Guest guest Posted December 25, 2002 Report Share Posted December 25, 2002 Namaste: Less than a year ago, I was sleeping soundly. Quite soundly. Suddenly, in the spring of 2002, I was awakened. I did not know it then. I am an attorney by profession and have practiced law for 21 years. I had gone away to a trial lawyers’ seminar, to learn trial skills, working with a jury. The seminar was presented by the Trial Lawyers’ College, based in the State of Wyoming, run by Gerry Spence, an American trial master, author, and teacher. The first morning of that seminar, which took place in Pennsylvania, I received what I now know to be Shaktipat. I received the touch from a man who was standing behind me in the cafeteria. We had a brief conversation, I turned away, and all of a sudden his hand was on the back of my head, where he held it as I stood frozen with surprise more than anything. At the time, I felt a physical sensation as if some kind of energy entered into me from his hand. I avoided the man who had "patted" me so strangely on the head for the rest of the seminar. The seminar focused on seeking justice as the foundation of our service as trial attorneys. By coincidence, some of the sessions opened an unexpected pandora’s box on the subject of racism. I left, my heart burning with emotions which related to racism and employment discrimination as it had affected my life. For several days after returning home from the seminar, I took a short, unfinished "letter to the editor" that I had written and turned it into an article on racism, speaking as the white wife of a black man in America. In it, I revealed some painful personal experiences, which included my own father’s inability to accept my chosen path. I was torn between what I felt I had to do and the shame I would reveal. One day, shortly after the article had been accepted for publication in the Trial Lawyers’ College publication, I was especially agitated over what I had done. I was questioning whether I was doing the right thing. I had tried to show the article to my husband, and he had recoiled from me and would not read it. Permit me to take you there with me briefly, to an excerpt from the book which eventually emerged from my chaos... most of which was written before I began to discover the meaning of Shakti... THUNDER AND LIGHTNING ....It is only natural that he does not want me to dig into pain that he would rather forget. I would rather not dig into pain that he would rather forget. I would rather forget it too. But there are times in your life when you must face your self. You must face the challenge that is placed before you. You must accept the challenge. You must stand up and say something. So, battered but not broken, I cry out for sanctuary but do not lose my resolve to forge ahead. I just feel so alone. The next day is Sunday...thunder and lightning, thunder and lightning, thunder and lightning... All day long, the phrase runs through my head like a broken record!!! What is wrong with me? Why do I keep chanting this mantra to myself? It is the symbol of Trial Lawyers’ College. A big huge cloud of thunder with a bolt of lightning coming out of the upper right. I am still feeling battered and needing to strengthen my resolve. I am thinking of the symbol to find strength to continue to write even though it is painful for me and the very anathema of life to my husband. I am truly up against the wall. I am feeling helpless. I am feeling deflated. Am I doing the right thing? It is Sunday night. I am in my kitchen. It is around nine o’clock. Suddenly, I hear a loud crash of thunder. As I look out my kitchen window, I see a flash of lightning. As one who loves thunder and lightning, I immediately run to the door to see better. Jason runs with me. Then there is a second crash of thunder, then another flash of lightning. I hear the crash of thunder, then the flash of lightning, one more time, the third time. Loud and powerful, each crash of thunder. Beautiful slices of light into the night sky, three bolts of lightning. The thunder crashes, the lightning slices through the night sky. Three times. Then silence. There is no forecast for rain or thunderstorms tonight. I am incredulous. No, that cannot be. I look out into the sky to make sure that no storm has moved in. The sky is clear. In fact, I can see stars. It was so close to the house, in full view of my kitchen windows, there was no way I could miss it. Three perfect crashes of thunder, three perfect flashes of lightning, each one unmistakable in the night sky and in my ears. There is no turning back. I shake from the very force of all that is happening to me, my hand just a quiver in the air when I try to hold it still in front of me and it will not stay still. My whole being is gripped in paroxysms of disbelief of what I know I have just seen and heard. I shake like this for about a week before I finally calm down a bit..... An excerpt from Genocide of the Damned...A Child’s Prayer for Life, Chapter 4, Journey to The Top of The Mountain It was this moment that defined my future path. Where I come from, you do not ignore thunder and lightning. Although I knew instinctively that I had been graced by the healing hand, I had not asked for it. At least that is what I thought. In the beginning, I resisted more than I surrendered. I ranted against the new presence I felt within whenever things became overwhelming, which was often. "I did not ask for this. You took me from behind You did not request my