Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)
An open mind is a prerequisite to an open heart. -Robert M. Sapolsky, neuroscientist and author (1957- )
It might be a good idea if the various countries of the world would occasionally swap history books, just to see what other people are doing with the same set of facts. -Bill Vaughan, journalist (1915-1977)
…we have a lot of opinions, and we tend to take them as truth. Pema Chodron
I put these quotes together in my thought today. Maybe because I am rereading When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times (Shambhala Classics)
This book was a gift from a friend a number of years ago. I think you have to be in the right mood to read it. If you are unfamiliar with Buddhist terms, it takes some getting used to seeing them and knowing what they mean in context. She has many gems in the book, sometimes within paragraphs where I took the wheat and left what I wasn’t clear on. In many ways, she makes goodness understood from outside a religious parameter. And it is all about having an open heart, open to the compassion of the world and of our own, open to the pain of the world and a means of alleviating it. I might try to read some of her other books too, but they are heavy duty for everyday fare.
I bet most of us would not understand history if we read it from the perspective of someone else’s country. I think that’s where travel comes in and broadens our viewpoints. Reading about a place is not the same as breathing the air and stepping foot on the soil and looking out from or at something different from our normal scene.
It might be the same with true piety and goodness vs. piety that has a negative connotation. I don’t think the word goodness is ever corrupted as ‘piety’ usually is. If it is good, it’s good. When I think of the facts (’facts’) about God…piety, religion, truth…the same set of facts yields many different concepts, all of which cannot be true…or all of which might be partially true. But facts or not, are we becoming a better person, maybe kinder or nicer or more considerate, more compassionate and even, a little bit more good? I’m not sure for most of us that it is a steadily inclining line, at least I have setbacks, but over all, hopefully…
How about you? Have you ever read any of her books? or any book on Buddhism? Do you think you’ve changed in the last five years?
Karin
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4 comments ↓
Like many, I deliberately cringe when I encounter many self-help volumes.
Pema Chodron, on the other hand…
LOVE that lady.
The books are intense, yes.
Worthwhile.
Because she has lived a real life, a very full one, her words echo more truth for me.
Do you have favorites of her books or a favorite?
I particularly love this book as it was a gift from a friend. I felt I had to get into it again to glean more meaning.
I’m fond of them all-
Another book for you-
“To Begin Again” [I'm not recalling the author-for shame], written by the first Conservative woman rabbi- a friend of a brilliant, self-effacing young rabbi hereabouts.
She deals with all the thorny questions we ask when terrible things happen.
I read this at my mothers’ bedside years ago [after she had open heart surgery, and I was at the bedside round the clock], and gave it to a dear friend [a magnificent woman who works for WGBH and became an Episcopalian Minister late in life]who is also a hospital chaplain.
I’m also going to send you some psalms I think you’ll love !
Lovely, I’ll make a point of looking for it. There’s something about being in a crucible that changes us.
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