which you trust and confide.

An important part of that First Commandment says, as I remember, "Love thy god with thy whole heart soul, mind, strength." That use of 'thy' suggests to me that Jesus thought that you have your very own God who is a familiar fried to you, in whom you can trust and confide. It also suggest that Jesus believed that you have heart, soul, mind that you can trust and learn how to use.

Jesus, it seems to me, said that one of the most important of ones doings is to love that very own God of yours. I'm pretty sure that does not mean that you should hug and kiss him, and take him to bed. I think that it means to love him a bit in the way his mother, Mary, loved Him. The love that Jesus speaks of seems to me to be about nurturing an supporting, and a helping to mature and thrive. I can figure how I might do that for my enemy or my neighbor. I'm not sure how to love a god or the God.  One can want the best for God. One might cooperate with Good. One can make a effort to get to know Him and his laws, and to be good followers of those  laws. God might find such cooperation loving. One can try.

Jesus, I believe, commands us to love our enemies. I don't thing that Jesus wants us to support are enemies in their efforts  against or to strengthen their ability to defeat us. He dose not want our
enemies to be strong successful enemies. I think that what he more probably wants is for us to help them be more successful human beings who we can trust in familiarity and friendship. Jesus seems to have thought that the good and goodness are important parts of love. We have a lot to learn

The second of the top two Commandments is the one I have found most useful to me. That's the one that says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thy self." To me it provides direction for good living. Here and now   I've just a few hints about its usefulness.

To me it suggests that it is very important for me to know myself. It suggests that I ought to be clear about how I love myself.  It tells me that the better I am able to love myself the more successfully I may love another. I calls me to learn the nature of self love.

It seems that there were those who were not sure who Jesus meant should be included among our neighbors.  To help them to understand Jesus tells them a story. He has them imagine, as I remember, that they are strangers in a strange land and that we see a person strange to us and to the land. He has us see that the strange is in trouble. He lets us know that we ought help this strange overcome his trouble. He lets us know that such a 'stranger' is to be included among the neighbors we love as we love ourselves.

To me, it seems that Jesus directs those sense to widen and deepen their  understanding of: love, self, neighbor, enemy, God, heart, mind, trust, ....

The Wrong Choice

The fear of making a wrong choice sometimes seems greater than the fear of physical pain. It may be interesting to reconsider the meaning of 'choice' and of 'wrong.' At some point it may be interesting to reconsider the nature of 'fear' too.

We ought to know quite a bit about 'wrong' already; weren't we taught right from wrong long ago? It wasn't so very long ago that I learned that 'to wrong another' was to treat them unjustly. Some of us were told long years ago, "You are wrong." When what was meant was "You do wrong." The fact may have been that 'you momentarily acted imperfectly.'

Wrong" means something like twisted or awry. Opposite to twisted or awry might be straight, right, and true.

There seem to be a variety of ways I can by wrong; you to. Let me rephrase that. There are ways we can do wrong or act wrongly for a time. I can do wrong according to my conscience or the conscience of another. I can do wrong according to my morality or the morality of another. I can do wrong according to one law or another.  I can do wrong according to someones truth or fact. I can do that which society deems incorrect. When I choose that which is not needed, intended, or wanted, I may be said to have done wrong. I can be said to have done wrong when what I did was not fitting, suitable, or appropriate. I can be said to do wrong when what I do is not in accord with established usage, method, or procedure. I can learn to recognize a wrong and learn to avoid it.

I am never wrong personified; I don't think you are either.

I can see why making a choice can be fearful. I might make the wrong choice. I can make the wrong choice and become wrong. Oh, I remember; I cannot be defined as wrong. I can learn to do something better.

You may have come across a person who seemed troubled and have asked them, "Whats wrong?" and have had then answer "I don't know." They may have been thinking that they were wrong.

Maybe I'll remember to write of "choice" later.

She Spoke to Me or It's Mostly About Me, Myself, and I

I might even say "she spoke with me." We had a bit of a conversation. She didn't speak to me in Chitano, Spanish, or Mixe. The Chitano speaking people seem to know here best, but she is known widely among the people of Mexico. Her name has been heard in the Vatican.


