Daily Inspirational Message for December 9, 2013
It can be difficult to accept others and to accept ourselves. ‘I should be better. I should be something different. I should have more.’ All of this is conception; it’s all mental fabrication. It’s just the mind churning up ‘shoulds,’ ‘ought tos,’ and ‘supposed tos.’ All this is conceptual rubbish, and yet we believe it. -– Thubten Chodron
I think we all tend to think of spiritual practice as something far more esoteric, sophisticated and beyond us than it really is. Every time we stop and question that inner voice that judges ourselves or others harshly, that wants to react in anger or impatience, that starts to spin off into endless worrying, we are engaging in spiritual practice. Every time we grab ahold of our stream of thought and aim it in a more positive direction, we are engaging in spiritual practice. Every time we choose to stretch ourselves to be more upbeat, kind, loving or tolerant than we feel like being at that moment, we are engaging in spiritual practice. We are all engaging in spiritual practice every day, and doing a fine job of it, too! Just as the Grand Canyon grew breathtakingly magnificent one day at a time, we are all growing toward deeper personal strength and divine wisdom one little spiritual effort at a time.
I think we all tend to think of spiritual practice as something far more esoteric, sophisticated and beyond us than it really is. Every time we stop and question that inner voice that judges ourselves or others harshly, that wants to react in anger or impatience, that starts to spin off into endless worrying, we are engaging in spiritual practice. Every time we grab ahold of our stream of thought and aim it in a more positive direction, we are engaging in spiritual practice. Every time we choose to stretch ourselves to be more upbeat, kind, loving or tolerant than we feel like being at that moment, we are engaging in spiritual practice. We are all engaging in spiritual practice every day, and doing a fine job of it, too! Just as the Grand Canyon grew breathtakingly magnificent one day at a time, we are all growing toward deeper personal strength and divine wisdom one little spiritual effort at a time.