permission." I now know that I was brought to the seminar. High in the mountains overlooking the very valley where I was born but had not lived for over 25 years. When I came down from the mountains, I did not come down the same way I went up. There was a new energy burning in my soul, in my heart, the fire of rebirth and renewal. Suddenly, I had to write. I could not stop myself. For over three months I lived and breathed my book, pushed forward again and again by the new force within me. I could not stop if I wanted to. I did not want to stop. I was driven. There was no turning back. There was no escape from this . It had to be done and I had to do it. In the beginning, I was driven by my pain and by my anger. I wrote to seek revenge and to avenge the hurts. Specifically, the hurt from the racism at my husband’s place of work which resulted in the loss of his job and the loss of my silence. Part of my agenda was to out them for the racism they had spewed upon my household. Hate was in my heart for them. I wanted to out the racist employer who had injured my husband and my family and me. I wanted to make them hurt because they had hurt me. I wanted to bring them to their knees the way they brought me and my family to our knees. Yet, as I wrote, I was confronted again and again by the specter of my dead father, a man of his times who was racist like so many others. A loving decent man who could not bring himself to accept or meet my husband. After I would write in earnest, when I was done, I would feel both purged and empty at the same time. Purged because I had released so many demons. Empty because I did not yet know what to put in their place. All I could find in myself was anger. Yet my father had hurt me, too. I had found forgiveness for him. It haunted me everywhere I turned. No matter where I turned when I attacked them, I was counterattacked by the ghost of my father’s racism and my forgiveness of him. I lost the need to avenge as I found the need to love. Not to love the acts of the people who hurt me. But to understand the need to love the collective of us. As I moved into the light, I also found love. I became humbled by the knowledge that there was so much more than my insular little world. While I felt as if I walked in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, racism was flourishing around me in the light of day for all to see and ignore. I began to understand that my call to write and the gift of my words was not so I could have revenge but so I could find love. That was my calling. To share the love that was sent my way as I battled my own hatred. So, although this book is about evil, in the end, it is about love. Eventually, I was graced into surrender. I try to listen. I really do. Now I have been led here. I come to you seeking assistance with my mission. For I know that I cannot do it alone without assistance from the many helping hands. I am asked to speak to the issues of prejudice and hatred, as it relates to the death of the Spirit, the death penalty in America, and Peace throughout the World. >From what I have read so far of the posts on this list, it is clear to me that I belong here for Sustenance and Wisdom as I seek to understand. I embrace That from whence I come, That to which I am now instinctively drawn. I seek knowledge of the publication process, so that my words reach the light. I seek guidance as I write the third draft of the book. If anyone can help me offlist with information, I humbly request your help. It has waited patiently for several months for me to reach a point where I am ready to go back to it. It is time. Mine is to serve. The Upanishads Invocations Lead me from the unreal to the real.Lead me from darkness to light.Lead me from death to immortality. 1 May the Lord of Love protect us.May the Lord of Love nourish us.May the Lord of Love strengthen us.May we realize the Lord of Love.May we live with love for all;May we live in peace with all.OM Shanti Shanti Shanti 2 May the Lord of day grant us peace.May the Lord of night grant us peace.May the Lord of sight grant us peace.May the Lord of might grant us peace.May the Lord of speech grant us peace.May the Lord of space grant us peace.I bow down to Brahman, source of all power.I will speak the truth and follow the law.Guard me and my teacher against all harm.Guard me and my teacher against all harm.OM Shanti Shanti Shanti 3 Filled with Brahman are the things we see,Filled with Brahman are the things we see not,From out of Brahman floweth all that is:From Brahman all –– yet is he still the same.OM Shanti Shanti Shanti 4 May quietness descend upon my limbs,My speech, my breath, my eyes, my ears;May all my senses wax clear and strong.May Brahman show himself unto me.Never may I deny Brahman, nor Brahman me.I with him and he with me –– may we abide always together.May there be revealed to me,Who am devoted to Brahman,The holy truth of the Upanishads.OM Shanti Shanti Shanti 5 OMWith our ears may we hear what is good.With our eyes may we behold thy righteousness.Tranquil in body, may we who worship theefind rest. OM Shanti Shanti ShantiOM. . . Hail to the supreme Self! 6 May my speech be one with my mind,and may my mind be one with my speech.O thou self-luminous Brahman,remove the veil of ignorance from before me,that I may behold thy light.Do thou reveal to methe spirit of the scriptures.May the truth of the scripturesbe ever present to me.May I seek day and night to realize what I learn from the sages.May I speak the