We must learn to speak according to our own inner truth, as far as we can perceive it…. This gives us a clue to what the director is really seeking to find out from us… The director wants to know our inmost self, our real self. He wants to know us not as we are in the eyes of men, or even as we are in our own eyes, but as we are in the eyes of God.
Tag: spirituality
Going the final mile and the danger of self-direction
Nothing is more harmful than self-direction, nothing more fatal… I never allowed myself to follow my thought without asking advice” (Instructions of Dorotheus of Gaza)
How poignant this is for our times. How often it is that we seek to find out own way, make our own decisions… “my spiritual journey is my own personal thing and I keep it to myself mostly.” My friends, as good as this sounds, it is not the way to move forward in the spiritual life. We must not separate ourselves from the saints, the fathers and the mothers, that have come before us, whatever religion they may be. They will always tell us of the need for a director, a spiritual companion, a confessor, a community.
Ego Climbing and Selfless Climbing
From Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: “To the trained eye ego-climbing an selfless climbing may appear identical. Both kinds of climbers place one foot in…… Read more “Ego Climbing and Selfless Climbing”
Playing Catch-Up
I was in class last week, and such a transformational time it was… however, returning home to family life, working, caretaking the land, cleaning the house, and…… Read more “Playing Catch-Up”
Beautiful words from Joanna Macy and Matthew Fox
"The heart that breaks open can contain the whole universe.... All is registered in the "boundless heart" of the bodhisattva. Through our deepest and innermost responses to… Read more "Beautiful words from Joanna Macy and Matthew Fox"
Nathan Bettger | Oshkosh, WI 