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Gratefulness
No one can “be” in a hurry; I mean “be” in the sense of living from the center of one’s real inner being. One can either rush — or be. Never both at the same time.
I hold you gently in the quiet of my thought. The stillness tells me clearly that this crisis in your life, which most call a breakdown, is a listening time.
As you told me when we visited a few weeks ago, the pace of your life had become utterly hectic. You’ve become a great success — from the world’s point of view. The world had crowned you, and its praises were like sweet promises that you’d one day own that realm. Then you suddenly woke up one morning to find you had lost the keys to your own inner kingdom.
You are at a crossroads, sensing there are less worldly paths you can follow, paths that feed on profound inner peace, a more encompassing joy, ever-renewed freshness of vision and inspiration, a more rhythmic sense of quiet progression. There is, deep within you, a spring so pure, one cup of its clear waters will refresh you more than all the soda fountains of the world.
If I achieved a little less, so be it ! What I achieved would at least be done with joy.
For 29 years I lived under the hour by hour pressure of time. Its shadows closed in on me — at work, at home, on outings, at mealtimes, everywhere. Then, one day I decided to abandon all this rushing and running. If I achieved a little less, so be it ! What I achieved would at least be done with joy. There and then, I composed a little poem to put on my desk:
Spirit of Truth, I thank you That I have all the time I need To do all I need to do Today Calmly, peacefully With unhurried grace
Within 24 hours, 29 years of headlong rushing slipped off my shoulders like an old, tattered cloak, because I no longer clutched it around me.
No one can “be” in a hurry; I mean “be” in the sense of living from the center of one’s real inner being. One can either rush — or be. Never both at the same time. Most people in the West have decided to rush. It does not mean you have to follow the same path. You are the one who chooses. You make for yourself the life you wish to live. So just take possession of your life.
Realize in the stillness of your inner being that, despite any outward chaos, all things have an order. You are a thread in a universal weaving. It is like a Persian rug: on the backside of the rug, strands of wool hang in a mess; there are knots here, knots there — knots everywhere. But from above, what a pattern you see, what order.
This conviction you need is that life is not a rat race or an Olympic marathon, but the gentle, unhurried unfolding of your real being. It is not so much what you do that counts, but who you are.
I believe all things are given to those who share with rejoicing. Dear friend, practice rejoicing and giving thanks. They’re the keys to rejuvenation. A thought filled with gratitude has no room for self-condemnation or sour reminiscences, feeling of failure, or unsatisfied wants and desires clamoring to be fulfilled. It’s even possible to give thanks for this trial — it can become the stepping stone to unhurried living.
So, dear friend, rest in the knowledge that this unhurried rhythm is a seed already sown inside you. It needs a little water, some sunshine, and a quiet spot to grow. It needs also your tender care and the gentle virtue of patience.
Finally, and above all, learn to love yourself. This might surprise you, but I believe real self-love is the most needed quality in the world today. If you truly love yourself, you will never be able to hate, resent or feel bitter or envious of another man. You will stop judging and condemning yourself — hence judging and condemning others.
There is in us all a deep sea of calmness.
“Simplicity” by Pierre Pradervand
This blog is reprinted by kind permission of The Gentle Art of Blessing.
A true world citizen, Pierre Pradervand has labored all his life for social justice, living in or visiting 40 countries on every continent. From his Geneva home Pierre is now active as a writer, speaker and workshop facilitator, helping people to live simpler, yet richer, more contented lives. His workshops provide personal development tools that empower attendees to strengthen their internal anchors and advance on their spiritual path. He is the author of the award-winning The Gentle Art of Blessing and Messages of Life from Death Row, a collection of letters from Roger McGowen, an innocent former death row inmate.
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Wanted to add that we all have very little understanding of what life or being is. We use lots of words and few of them can define life in an understandable way. I have had some “spiritual” experiences which led me to conclude that you can’t explain the spirtitual in words, you can only use words as pointers, the person will have to have the experience. And a thought came to me when reading Pierre’s Bio. We are all “innocent death row inmates”. Until we experience the Spiritual a...
Wanted to add that we all have very little understanding of what life or being is. We use lots of words and few of them can define life in an understandable way. I have had some “spiritual” experiences which led me to conclude that you can’t explain the spirtitual in words, you can only use words as pointers, the person will have to have the experience. And a thought came to me when reading Pierre’s Bio. We are all “innocent death row inmates”. Until we experience the Spiritual aspects of life. — Those experiences will be different for everyone.
I would like to add a quote I recently read, saying: the wise is living in silence in the midst of the world, his heart is an open space. (Lao-Tzu, Tao Te King). Thank you again, dear Pierre Pradervand.
I see a ring on your finger. Is this clutter? Is your clutter different from my clutter? How do you define clutter?
