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.
When something feels right, that means it is right for you. Pay attention to your authentic feelings, and follow where they lead.
Pain in this life is not avoidable, but the pain we create avoiding pain is avoidable.
In times like these, it helps to recall that there have always been times like these.
In the end, it mattered not that you could not close your mind. It was your heart that saved you.
The Bible in the memory is better than the Bible in the book case.
Woe to the man who is always busy - hurried in a turmoil of engagements, from occupation to occupation, and with no seasons interposed of recollection, contemplation and repose! Such a man must inevitably be gross and vulgar, and hard and indelicate - the sort of man with whom no generous spirit would desire to hold intercourse.
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