Comments on: A subtle lesson

By: Irving

Irving — Sun, 21 Oct 2007 20:13:00 +0000

A really lovely and true and Grace full post Thank you. May the wind of Grace blow all that ego smoke away

Peace and Many Blessings!

By: John

John — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 21:43:30 +0000

Learning to be a witness to someone, through good and bad, while struggling to set aside your own personal thoughts and absorb the information and intention of the individual in question is not an easy mountain to tackle, but it is rewarding in the attempt, much less the success.

By: greenfrog

greenfrog — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 20:44:15 +0000

Jon,

This is probably a bit of the center of your point. If so, forgive…

Sometimes I think of all a person’s everything as “karma” — experience, genetics, intentions, whatever. And while I also tend to think that exactly the same karma would bring you to exactly the same place as your political discussion counterpart, I nonetheless think that in the present instant, you can choose to awaken, even if only a tiny bit, and so even if you had the same karma up to now, you still can diverge.

And John,

To stick with Jon’s Thich Nhat Hahn concepts, I’m increasingly convinced that one of the most important parts of interbeing with others is serving as a Witness to their lives. The common characteristics among the best teachers I’ve ever had in this life was their ability and willingness to set aside themselves long enough to truly see me, especially to see me in ways that I lacked the skill or understanding to do myself. My wife is extraordinarily good at that.

I think that may be the greatest gift I’ve ever received.

By: Jon

Jon — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 19:15:52 +0000

That’s two now, John! Start that blog already. (And thanks for the great comment. It’s a growing point for me that I need a lot of work in this regard.)

By: a. julie

a. julie — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 15:29:36 +0000

John – fascinating! And such a sharp observation. (Hm, who are you and where is your blog?)

By: John

John — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 14:01:06 +0000

I was witness to much of this conversation. I took away from it something a bit different.

I enjoy hearing people speak their minds about politics. Much of it is a closed-off, one-sided competition to see who can espouse more random CNN or Fox News facts than anyone else, but at certain points a bit of individuality shines through and you see a window to closely guarded self identities.

People are often ignorant, and at the same time arrogant, about their own understanding of the world they coexist in. By listening closely, and filtering out the loud attempts to assert dominance, you can find what truly motivates them. Whether it is a fear of people more powerful, a disdain for people less motivated, or a disinterest in anything at all, it comes through.

By taking those tiny little bits of truth, you can begin painting a more vivid picture of your cubicle co-habitants.

Smile at the sheer humanity of it all. We trade in stupid and barter with words, but sometimes it’s worth the price.

By: a. julie

a. julie — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 18:22:02 +0000

I don’t have much reason for arguing with anyone, anymore… of course I do play the game in architecture quite frequently, but we’ve all agreed upon the rules… in any event, it’s for two reasons. First, most people are convinced of their point of view, so all you do is encourage enmity. Second, everyone has perfectly good reasons for believing whatever they believe, even if (as in genocide in Rwanda) they are completely beyond me.

By: Rick

Rick — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:24:53 +0000

Hey Jon,

Nice perspective…been there, will be there again…but learning to see anew. I’m learning that experiencing the kingdom of god (i.e. love, peace, freedom, contentment, etc) as a present reality is my choice.

By: zach

zach — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:58:08 +0000

Hmm, this sounds familiar. I’m this way too often. Thanks for the lesson.

Mi amas la Esperanto sur via blogon.