Monday, June 25, 2012

Contemplative Monday



The following quote/lesson by Pema Chodron was so helpful to me the past couple of days. With the stress my family is feeling over the care of our father, I gained some perspective from this lesson.


TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES


"I've known many people who have spent years exercising daily, 
getting massages, doing yoga, faithfully following one food or
vitamin regimen after another,


pursuing spiritual teachers and different styles of meditation,
all in the name of taking care of themselves. 


Then something bad happens to them and all those years don't seem 
to have added up to the inner strength and kindness for themselves


that they need to relate with what's happening. And they don't add up 
to being able to help other people or the environment.


When taking care of ourselves is all about me, it never gets at the 
unshakable tenderness and confidence that we'll need when everything falls apart.


When we start to develop maitri for ourselves, unconditional acceptance
of ourselves, then we're really taking care of ourselves in a way that
pays off.

                      

We feel more at home with our own bodies and minds and more
at home in the world. As our kindness for ourselves grows, so does our
 kindness for other people."

                                  
The above quote was taken from Heart Advice: Weekly Quotes by Pema Chodron.



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