truth of Brahman.May I speak the truth.May it protect me.May it protect my teacher.OM Shanti Shanti Shanti In Humble Service, Joyce found on http://www.nilgiri.org/Html/Books_Audios_Videos/GMRF/gmrf1_2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 25, 2002 Report Share Posted December 25, 2002 Hello Joyce, This is Beautiful - thank you for your courage. I feel that your guide is clearly in the 'Lightening and Thunder' - in other words I feel that you are called to report both the dark and the light - the marriage which includes and is beyond these is what your book will be - the Whole - Love. I feel that you book must provide 'the solution' and the solution is to "See the Situation" - I feel that this means that you Lovingly report the facts of your family's experience and your forgiveness and growth so that it is a model for excellence. As you have already reported - your own experience is one of transformation - it is Love that transforms things - this transformation allows one to reach the highest potential onself for the benefit of all. In this spirit I feel that you will do well to report 'the behaviour' that represents 'the dark' and the behaviour that represents 'the light' - the metaphor of Lightening and Thunder - and to show that both are Love (Love is self-correcting - the enourmous pain and suffering of violence such as racism is really a 'lesson' that Love is providing to *end this*, and, the joy when Love is flowing is the 'lesson' to *support this*). And, by focusing on 'behaviour' that is inappropriate you will not be condeming people (more violence) - you will be sheding Light on violence. And, when there is clarity in SEEING - the way to proceed is obvious (some folks will feel that you are attacking them and will defend themselves by attacking you - yet if you remain focused on the fact that 'it is the violence that is not acceptable' - they will SEE that you are not condeming them but rather 'ending all violence' is what you are proposing AND that Peace, Love, is the default state when violence isn't [we do not make peace - peace is natural]). Seeing is Doing. Blessings on this Christmas Day and All-Ways, Love and Gratitude, James , "Lady Joyce" <ladyjoy@v...> wrote: > Namaste: > > Less than a year ago, I was sleeping soundly. Quite soundly. Suddenly, in the spring of 2002, I was awakened. I did not know it then. I am an attorney by profession and have practiced law for 21 years. I had gone away to a trial lawyers' seminar, to learn trial skills, working with a jury. The seminar was presented by the Trial Lawyers' College, based in the State of Wyoming, run by Gerry Spence, an American trial master, author, and teacher. > > The first morning of that seminar, which took place in Pennsylvania, I received what I now know to be Shaktipat. I received the touch from a man who was standing behind me in the cafeteria. We had a brief conversation, I turned away, and all of a sudden his hand was on the back of my head, where he held it as I stood frozen with surprise more than anything. At the time, I felt a physical sensation as if some kind of energy entered into me from his hand. I avoided the man who had "patted" me so strangely on the head for the rest of the seminar. > > The seminar focused on seeking justice as the foundation of our service as trial attorneys. By coincidence, some of the sessions opened an unexpected pandora's box on the subject of racism. I left, my heart burning with emotions which related to racism and employment discrimination as it had affected my life. For several days after returning home from the seminar, I took a short, unfinished "letter to the editor" that I had written and turned it into an article on racism, speaking as the white wife of a black man in America. In it, I revealed some painful personal experiences, which included my own father's inability to accept my chosen path. I was torn between what I felt I had to do and the shame I would reveal. > > One day, shortly after the article had been accepted for publication in the Trial Lawyers' College publication, I was especially agitated over what I had done. I was questioning whether I was doing the right thing. I had tried to show the article to my husband, and he had recoiled from me and would not read it. Permit me to take you there with me briefly, to an excerpt from the book which eventually emerged from my chaos... most of which was written before I began to discover the meaning of Shakti... > > > ---- ---------- > > > THUNDER AND LIGHTNING > > ...It is only natural that he does not want me to dig into pain that he would rather forget. I would rather not dig into pain that he would rather forget. I would rather forget it too. But there are times in your life when you must face your self. You must face the challenge that is placed before you. You must accept the challenge. You must stand up and say something. So, battered but not broken, I cry out for sanctuary but do not lose my resolve to forge ahead. I just feel so alone. > > The next day is Sunday...thunder and lightning, thunder and lightning, thunder and lightning... All day long, the phrase runs through my head like a broken record!!! What is wrong with me? Why do I keep chanting this mantra to myself? It is the symbol of Trial Lawyers' College. A big huge cloud of thunder with a bolt of lightning coming out of the upper right. I am still feeling battered and needing to strengthen my resolve. I am thinking of the symbol to find strength to continue to