More clip-its
Time for more snippets from my books. Been reading one more than the others this morning so most of these will be from that book.
The Art of Effortless Living
" There is no guarantee that by accomplishing the external goals we have set for ourselves we will achieve internal fulfillment. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Over-focusing on external achievements can cause us to ignore the deep personal changes and challenges we must confront in order to feel we have lived life well."
Our culture is in crisis, and the crisis we are in is due in part to this terrible gap between external success and internal satisfaction. Carried to an extreme, the focus on external accomplishments and achievements produces the opposite of a satisfying life. We accumulate external proofs of our value at the cost of a deep inner sense of emptiness and what often amounts to despair over the meaning of life. If we try to quench our inner emptiness by accomplishing more, that inner emptiness only grows.As a guiding principle, the philosophy of doing is at best limited and at worst bankrupt. "
" And there is something about our focus on achievement that is distorted, that expresses a sickness of the soul. Why do we think that we have to pile up achievements in order to be ok ? "
" A pessimism about human potential pervades Western Society. This pessimism tell us that we cannot amount to much, that we must lower our sights, and that great feats are not for the common man or woman."
' The Buddha identified a paradox. In all the frenzy of our activity, no matter what we are trying to do or where we are trying to go, what we are actually seeking is not an external achievement but an internal feeling. It is our internal state that we are trying to manage, and nothing something else. We beleive that by achieveing something- finding the right mate,getting the perfect job etc- we will attain the internal state of satisfaction that gives us a feeling of meaningfullness. We look to the outside, but we are looking there to heal the inside. External goals simply become a means for producing internal results. After all, it is our internal state that we live with moment by moment and day after day. It is the only thing that never leaves us. It IS us."
"Inner balance is a key ingredient for meaningful external achievement. People with inner balanace train their minds to be powerful allies in the pursuit of their goals, instead of weak companions or even foes."
".. when we over-focus on doing, we actually end up achieving far less.."
" On a psychological and spiritual level, when we define ourselves by what we do rather than by who we are, we confess to feeling powerless. If this sense of powerlessness is not always concious, that is only because it forms the framework of our perception, the lens through which we see the world. Our identity becomes tied to accomplishing what is expected of us by a pervasive yet vague "somebody else". We put our attention on gaining recognition and approval and measure ourselves by how we stand relative to others."
"...over-focusing on external achievement is physically and emotionally destructive."
" It's a scientific fact that the more we think , and the more verbal chatter is going on in our minds, the more physical tension we have in our bodies. Physical tension makes both for poor performance and for poor concentration. True concentration happens when we stop thinking. We relax and become present. Performing at our peak is about letting go of trying. "
".. We would not feel that we had to prove ourselves by what we did unless we already beleived that we were unworthy. Yet if we are unworthy at our core, no amount of achievement will solve our problem."
" Diseases of the heart reflect the dis-ease of living without heart."
"We are looking for something we really need, but looking for it in a way that creates failure."
"... others do not create our happiness. They cannot fill the hole in our lives. If we ask others to fill that hole, our own need to easily turns to resentment, anger and even hatred. -When love is an addiction, it's other face is hate-"
Pain-The Fifth Vital Sign
" Pain is what sets you apart, in good and bad ways. It tells us that we have collided with something-that we exist, if only because we ache."
" Pain reminds us that even long after children have grown and affairs have ended, we remember love with our bodies."
" Often misunderstood as a suicide attempt, the act of cutting can be a gesture in the other direction- a survival strategy. Self-injuring.. makes psychic pain visable. There is something consoling about a scar, after all - it's a sign of healing. "
" Along with eating disorders, cutting offers women a measure of control, however desperate, over their own bodies. In a .. situation like prison, cutting is a bit of autonomy. Women can become the author of their own suffering."
" Wound pleasure is not confined to the young or the hip. For lots of middle aged women , cosmetic surgery has become a form of socially acceptable cutting."
" The other misperception about cutting is that it is a form of sexual masochism. Cutters don't necessarily even feel pain, and pain doesn't seem to be the point. Instead, the act of drawing blood delivers an endorphin rush and a sense of peace. "
" Cutting, is also melodramatic, and a great way to get attention. We think pain is private and should stay that way. But cutting is pain that won't shut up. "
"... some sexual masochists have argued that pain itself is not the point of their erotic rituals. ' The apprehension, the preparation, the threat, the exposure, the humiliation-these are thrilling,,'"
Included in the next selection is an outtake from the documentary on Bob Flanagan
" In the 'Bobumentary,' as they referred to it, Flanagan reads his manifesto, a document that explains why pain turns him on.It's also a checklist of the shadowy presence of pain in our culture.