She spoke to me in excellent English. It did seem a bit 'snipish' at first. I head her voice in my mind rather than through my ears. Our talk took place in my mind, seemed quit real. So real that she seemed to speak in the voice of a bit too haughty teenager.


Chitano is a Zapotecan or oto-manguean language.


The Chitano spoken in Juquila, it seems, is so special that it is often considered a language of its own. Juquila is a center for this special Chitano people. Chitano are few, but they can organize and they can fight. They care for the 'Virgin' and they have fought for her. Chitano are members of UCIRI, a large agricultural cooperative of indigenous people.


In English, she may be called the Virgin of Juquila. I did not call her that, nor did she call me Richard or Mr. Sheehan.


I think that I first heard of her in Oaxaca, Oaxaca. I felt her 'call' to me from that city. Later she told me that she made no such call and that it was unthinkable that she would do so.


From Oaxaca, I took the old road to the coast. I don't remember the village of Juquila, but am pretty sure I spent at least a night there. I do remember the great sanctuary built near Juquila. It was large and so made as to receive large numbers of Pilgrims. I remember offerings piled so large with offerings as to form a mountain made holy by faith. There was a large arch through which I could see the 'celito lindo' and across the valley. I did not feel La de Juquila there so continued on my way to her.


I walked up last the sanctuary and soon came to a humble chapel painted a notable gold-yellow. While I was still a ways from it, a tall dark man, wearing a shirt of color similar to that of the chapel, came out of the back door an pointed to a quebrada. I don't know how he detected my coming. He disappeared back into the chapel. I did not follow him him, but continued on to the quebrada which is where I had been headed.


I expected to find a waterfall and I did. the first appearance of the virgin had been near a small falls.


As I got to the edge of the arroyo, I found rustic stairs leading to a kind of viewing platform of cement and with a wrought-iron balustrade.The vie was not spectacular. Close below was a clear stream with a somewhat muddied bank. I was disappointed to see that there seemed to be some trash lying close to the stream. To my right was a little waterfall coming from a height I could not see. I was in the place I was looking for.


I walked down to the little stream. There I found what I had thought was trash was made up of a few tiny paper offerings. There were also many other little offerings there. They were mostly modeled of clay found near the stream Looking at them closely, I saw that they seem made to represent what their makers wanted. The largest number of them seemed to be modest little houses.


I walked up to the falls and saw no easy path to climb beyond them. I found more offerings in near-by niches. Had I the energy I had felt in earlier years I would have searched out the source of the water.


I walked back up to the little viewing platform and leaned upon its railing. There the talk began.

Samples

We act and act again and the results follow laws we know not.

The words 'Let the results go.' are repeated to us.

Hindoo have taught us to hold lightly to desire for the fruits of our acts.

Buddha taught that the source of our pain is that desire.

Learning is a fine reward. We learn to make our next act more likely to bear fruit.

Learning may move us closer to knowing. What would we know?

Knowledge may purify ones life of fear, anger, and painful longing.

Right knowledge may can protect us from unhealthy extremes of grief, joy, envy.

Right knowledge clarifies our view of reality.

One may profit by meditating, doing, not doing, and undoing.

From time to time there are those who may facilitate ones learning.

One may know oneself to better effect.

Being in the Groove

Being in a groove can become a problem if it leads to getting stock in a rut. However, your groove can lead you to greater knowledge of the world and the universe, of your cosmos and your self. Knowledge is a way to power.


If your interest in,say, turtles, motivates you to explore and discover, you may have fun gaining knowledge. And if your belief that that knowledge leads to power motivates you a bit more .....


Imagine: turtle soup, fine restaurants, wetlands, rivers, seas, travel, ..... biology, business, antique tortoiseshell combs, turtle egg breakfast on a Polynesian isle, politics, geography, natural resources, zoos, ..... imagine and do.


And be led to wonderful problems.

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - UT Library Online

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection - UT Library Online

Interesting site to visit before going to Google Maps.

It is also a portal to Google Maps