Once there was a young warrior. Her teacher told her that she had to do battle with fear. She didn’t want to do that. It seemed too aggressive; it was scary; it seemed unfriendly. But the teacher said she had to do it and gave instructions for the battle.The day arrived. The student warrior stood on one side, and fear stood on the other. The warrior was feeling very small, and fear was looking big and wrathful. The young warrior roused herself and went toward fear, prostrated three times, and asked, “May I have permission to go into battle with you?”
Fear said, “Thank you for showing me so much respect that you ask permission.”
Then the young warrior said, “How can I defeat you?”
Fear replied, “My weapons are that I talk fast, and I get very close to your face. Then you get completely unnerved, and you do whatever I say. If you don’t do what I tell you, I have no power. You can listen to me, and you can have respect for me. You can even be convinced by me. But if you don’t do what I say, I have no power.”
In that way, the student warrior learned how to defeat fear.
(From The Pocket Pema Chodron)
I am pleased to say that a company for which I used to work, Screen Inc., which developed a computerized screening measure for mild cognitive impairment, was mentioned in Newsweek. The name of the measure is the CANS-MCI. I published the article which Newsweek says established their reliability and validity
To view the article, go to: http://www.newsweek.com/id/236293
It is fun to touch base with my academic background every once in awhile!
“When we start to meditate or to work with any kind of spiritual discipline,we often think that somehow we’re going to improve, which is a subtle aggression against who we really are. It’s a bit like saying, “If I jog I’ll be a much better person.” “If I had a nicer house I’d be a better person.” “If I could meditate and calm down I’d be a better person.” Or the scenario may be that we find fault with others. We might say, “If it weren’t for my husband I’d have a perfect marriage.” “If it weren’t for the fact that my boss and I can’t get on, my job would be just great.” And, “If it weren’t for my mind, my meditation would be just excellent.”
But loving-kindness ~maitri~ towards ourselves doesn’t mean getting rid of anything. Maitri means that we can still be crazy, we can still be angry. We can still be timid or jealous or full of feelings of unworthiness. Meditation practice isn’t about trying to throw ourselves away and become something better. It’s about befriending who we are already.”
from Comfortable With Uncertainty
A quote from a movie I saw:
“God’s only requirement is that you let others know they are not alone.”
How simple. How profound. How easy. How difficult when we don’t know it ourselves…how healing to know it
ourselves, because we let others know.
When I was in graduate school, getting my PhD, I read a study that found that college students could be as beneficial to clients as could people with Masters and PhDs, no matter what type of field of therapy studied. At first, I was pretty disheartened, even a little pissed-off. After all, I was spending 10 years of my life gaining the wisdom to help others.Then I realized, it in not the theories, the techniques, or the letters behind my name that help others in their path through life; It is the willingness to walk my own path, feel my own pain, and joy, that helps me sit with others. I learned (and am learning) to be with myself, whatever I am experiencing, so I can be with others, so they are not alone.These wise words from Jeff Brown www.lifewithoutacentre.com reminded me of what I began to get a glimmer of in grad school.
BUDDHAS NEXT DOOR
Some of the greatest therapists and healers
I’ve ever known have no diplomas, no qualifications, no letters after
their names. They have written no books, and you won’t find them being
interviewed on TV chat shows. But they are so effortlessly
compassionate, able to listen deeply without prejudice, willing to hold
the most intense energies in their unshakeable presence. With their
loving attention, the unacceptable can move into a space of acceptance,
traumatic material can re-emerge without
shame, the darkness can come into the light, be felt fully and
integrated in a space of safety and kinship, without fear. They are as
comfortable with silence as they are with the most heart-breaking
personal stories. There is no sense of “I am the expert with all the
answers”, no image of themselves as the great saviours of mankind or
enlightened gurus. These unknown, undiscovered Buddhas are the
therapists and teachers of the future, humanity’s hope, and they may not
even know it.
– Jeff Foster