Why
Because it feels good; because it gives me an erection; because it makes me come; because I'm sick; because there was so much sickness; because I say FUCK THE SICKNESS;because I like the attention; because I was alone alot; because I was different; because kids beat me up on the way to school; because I was humiliated by nuns; because of Christ and the crucifixion; because of Porky Pig in bondage, force fed by some sinister creep in a black cape; because of stories of children hung by their wrists, burned on the stove, scalded in tubs; because of " Mutiny on the Bounty"; because of cowboys and indians; because of my cousin Cliff; because of the forts we built and the things we did inside them; because of my genes; because of my parents; because of doctors and nurses; because they tied me to the crib so I wouldn't hurt myself; because I had time to think; because I had time to hold my penis; because i had aweful stomach aches and holding my penis made it feel better; because I'm a Catholic; because I still love Lent, and I still love my penis, and in spite of it all, i have no guilt; because my parents said BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE, and this is what I want to be; because I'm nothing but a big baby and i want to stay this way, and I want a mommy forever, even a mean one, especially a mean one; because of all the fairy tale witches and the wicked step mother, and step sisters, and how sexy cinderella was smudged with soot, doomed to a life of servitude; because of Hansel, locked in a witch's cage until he was fat enough to eat; because of "O" and how desperately I wanted to be with her; because of my dreams; because of the game we played; because I have an active imagination; because my mother bought me tinker toys; because hardware stores give me hardons; because of hammers,nails, clothspins, wood, padlocks, pullies,eye-bolts,thumbtacks,staple-guns,sewing needles,rubber tubing,spatulas,rope, twine,C-clamps,S-hooks,razor blades,scissors,tweezers,knives,pushpins, two by fours,ping pong tables, alligator clips,duct tape , broom sticks,bbq skewers, bungie cords,saw horses, soldering irons; because of tool sheds; because of garages...
Because I was born into a world of suffereing; because surrender is sweet; because I'm attracted to it; because I'm addicted to it; because endorphins in the brain are like a natural king of heroin; because I learned to take my medicine..
Because it is an act of courage; because it does take guts; because I'm proud of it; because I can't climb mountains; because I'm terrible at sports; because NO PAIN, NO GAIN; BECAUSE SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD; BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE.
-Bob Flangan "
That's it for now.. more later maybe..
The Art of Effortless Living
" There is no guarantee that by accomplishing the external goals we have set for ourselves we will achieve internal fulfillment. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Over-focusing on external achievements can cause us to ignore the deep personal changes and challenges we must confront in order to feel we have lived life well."
Our culture is in crisis, and the crisis we are in is due in part to this terrible gap between external success and internal satisfaction. Carried to an extreme, the focus on external accomplishments and achievements produces the opposite of a satisfying life. We accumulate external proofs of our value at the cost of a deep inner sense of emptiness and what often amounts to despair over the meaning of life. If we try to quench our inner emptiness by accomplishing more, that inner emptiness only grows.As a guiding principle, the philosophy of doing is at best limited and at worst bankrupt. "
" And there is something about our focus on achievement that is distorted, that expresses a sickness of the soul. Why do we think that we have to pile up achievements in order to be ok ? "
" A pessimism about human potential pervades Western Society. This pessimism tell us that we cannot amount to much, that we must lower our sights, and that great feats are not for the common man or woman."
' The Buddha identified a paradox. In all the frenzy of our activity, no matter what we are trying to do or where we are trying to go, what we are actually seeking is not an external achievement but an internal feeling. It is our internal state that we are trying to manage, and nothing something else. We beleive that by achieveing something- finding the right mate,getting the perfect job etc- we will attain the internal state of satisfaction that gives us a feeling of meaningfullness. We look to the outside, but we are looking there to heal the inside. External goals simply become a means for producing internal results. After all, it is our internal state that we live with moment by moment and day after day. It is the only thing that never leaves us. It IS us."
"Inner balance is a key ingredient for meaningful external achievement. People with inner balanace train their minds to be powerful allies in the pursuit of their goals, instead of weak companions or even foes."
".. when we over-focus on doing, we actually end up achieving far less.."
" On a psychological and spiritual level, when we define ourselves by what we do rather than by who we are, we confess to feeling powerless. If this sense of powerlessness is not always concious, that is only because it forms the framework of our perception, the lens through which we see the world. Our identity becomes tied to accomplishing what is expected of us by a pervasive yet vague "somebody else". We put our attention on gaining recognition and approval and measure ourselves by how we stand relative to others."
"...over-focusing on external achievement is physically and emotionally destructive."
