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Certainty of death. Small chance of success. What are we waiting for?
- Gimli, from "The Lord of the Rings", by JRR Tolkien The attitude of the American Indian toward the Eternal, the Great Mystery that surrounds and embraces us, is as simple as it is exalted. To us it is the supreme conception, bringing with it the fullest measure of joy and satisfaction possible in this life. The worship of the Great Mystery is silent, solitary, free from all self-seeking.
- Excerpt from "The Wisdom of the Native Americans" A flashback-inducing critic is typically spawned in a danger-ridden childhood home. This is true whether the danger comes from the passive abandonment of neglect or the active abandonment of abuse. When parents do not provide safe enough bonding and positive feedback, the child flounders in anxiety and fear. Many children appear to be hard-wired to adapt to this endangering abandonment with perfectionism.
- Pete Walker, LMFT, "Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving" It was morning, and the new sun sparkled gold across the ripples of a gentle sea.
A mile from shore a fishing boat chummed the water, and the word for Breakfast Flock flashed through the air, till a crowd of a thousand seagulls came to dodge and fight for bits of food. It was another busy day beginning. But way off alone, out by himself beyond boat and shore, Jonathan Livingston Seagull was practicing. A hundred feet in the sky he lowered his webbed feet, lifted his beak, and strained to hold a painful hard twisting curve through his wings. The curve meant that he would fly slowly, and now he slowed until the wind was a whisper in his face, until the ocean stood still beneath him. He narrowed his eyes in fierce concentration, held his breath, forced one…single…more…inch…of…curve…. Then his feathers ruffled, he stalled and fell. Seagulls, as you know, never falter, never stall. To stall in the air is for them disgrace and it is dishonor. But Jonathan Livingston Seagull, unashamed, stretching his wings again in that trembling hard curve—slowing, slowing, and stalling once more—was no ordinary bird. Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight—how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight. More than anything else, Jonathan Livingston Seagull loved to fly. - Richard Bach, American writer Great egocentricity does not make a person great. The common ground of all creation is a greater source of life than any exalted isolation.
These three qualities are invaluable:
A compassionate person acts in behalf of everyone's right to life. Material simplicity gives one an abundance to share. A sense of equality is, paradoxically, one's true greatness. It is a mistake to consider a person whose only interest is self-interest as either caring or courageous. It is a mistake to rationalize that excessive consumption contributes to the well-being of others by giving them employment. It is a mistake to imagine that a person who acts immodestly or in a superior way is, in fact, a genuinely superior person. These are all egocentric behaviors. They isolate a person from the common ground of existence. They produce rigidity and death. Compassion, sharing, and equality, on the other hand, sustain life. This is because we are all one. When I care for you, I enhance the harmonious energy of the whole. And that is life. Sometimes I can’t help the feeling that I’m
Living a life of illusion And oh, why can’t we let it be And see through the hole in this wall of confusion I just can’t help the feeling I’m Living a life of illusion Pow! Right between the eyes Oh, how nature loves her little surprises Wow! It all seems so logical now It’s just one of her better disguises And it comes with no warning Nature loves her little surprises Continual crisis Hey, don’t you know it’s a waste of your day Caught up in endless solutions That have no meaning, just another hunch Based upon jumping conclusions Caught up in endless solutions Backed up against a wall of confusion Living a life of illusion - Joe Walsh and Kenny Passarelli, American songwriters and musicians I am the eagle, I live in high country
in rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky. I am the hawk, and there’s blood on my feathers. But the time is still turning, they soon will be dry. And all those who see me, and all who believe in me share in the freedom I feel when I fly. Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops. Sail over the canyons and up to the stars. And reach for the heavens and hope for the future And all that we can be, and not what we are. - Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. and Mike Taylor The wise person knows the true nature of events cannot be captured in words. Confusing jargon is one sure sign of a person who does not know how things happen. But what cannot be said can be demonstrated: be silent, be conscious. Consciousness works. It sheds light on what is happening. It clarifies conflicts and harmonizes the agitated individual or group field.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. Through the unknown, remembered gate When the last of earth left to discover Is that which was the beginning; At the source of the longest river The voice of the hidden waterfall And the children in the apple-tree Not know, because not looked for But heard, half-heard, in the stillness Between two waves of the sea. Quick now, here, now, always- A condition of complete simplicity (Costing not less than everything) And all shall be well and All manner of things shall be well When the tongues of flame are in-folded Into the crowned knot of fire And the fire and the rose are one. - T.S. Eliot, poet, essayist, playwright, and author Hate the sin, love the sinner. Hard on problems, soft on people. Don't hate the player, hate the game. There are many different ways to articulate this principle, but they all speak to the same core concept in nonviolence: people are never the enemy, injustice is. The very idea that we can continue to use force, fear, and intimidation to enforce our will over another person to get what we want is the problem. The belief that attacking individual people and overpowering them to try and solve our issues in any sustainable way is the problem.
People are not our enemy. Violence is our enemy. Injustice is our enemy. Any worldview that stands against life, love, and community is the enemy. When we stop seeing people as our enemy, the framework for how we bring about transformation in our relationships and in society changes drastically. When we see that reconciliation of relationships and movement toward Beloved Community is our ultimate goal, we see that the ways we try to make change must be aligned with this principle. - Kazu Haga, a teacher and practitioner of nonviolence, restorative justice, meditation, community organizing and movement building. |
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January 2026
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