write even though it is painful for me and the very anathema of life to my husband. I am truly up against the wall. I am feeling helpless. I am feeling deflated. Am I doing the right thing? > > It is Sunday night. I am in my kitchen. It is around nine o'clock. Suddenly, I hear a loud crash of thunder. As I look out my kitchen window, I see a flash of lightning. As one who loves thunder and lightning, I immediately run to the door to see better. Jason runs with me. Then there is a second crash of thunder, then another flash of lightning. I hear the crash of thunder, then the flash of lightning, one more time, the third time. Loud and powerful, each crash of thunder. Beautiful slices of light into the night sky, three bolts of lightning. The thunder crashes, the lightning slices through the night sky. Three times. Then silence. > > There is no forecast for rain or thunderstorms tonight. I am incredulous. No, that cannot be. I look out into the sky to make sure that no storm has moved in. The sky is clear. In fact, I can see stars. It was so close to the house, in full view of my kitchen windows, there was no way I could miss it. Three perfect crashes of thunder, three perfect flashes of lightning, each one unmistakable in the night sky and in my ears. > > There is no turning back. I shake from the very force of all that is happening to me, my hand just a quiver in the air when I try to hold it still in front of me and it will not stay still. My whole being is gripped in paroxysms of disbelief of what I know I have just seen and heard. I shake like this for about a week before I finally calm down a bit..... > > An excerpt from Genocide of the Damned...A Child's Prayer for Life, Chapter 4, Journey to The Top of The Mountain > ---- ---------- > > > It was this moment that defined my future path. Where I come from, you do not ignore thunder and lightning. Although I knew instinctively that I had been graced by the healing hand, I had not asked for it. At least that is what I thought. In the beginning, I resisted more than I surrendered. I ranted against the new presence I felt within whenever things became overwhelming, which was often. "I did not ask for this. You took me from behind You did not request my permission." > > I now know that I was brought to the seminar. High in the mountains overlooking the very valley where I was born but had not lived for over 25 years. When I came down from the mountains, I did not come down the same way I went up. There was a new energy burning in my soul, in my heart, the fire of rebirth and renewal. Suddenly, I had to write. I could not stop myself. For over three months I lived and breathed my book, pushed forward again and again by the new force within me. I could not stop if I wanted to. I did not want to stop. I was driven. > > There was no turning back. There was no escape from this . It had to be done and I had to do it. In the beginning, I was driven by my pain and by my anger. I wrote to seek revenge and to avenge the hurts. Specifically, the hurt from the racism at my husband's place of work which resulted in the loss of his job and the loss of my silence. Part of my agenda was to out them for the racism they had spewed upon my household. Hate was in my heart for them. I wanted to out the racist employer who had injured my husband and my family and me. I wanted to make them hurt because they had hurt me. I wanted to bring them to their knees the way they brought me and my family to our knees. > > Yet, as I wrote, I was confronted again and again by the specter of my dead father, a man of his times who was racist like so many others. A loving decent man who could not bring himself to accept or meet my husband. After I would write in earnest, when I was done, I would feel both purged and empty at the same time. > > Purged because I had released so many demons. Empty because I did not yet know what to put in their place. All I could find in myself was anger. Yet my father had hurt me, too. I had found forgiveness for him. It haunted me everywhere I turned. No matter where I turned when I attacked them, I was counterattacked by the ghost of my father's racism and my forgiveness of him. > > I lost the need to avenge as I found the need to love. Not to love the acts of the people who hurt me. But to understand the need to love the collective of us. As I moved into the light, I also found love. I became humbled by the knowledge that there was so much more than my insular little world. While I felt as if I walked in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, racism was flourishing around me in the light of day for all to see and ignore. > > I began to understand that my call to write and the gift of my words was not so I could have revenge but so I could find love. That was my calling. To share the love that was sent my way as I battled my own hatred. So, although this book is about evil, in the end, it is about love. > > Eventually, I was graced into surrender. I try to listen. I really do. Now I have been led here. I come to you seeking assistance with my mission. For I know that I cannot do it alone without assistance from the many helping hands. I am asked to speak to the issues of prejudice and hatred, as it relates to the death of the Spirit, the death penalty in America, and Peace throughout the World. > > From what I have read so far of the posts on this list, it is clear to me that I belong here for Sustenance and Wisdom as I seek to understand. I embrace That