When I was a boy, my friends and I spent wonderful times by the river, sending flat rocks skipping across the water's surface, until they slowed enough to sink. Much later, I saw this as a metaphor for life. It seems we cannot "go deep" until we slow down. Sometimes, a rock would skip all the way across the river to the other side without "going deeper", and I wonder, "How many people's lives are like this?" Sinking into the deep and cold can be challenging, and yet too that appears to be a mo...
When I was a boy, my friends and I spent wonderful times by the river, sending flat rocks skipping across the water’s surface, until they slowed enough to sink. Much later, I saw this as a metaphor for life. It seems we cannot “go deep” until we slow down. Sometimes, a rock would skip all the way across the river to the other side without “going deeper”, and I wonder, “How many people’s lives are like this?” Sinking into the deep and cold can be challenging, and yet too that appears to be a most effective pathway to growth. Thank you, Pierre!
Thank you, Pierre, for these warm words. I am a recovering hurrier. In some ways, hurrying has helped me arrive at anticipated experiences when I might otherwise have missed them. On the other hand, the journey itself should also be honored. As a counselor and counselor educator, I impart the following practical advice as it relates to anything we do: be aware. Simply being aware of hurrying or not hurrying is, I think, the path to a centered, peaceful life. Self-awareness, in this way, then, a...
Thank you, Pierre, for these warm words. I am a recovering hurrier. In some ways, hurrying has helped me arrive at anticipated experiences when I might otherwise have missed them. On the other hand, the journey itself should also be honored. As a counselor and counselor educator, I impart the following practical advice as it relates to anything we do: be aware. Simply being aware of hurrying or not hurrying is, I think, the path to a centered, peaceful life. Self-awareness, in this way, then, allows me to live intentionally, deliberately, and with decided purpose. Otherwise, I might just get dragged along as a lemming in the swift current of my expedient culture! Peace and Love, JIm
Although I agree with the sentiments of this article I wish to also expand the topic by referring to the opening pages of “Faith Beyond Belief” where Anselm Grun quotes C.J. Jung
…..In the first place, the ego is always present. C. G. Jung says that in the first half of life it is important to develop a strong ego; in the second half one centers on the Self. But that does not mean that the ego is entirely gone. Jesus says: “Deny yourself,” which means: distance yourself from your e...
…..In the first place, the ego is always present. C. G. Jung says that in the first half of life it is important to develop a strong ego; in the second half one centers on the Self. But that does not mean that the ego is entirely gone. Jesus says: “Deny yourself,” which means: distance yourself from your ego. Get free of your ego. But I am skeptical when someone who is on a spiritual path says: I am altogether free of my ego. I am nothing but a self. The danger is that in saying this, one inflates one’s ego, feeling oneself to be something special and placing oneself above others”
and …In the same reference… Brother David continues,
…..”I think we need three concepts: Self, I, and ego. At the moment we are only using two: the Self and the ego. I find Ego, Fear, and Nothingness it more helpful to say that the Self expresses itself through the I. Sometimes we say “I” and sometimes, when we want to be emphatic, “I myself.” That is something totally positive: “I myself.” But the “I” can forget the Self. The “I” becomes fearful because it is only a single, isolated “I” among so many others. And out of that fear arises the ego. In the moment in which the “I” forgets the Self, it collapses in on itself, and that is what I call the ego. Ego is characterized by fear, and from fear come aggression, competitiveness, and meanness.”
For myself …..a westerner who has had to put-up with the products of western educations methods and its products ….I applaud Br David’s call out to conclude an addressing of Self, I, and Ego in ALL education systems for the primary purpose of ‘Common awareness of WHO, WHAT, and HOW we Humans are’.
Ego is not the main problem, lack of understanding of it is!!! As a practicing Essene Christian I differentiate ‘Ego’ from “egoism”. I am An ‘Egofied Archangel’ and I came into existence in this Being-ness accompanied by another Egofied Archangel , my Guardian Archangel. So I absolutely cannot demonize the Ego. There would be no Humans experiencing Being-ness with out it!!!
It is fine for those who Jung identified in the above quote … “in the second half one centers on the Self” those now set, (perhaps), in security materially, to begin saying “non’t hurry” but youth has equal value in developing their “Ego” BUT it would be helpful for them to do so without the danger of being taken over by worldly “egoism” habits. ( Commercialism, Advertising, Nationalism, etc) This is the ‘What and Were’ a Global education program is desperately required. BUT at the same time, please try to avoid the condescending aloofness so prevalent in the western Baby-boomer culture!!! 😉
I would called the Program, “Balance first…and then Simplicity…then Fun”
Be Well Be Present ……Be Safe
EdS
You talk much too much and have no clue
Is this your opinion? Could you expand on your belief? It’s not a very kind or loving thing to say. – And I’m not judging anything else about you by saying that.
Thank you dearly for your profound remembrance of being through being slower and being patient and through the love of self. It just helps and I am grateful for your calming and centering words.
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