Sunday, May 30, 2010

ON CONSOLING


Over the years, I’ve tried to find simple ways to help ordinary people know what to do and remember how to be when in the company of someone in sorrow. A simple acronym, SALT— as in the salt of tears—emerged as a teaching tool to help learn by heart four basic premises for support. Four chapters in the book, a chapter for each letter, are dedicated to illustrating each skill:

• See them.
• Allow them.
• Listen to them.
• Trust them.

If you can simply See those in grief without acting on the urge to do something right away, you have taken the first step toward helping them to heal. Your unconditional compassion, without criticism and without your own projection, will Allow them to do what they need to. They may need to talk; your best response would be to Listen generously, without interruption, without asking questions or telling your own story. And finally, Trust that within them is everything they need to traverse this difficult path. They do not need your rescue. They need your quiet, steady faith in their resilience. -Marianna Cacciatore http://mariannacacciatore.com/introduction.htm

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Let us welcome Change, the essence of life.

When we stand still in space,
we part the air and,
as we move,
air moves in to make it whole.
We have other reasons for moving;
but the wise ones move
to make things whole.
Movement is the essence of time;
the whole world moves with it
in one direction -- forward.
Our physical body moves with time --
growing, ageing, decaying.
Our mental image of our 'Self'
should grow with time, not decay,
maturing like the fruit on a tree.
It is then harvested by the creator
not to be born again.
In our every day life,
we shall be happy if
we move to integrate. For,
move, we have to.
Let us not get attached to the space
of power, pelf, position that
we temporarily occupy, and always
remember that we have to move on.
A movement with resentment
brings in bitterness, division and misery.
Moving willingly to integrate,
leaving the space we occupy,
brings in fullness - Ananda, Bliss-eternal,
Sat-chit-ananda.