from whence I come, That to which I am now instinctively drawn. I seek knowledge of the publication process, so that my words reach the light. I seek guidance as I write the third draft of the book. If anyone can help me offlist with information, I humbly request your help. It has waited patiently for several months for me to reach a point where I am ready to go back to it. It is time. Mine is to serve. > > The Upanishads > > Invocations > > Lead me from the unreal to the real. > Lead me from darkness to light. > Lead me from death to immortality. > > > 1 > > May the Lord of Love protect us. > May the Lord of Love nourish us. > May the Lord of Love strengthen us. > May we realize the Lord of Love. > May we live with love for all; > May we live in peace with all. > OM Shanti Shanti Shanti > > 2 > > May the Lord of day grant us peace. > May the Lord of night grant us peace. > May the Lord of sight grant us peace. > May the Lord of might grant us peace. > May the Lord of speech grant us peace. > May the Lord of space grant us peace. > I bow down to Brahman, source of all power. > I will speak the truth and follow the law. > Guard me and my teacher against all harm. > Guard me and my teacher against all harm. > OM Shanti Shanti Shanti > > 3 > > Filled with Brahman are the things we see, > Filled with Brahman are the things we see not, > From out of Brahman floweth all that is: > From Brahman all -- yet is he still the same. > OM Shanti Shanti Shanti > > 4 > > May quietness descend upon my limbs, > My speech, my breath, my eyes, my ears; > May all my senses wax clear and strong. > May Brahman show himself unto me. > Never may I deny Brahman, nor Brahman me. > I with him and he with me -- > may we abide always together. > May there be revealed to me, > Who am devoted to Brahman, > The holy truth of the Upanishads. > OM Shanti Shanti Shanti > > 5 > > OMWith our ears may we hear what is good. > With our eyes may we behold thy righteousness. > Tranquil in body, may we who worship thee > find rest. > > OM Shanti Shanti Shanti > OM. . . Hail to the supreme Self! > > 6 > > May my speech be one with my mind, > and may my mind be one with my speech. > O thou self-luminous Brahman, > remove the veil of ignorance from before me, > that I may behold thy light. > Do thou reveal to me > the spirit of the scriptures. > May the truth of the scriptures > be ever present to me. > May I seek day and night to realize > what I learn from the sages. > May I speak the truth of Brahman. > May I speak the truth. > May it protect me. > May it protect my teacher. > OM Shanti Shanti Shanti > > In Humble Service, > > Joyce > > > > found on http://www.nilgiri.org/Html/Books_Audios_Videos/GMRF/gmrf1_2.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2002 Report Share Posted December 27, 2002 Dear James: Thank you for your most en-lightening thoughts. It has taken me a few days to respond. I needed some time. Writing and posting reopened some gaping wounds in my heart and I needed a break. Today is a new day and I am back! (Morning has broken...like the first morning :-) > I feel that your guide is clearly in the 'Lightening and> Thunder' - in other words I feel that you are called to report both> the dark and the light - the marriage which includes and is beyond> these is what your book will be - the Whole - Love... the metaphor of Lightening and Thunder - and> to show that both are Love (Love is self-correcting - the enourmous> pain and suffering of violence such as racism is really a 'lesson'> that Love is providing to *end this*, and, the joy when Love is> flowing is the 'lesson' to *support this*).> This is such a beautiful thought. I never thought of it that way. I only saw it as affirmation of what I had done so far, and as inspiration to go forth. Now that you say it, it makes sense, because this is what I have done. I could not have done it any other way. The light and the dark is as much mine as the behaviors of others that I examine. I had to expunge my anger before I could find the love. I am just beginning to appreciate the idea that the pain and suffering of violence of the spirit is a "lesson" as you state it. I have read it and quoted it myself, but I do not think I was applying it directly to my own experience, ie, that racism could be a "lesson" to my own spirit first. Empty arrogance on my part, thinking the "lesson" was for others!!! Thank you for correcting me with your own Love. >> I feel that you book must provide 'the solution' and the> solution is to "See the Situation" - I feel that this means that you> Lovingly report the facts of your family's experience and your> forgiveness and growth so that it is a model for excellence. Thank you, James. This has probably been one of the most difficult things for me to do. For me, part of showing the situation requires that I reveal my pain and anger, so others can see it and feel it too. As a white person, I was not accustomed to this type of treatment. So I have a raw understanding of the emotions evoked by racial hatred, limited thought it may be by my whiteness. My blackness is not an immutable characteristic, as it is called. I can walk out my front door a white person in the world around me. I can see how it extinguishes the light in someone's soul, moving them to either violence or apathetic acceptance. Neither one is very good for the Spirit. > And, by focusing on 'behaviour' that is inappropriate you will> not be condeming people (more violence) - you will be sheding Light