Living From the Heart
“To thine own self be true, and it follows as the night must follow the day, thou canst be false to no man.”
Shakespeare, Hamlet
Is this not important, to know one's heart? And in knowing, to act accordingly? Without fear, without worrying about what others think? It is in pandering to others that we are 'false'.
But how can we follow our intuition, our spiritual compass without harming others? For in so doing, surely, we would be in turn harmed. That's where knowing the self gets tricky - how do we look beyond delusion?
Maybe we need to ask if our decisions lead to peace, and if so, act accordingly. Then we ask, is peace ever hypocritical? So perhaps it follows that choices that lead to inner and outer peace are the truest.
Then there arises the issue of 'truth'.What is it? Everyone has a subjective truth. Robert Frost has this to say about truth:
"What was that whiteness?
Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something."
Robert Frost, For Once, Then, Something
Truth, to our limited, human minds, is fleeting, a boon from God given in a moment. And beyond that present moment, it gets political, tainted by human ignorance.
So is being true to the self (which is always changing) a matter of making peaceful choices in every moment? Or simply, to be present in peace?
Something I need to think about...
Shakespeare, Hamlet
Is this not important, to know one's heart? And in knowing, to act accordingly? Without fear, without worrying about what others think? It is in pandering to others that we are 'false'.
But how can we follow our intuition, our spiritual compass without harming others? For in so doing, surely, we would be in turn harmed. That's where knowing the self gets tricky - how do we look beyond delusion?
Maybe we need to ask if our decisions lead to peace, and if so, act accordingly. Then we ask, is peace ever hypocritical? So perhaps it follows that choices that lead to inner and outer peace are the truest.
Then there arises the issue of 'truth'.What is it? Everyone has a subjective truth. Robert Frost has this to say about truth:
"What was that whiteness?
Truth? A pebble of quartz? For once, then, something."
Robert Frost, For Once, Then, Something
Truth, to our limited, human minds, is fleeting, a boon from God given in a moment. And beyond that present moment, it gets political, tainted by human ignorance.
So is being true to the self (which is always changing) a matter of making peaceful choices in every moment? Or simply, to be present in peace?
Something I need to think about...