" It's a scientific fact that the more we think , and the more verbal chatter is going on in our minds, the more physical tension we have in our bodies. Physical tension makes both for poor performance and for poor concentration. True concentration happens when we stop thinking. We relax and become present. Performing at our peak is about letting go of trying. "
".. We would not feel that we had to prove ourselves by what we did unless we already beleived that we were unworthy. Yet if we are unworthy at our core, no amount of achievement will solve our problem."
" Diseases of the heart reflect the dis-ease of living without heart."
"We are looking for something we really need, but looking for it in a way that creates failure."
"... others do not create our happiness. They cannot fill the hole in our lives. If we ask others to fill that hole, our own need to easily turns to resentment, anger and even hatred. -When love is an addiction, it's other face is hate-"
Pain-The Fifth Vital Sign
" Pain is what sets you apart, in good and bad ways. It tells us that we have collided with something-that we exist, if only because we ache."
" Pain reminds us that even long after children have grown and affairs have ended, we remember love with our bodies."
" Often misunderstood as a suicide attempt, the act of cutting can be a gesture in the other direction- a survival strategy. Self-injuring.. makes psychic pain visable. There is something consoling about a scar, after all - it's a sign of healing. "
" Along with eating disorders, cutting offers women a measure of control, however desperate, over their own bodies. In a .. situation like prison, cutting is a bit of autonomy. Women can become the author of their own suffering."
" Wound pleasure is not confined to the young or the hip. For lots of middle aged women , cosmetic surgery has become a form of socially acceptable cutting."
" The other misperception about cutting is that it is a form of sexual masochism. Cutters don't necessarily even feel pain, and pain doesn't seem to be the point. Instead, the act of drawing blood delivers an endorphin rush and a sense of peace. "
" Cutting, is also melodramatic, and a great way to get attention. We think pain is private and should stay that way. But cutting is pain that won't shut up. "
"... some sexual masochists have argued that pain itself is not the point of their erotic rituals. ' The apprehension, the preparation, the threat, the exposure, the humiliation-these are thrilling,,'"
Included in the next selection is an outtake from the documentary on Bob Flanagan
" In the 'Bobumentary,' as they referred to it, Flanagan reads his manifesto, a document that explains why pain turns him on.It's also a checklist of the shadowy presence of pain in our culture.
Why
Because it feels good; because it gives me an erection; because it makes me come; because I'm sick; because there was so much sickness; because I say FUCK THE SICKNESS;because I like the attention; because I was alone alot; because I was different; because kids beat me up on the way to school; because I was humiliated by nuns; because of Christ and the crucifixion; because of Porky Pig in bondage, force fed by some sinister creep in a black cape; because of stories of children hung by their wrists, burned on the stove, scalded in tubs; because of " Mutiny on the Bounty"; because of cowboys and indians; because of my cousin Cliff; because of the forts we built and the things we did inside them; because of my genes; because of my parents; because of doctors and nurses; because they tied me to the crib so I wouldn't hurt myself; because I had time to think; because I had time to hold my penis; because i had aweful stomach aches and holding my penis made it feel better; because I'm a Catholic; because I still love Lent, and I still love my penis, and in spite of it all, i have no guilt; because my parents said BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE, and this is what I want to be; because I'm nothing but a big baby and i want to stay this way, and I want a mommy forever, even a mean one, especially a mean one; because of all the fairy tale witches and the wicked step mother, and step sisters, and how sexy cinderella was smudged with soot, doomed to a life of servitude; because of Hansel, locked in a witch's cage until he was fat enough to eat; because of "O" and how desperately I wanted to be with her; because of my dreams; because of the game we played; because I have an active imagination; because my mother bought me tinker toys; because hardware stores give me hardons; because of hammers,nails, clothspins, wood, padlocks, pullies,eye-bolts,thumbtacks,staple-guns,sewing needles,rubber tubing,spatulas,rope, twine,C-clamps,S-hooks,razor blades,scissors,tweezers,knives,pushpins, two by fours,ping pong tables, alligator clips,duct tape , broom sticks,bbq skewers, bungie cords,saw horses, soldering irons; because of tool sheds; because of garages...
Because I was born into a world of suffereing; because surrender is sweet; because I'm attracted to it; because I'm addicted to it; because endorphins in the brain are like a natural king of heroin; because I learned to take my medicine..
Because it is an act of courage; because it does take guts; because I'm proud of it; because I can't climb mountains; because I'm terrible at sports; because NO PAIN, NO GAIN; BECAUSE SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD; BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE.
-Bob Flangan "
That's it for now.. more later maybe..