on> violence. And, when there is clarity in SEEING - the way to proceed is> obvious (some folks will feel that you are attacking them and will> defend themselves by attacking you - yet if you remain focused on the> fact that 'it is the violence that is not acceptable' - they will SEE> that you are not condeming them but rather 'ending all violence' is> what you are proposing AND that Peace, Love, is the default state when> violence isn't [we do not make peace - peace is natural]).Thank you so much for your en-courage-ment. My father has provided some of the light to shed. I guess another part of my "lesson" :-) I know that people will attack. I have been slowly preparing my self for that. I have done everything I can in my book to also honor my father as the wonderful, loving man he was. His racism was what Gordon Allport refers to as antilocution, and then, when confronted with me, avoidance. Allport defines these five categories of what he calls “negative action†that can result from prejudice: 1. Antilocution. This means that the prejudiced person talks to others about his prejudices. Most peopledo not go beyond this degree. 2. Avoidance The prejudiced person does not inflict the prejudice upon the group he dislikes. Rather,he takes it upon himself to avoid members of the group. 3. Discrimination This results when the prejudiced person takes active steps which harm a member ormembers of the group, as when an employer discriminates. Segregation is considered a form ofdiscrimination 4. Physical attack Prejudice can lead to attacks, such as burning crosses or bombing a church. 5. Extermination Lynchings, genocide “mark the ultimate degree of violent expression of prejudice.†He concludes as follows back in 1954, just a year before I was born: From the point of view of social consequences much “polite prejudice†is harmless enough-being confined to idle chatter. But unfortunately, the fateful progression is, in this century, growing in frequency. The resulting disruption in the human family is menacing. And as the peoples of the earth grow ever more interdependent, they can tolerate less well the mounting friction.†Gordon W. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice, 1979,1958, 1954, Perseus Books> Seeing is Doing. I could not have said it better. Much love, Joyce Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2002 Report Share Posted December 27, 2002 Thank you Joyce and James for this dialogue. Thank you Joyce for your generous sharing in the fellowship. Dear friends, due to various professional and personal obligations, my time has become more limited and I may be less active in the next few months. Also I wish to have a quiet meditative retreat over the next three weeks as the new year starts. I will continue to read the list, bask in all your love and wisdom, and share when possible. I am planning a 40 day restricted diet (similar to one undertaken in the fall) starting in late January and going into mid March. The world needs our prayers for peace and friendship. Sahajman, our old friend (whom many of you know), is now officially the list owner. Although Sahajman is mostly silent, he may make a few changes in the list setting. Please give him your full support. Love to all Harsha --- Lady Joyce <ladyjoy wrote: > Dear James: > > Thank you for your most en-lightening thoughts. It > has taken me a few days to respond. I needed some > time. Writing and posting reopened some gaping > wounds in my heart and I needed a break. Today is a > new day and I am back! (Morning has broken...like > the first morning :-) > > > > I feel that your guide is clearly in the > 'Lightening and > > Thunder' - in other words I feel that you are > called to report both > > the dark and the light - the marriage which > includes and is beyond > > these is what your book will be - the Whole - > Love... the metaphor of Lightening and Thunder - and > > to show that both are Love (Love is > self-correcting - the enourmous > > pain and suffering of violence such as racism is > really a 'lesson' > > that Love is providing to *end this*, and, the joy > when Love is > > flowing is the 'lesson' to *support this*).> > > > This is such a beautiful thought. I never thought > of it that way. I only saw it as affirmation of what > I had done so far, and as inspiration to go forth. > Now that you say it, it makes sense, because this is > what I have done. I could not have done it any > other way. The light and the dark is as much mine > as the behaviors of others that I examine. I had to > expunge my anger before I could find the love. I am > just beginning to appreciate the idea that the pain > and suffering of violence of the spirit is a > "lesson" as you state it. I have read it and > quoted it myself, but I do not think I was applying > it directly to my own experience, ie, that racism > could be a "lesson" to my own spirit first. Empty > arrogance on my part, thinking the "lesson" was for > others!!! Thank you for correcting me with your own > Love. > > > > > I feel that you book must provide 'the > solution' and the > > solution is to "See the Situation" - I feel that > this means that you > > Lovingly report the facts of your family's > experience and your > > forgiveness and growth so that it is a model for > excellence. > > Thank you, James. This has probably been one of > the most difficult things for me to do. For me, > part of showing the situation requires that I reveal > my pain and anger, so others can see it and feel it > too. As