Most of us have spent our lives caught up in plans, expectations, ambitions for the future; in regrets, guilt or shame about the past. To come into the present is to stop the war.
Jack KornfieldRead
In deep self acceptance, grows a compassionate understanding.
Interpretation
Self-acceptance fosters compassion towards oneself and others.
This quote by Jack Kornfield highlights the profound relationship between self-acceptance and compassion. When we fully accept ourselves, including our flaws and vulnerabilities, we cultivate a deeper understanding and empathy, not only for our own experiences but also for the struggles of those around us. This understanding can lead to a more compassionate way of interacting with ourselves and others, thereby enriching our relationships and overall well-being.
In practice
During a workshop on personal development, this quote can be shared to illustrate the importance of self-acceptance.
Most of us have spent our lives caught up in plans, expectations, ambitions for the future; in regrets, guilt or shame about the past. To come into the present is to stop the war.
We need courage and strength, a kind of warrior spirit. But the place for this warrior strength is in the heart. We need energy, commitment, and courage not to run from our life nor to cover it over with any philosophy-mate rial or spiritual. We need a warriorβs heart that lets us face our lives directly, our pains and limitations, our joys and possibilities.
The questions asked at the end of lie are very simple ones: Did I love well? Did I love the people around me, my community, the earth, in a deep way? And perhaps, Did I live fully? Did I offer myself to life?
We can bring our spiritual practice into the streets, into our communities, when we see each realm as a temple, as a place to discover that which is sacred.
According to Buddhist scriptures, compassion is the "quivering of the pure heart" when we have allowed ourselves to be touched by the pain of life.
Much of spiritual life is self-acceptance, maybe all of it.
Antonin Artaud wrote on one of his drawings, "Never real and always true," and that is how depression feels. You know that it is not real, that you are someone else, and yet you know that it is absolutely true.
Very conscious of the fact that an effort was being made to destroy my mind, because I was deprived of books, deprived of any means of writing, deprived of human companionship. You never know how much you need it until you're deprived of it.
I think the big danger of madness is not madness itself, but the habit of madness. What I discovered during the time I spent in the asylum is that I could choose madness and spend my whole life without working, doing nothing, pretending to be mad. It was a very strong temptation.
Your intention rules your life and determines the outcome.
Nothing raises the price of a blessing like its removal; whereas, it was its continuance which should have taught us its value. [It is wise to be grateful of what we have while we have it.]
I can teach anybody how to get what they want out of life. The problem is that I can't find anybody who can tell me what they want.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.