a white person, I was not accustomed to > this type of treatment. So I have a raw > understanding of the emotions evoked by racial > hatred, limited thought it may be by my whiteness. > My blackness is not an immutable characteristic, as > it is called. I can walk out my front door a white > person in the world around me. I can see how it > extinguishes the light in someone's soul, moving > them to either violence or apathetic acceptance. > Neither one is very good for the Spirit. > > > And, by focusing on 'behaviour' that is > inappropriate you will > > not be condeming people (more violence) - you will > be sheding Light on > > violence. And, when there is clarity in SEEING - > the way to proceed is > > obvious (some folks will feel that you are > attacking them and will > > defend themselves by attacking you - yet if you > remain focused on the > > fact that 'it is the violence that is not > acceptable' - they will SEE > > that you are not condeming them but rather 'ending > all violence' is > > what you are proposing AND that Peace, Love, is > the default state when > > violence isn't [we do not make peace - peace is > natural]). > > Thank you so much for your en-courage-ment. My > father has provided some of the light to shed. > I guess another part of my "lesson" :-) I know > that people will attack. I have been slowly > preparing my self for that. I have done everything > I can in my book to also honor my father as the > wonderful, loving man he was. > > His racism was what Gordon Allport refers to as > antilocution, and then, when confronted with me, > avoidance. Allport defines these five categories > of what he calls “negative action†that can > result from prejudice: > > 1. Antilocution. This means that the prejudiced > person talks to others about his prejudices. Most > people > do not go beyond this degree. > > 2. Avoidance The prejudiced person does not > inflict the prejudice upon the group he dislikes. > Rather, > he takes it upon himself to avoid members of the > group. > > 3. Discrimination This results when the > prejudiced person takes active steps which harm a > member or > members of the group, as when an employer > discriminates. Segregation is considered a form of > discrimination > > 4. Physical attack Prejudice can lead to > attacks, such as burning crosses or bombing a > church. > > 5. Extermination Lynchings, genocide “mark the > ultimate degree of violent expression of > prejudice.†> > He concludes as follows back in 1954, just a year > before I was born: > > From the point of view of social > consequences much “polite prejudice†is harmless > enough-being confined to idle chatter. But > unfortunately, the fateful progression is, in > this century, growing in frequency. The > resulting disruption in the human family is > menacing. And as the peoples of the earth grow > ever more interdependent, they can > tolerate less well the mounting friction.†> Gordon W. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice, > 1979,1958, 1954, Perseus Books > > > Seeing is Doing. > > I could not have said it better. > > Much love, > > Joyce > > > ===== /join Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 27, 2002 Report Share Posted December 27, 2002 Hello Harsha, I wish you well in your off-list endeavors! My love to you and your family and friends, and everyone/thing rippling outwards from there. I'll support Sahajman. I don't know if I know him or not! Love, --Greg At 11:54 AM 12/27/02 -0800, Harsha wrote: >Dear friends, due to various professional and personal >obligations, my time has become more limited and I may >be less active in the next few months. Also I wish to >have a quiet meditative retreat over the next three >weeks as the new year starts. .... >Sahajman, our old friend (whom many of you know), is >now officially the list owner. Although Sahajman is >mostly silent, he may make a few changes in the list >setting. Please give him your full support. > >Love to all >Harsha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 28, 2002 Report Share Posted December 28, 2002 Many Blessings Joyce and Harsha, May Love guide you and blossom in all you do, Love and Gratitude, James love through the prism seven notes blossom in joy octaves dance my song , Harsha <harshaimtm> wrote: > Thank you Joyce and James for this dialogue. Thank you > Joyce for your generous sharing in the fellowship. > > Dear friends, due to various professional and personal > obligations, my time has become more limited and I may > be less active in the next few months. Also I wish to > have a quiet meditative retreat over the next three > weeks as the new year starts. > > I will continue to read the list, bask in all your > love and wisdom, and share when possible. > > I am planning a 40 day restricted diet (similar to one > undertaken in the fall) starting in late January and > going into mid March. > > The world needs our prayers for peace and friendship. > > Sahajman, our old friend (whom many of you know), is > now officially the list owner. Although Sahajman is > mostly silent, he may make a few changes in the list > setting. Please give him your full support. > > Love to all > Harsha > > --- Lady Joyce <ladyjoy@v...> wrote: > > Dear James: > > > > Thank you for your most en-lightening thoughts. It > > has taken me a few days to respond. I needed some > > time. Writing and posting reopened some gaping > > wounds in my heart and I needed a break. Today is a > > new day and I am back! (Morning has broken...like > > the first morning :-) > > > > > > > I feel that your guide is clearly in the > > 'Lightening and > > > Thunder' - in other words I feel that you are > > called to report both > > > the dark and the light - the marriage which > > includes and is beyond > > > these is what your book will be - the Whole - > > Love... the metaphor of Lightening and Thunder - and > > > to show that both are Love (Love is > > self-correcting - the enourmous > > > pain and suffering of violence such as racism is > > really a 'lesson' > > > that Love is providing to *end this*, and, the joy > > when Love is > > > flowing is the 'lesson' to *support this*).> > > > > > > This is such a beautiful thought. I never thought > > of it that way. I only saw it as affirmation of what > > I had done so far, and as inspiration to go forth. > > Now that you say it, it makes sense, because this is > > what I have done. I could not have done it any > > other way. The light and the dark is as much mine > > as the behaviors of others that I examine. I had to > > expunge my anger before I could find the love. I am > > just beginning to appreciate the idea that the pain > > and suffering of violence of the spirit is a > > "lesson" as you state it. I have read it and > > quoted it myself, but I do not think I was applying > > it directly to my own experience, ie, that racism > > could be a "lesson" to my own spirit first. Empty > > arrogance on my part, thinking the "lesson" was for > > others!!! Thank you for correcting me with your own > > Love. > > > > > > > > I feel that you book must provide 'the > > solution' and the > > > solution is to "See the Situation" - I feel that > > this means that you > > > Lovingly report the facts of your family's > > experience and your > > > forgiveness and growth so that it is a model for > > excellence. > > > > Thank you, James. This has probably been one of > > the most difficult things for me to do. For me, > > part of showing the situation requires that I reveal > > my pain and anger, so others can see it and feel it > > too. As a white person, I was not accustomed to > > this type of treatment. So I have a raw > > understanding of the emotions evoked by racial > > hatred, limited thought it may be by my whiteness. > > My blackness is not an immutable characteristic, as > > it is called. I can walk out my front door a white > > person in the world around me. I can see how it > > extinguishes the light in someone's soul, moving > > them to either violence or apathetic acceptance. > > Neither one is very good for the Spirit. > > > > > And, by focusing on 'behaviour' that is > > inappropriate you will > > > not be condeming people (more violence) - you will > > be sheding Light on > > > violence. And, when there is clarity in SEEING - > > the way to proceed is > > > obvious (some folks will feel that you are > > attacking them and will > > > defend themselves by attacking you - yet if you > > remain focused on the > > > fact that 'it is the violence that is not > > acceptable' - they will SEE > > > that you are not condeming them but rather 'ending > > all violence' is > > > what you are proposing AND that Peace, Love, is > > the default state when > > > violence isn't [we do not make peace - peace is > > natural]). > > > > Thank you so much for your en-courage-ment. My > > father has provided some of the light to shed. > > I guess another part of my "lesson" :-) I know > > that people will attack. I have been slowly > > preparing my self for that. I have done everything > > I can in my book to also honor my father as the > > wonderful, loving man he was. > > > > His racism was what Gordon Allport refers to as > > antilocution, and then, when confronted with me, > > avoidance. Allport defines these five categories > > of what he calls “negative action†that can > > result from prejudice: > > > > 1. Antilocution. This means that the prejudiced > > person talks to others about his prejudices. Most > > people > > do not go beyond this degree. > > > > 2. Avoidance The prejudiced person does not > > inflict the prejudice upon the group he dislikes. > > Rather, > > he takes it upon himself to avoid members of the > > group. > > > > 3. Discrimination This results when the > > prejudiced person takes active steps which harm a > > member or > > members of the group, as when an employer > > discriminates. Segregation is considered a form of > > discrimination > > > > 4. Physical attack Prejudice can lead to > > attacks, such as burning crosses or bombing a > > church. > > > > 5. Extermination Lynchings, genocide “mark the > > ultimate degree of violent expression of > > prejudice.†> > > > He concludes as follows back in 1954, just a year > > before I was born: > > > > From the point of view of social > > consequences much “polite prejudice†is harmless > > enough-being confined to idle chatter. But > > unfortunately, the fateful progression is, in > > this century, growing in frequency. The > > resulting disruption in the human family is > > menacing. And as the peoples of the earth grow > > ever more interdependent, they can > > tolerate less well the mounting friction.†> > Gordon W. Allport, The Nature of Prejudice, > > 1979,1958, 1954, Perseus Books > > > > > Seeing is Doing. > > > > I could not have said it better. > > > > Much love, > > > > Joyce > > > > > > > > > > > ===== > /join > > > > > > > > > > Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. > http://mailplus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.