By: Pamela Leavey On: February 24, 2012 at 5:29 pm
I ran across this yesterday on Facebook from Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes. It’s a marvelous nibble of Food For Thought on the topic of seduction. Enjoy…
“If you’ve ever hung over the railing of a bridge looking down at the water passing, sometimes you feel a little vertigo as though you are being pulled to maybe jump in and be taken by the current. This is true of seduction also.
There can be a pull that is unexplainable, a desire to just fall forward, jump in for a fabulous destruction of self by which i mean a ‘take down’ of… the overly egotistical psyche. This positive deconstruction can be liberating for it shakes out all detritus and wholeness rises thus…
but there’s also detrimental destruction of self via seduction …by a blue bearded woman or a blue bearded man who claims they cannot do without… who whilst wheedling, wheeling and dealing, holds aces up the sleeve that you… do not know about. And you wonder why they always pull so compellingly on your tripes (gut) and you always seem to lose one more pound of flesh.
Make sure you know which kind of seduction you’re facing… within yourself, and with others. And if its the kind to throw you into a rapids you cannot survive… step away, step away from the railing… and walk to solid, non-moving ground. Find a tree. Lean forehead against it’s bark.” ~~ from The Contemplari manuscript, ©2000, by Clarissa Pinkola Estés, all rights reserved.
And heed the advice if need be… we can be seduced on so many levels by so many things. We live in a technological world that feeds our temptations everyday, with an explosion of images and words and things we feel we must have. It’s always so important to stand your ground, when something doesn’t feel right.

(Photo: Tree on the Merrimack River ~~ c. Pamela J. Leavey 2012)
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By: Pamela Leavey On: February 2, 2012 at 10:38 am
When we have problems, issues in our lives, we must choose to solve those problems by facing them head on and making the effort to understand the problem…
“The mere desire to resolve a problem is an escape from the problem, is it not? I haven’t gone into the problem, I haven’t studied it, explored it, understood it. I don’t know the beauty or the ugliness or the depth of the problem; my only concern is to resolve it, put it away. This urge to resolve a problem without having understood it is an escape from the problem – and therefore it becomes another problem. Every escape breeds further problems.” ~~ Talks by Krishnamurti in Saanen, 1964
We can not escape our problems, as J. Krishnamurti points out above, because in attempting to escape our problems we simply create more problems. And then our problems compound on top of each other and we create a proverbial mountain from a mole hill.
When there is conflict in our lives, J. Krishnamurti asserts that “conflict becomes more and more complex and insoluble because we do not face what is.” As Krishnamurti goes on to say, “There is no complexity in what is, but only in the many escapes that we seek.”
It’s one thing to take time to reflect on our problems and go deep inside our hearts and minds to question and find solution, but we cannot and we must not use escapism as route to “solve” our problems.
Communication with one’s self and others involved in problems that arise in our lives, is the key to solving our problems. We must shut out the ego that gives us false fear driven solutions and listen deeply to the open heart.
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By: Pamela Leavey On: January 31, 2012 at 10:37 am
Via His Holiness The Dalai Lama on Facebook…
“Generosity is the most natural outward expression of an inner attitude of compassion and loving-kindness. When one desires to alleviate the suffering of others and to promote their well-being, then generosity – in action, word, and thought – is this desire put into practice. It is important to recognize the “generosity” here refers not just to giving in a material sense, but to generosity of the heart.”
We so often equate generosity with a monetary or material worth, but in truth a single smile, a good thought towards someone, a visit, time spent with a loved one who is ailing, all of these things are generosity in action.
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By: Pamela Leavey On: July 8, 2011 at 10:12 am
J. Krishnamurti… Energy without a center…
The complete stillness of the brain is an extraordinary thing; it is highly sensitive, vigorous, fully alive, aware of every outward movement but utterly still. It is still as it is completely open, without any hindrance, without any secret wants and pursuits; it is still as there is no conflict which is essentially a state of contradiction. It is utterly still in emptiness; this emptiness is not a state of vacuum, a blankness; it is energy without a centre, without a border. Walking down the crowded street, smelly and sordid, with the buses roaring by, the brain was aware of the things about it and the body was walking along, sensitive, alive to the smells, to the dirt, to the sweating labourers but there was no centre from which watching, directing, censoring took place. During the whole of that mile and back the brain was without a movement, as thought and feeling; the body was getting tired, unaccustomed to the frightful heat and humidity though the sun had set some time ago. It was a strange phenomenon though it had happened several times before. One can never get used to any of these things for it is not a thing of habit and desire. It is always surprising, after it is over. ~~ Krishnamurti’s Notebook Part 6
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By: Pamela Leavey On: June 17, 2011 at 7:15 am
J. Krishnamurti…
Most of us spend our life in effort, in struggle; and the effort, the struggle, the striving, is a dissipation of that energy. Man, throughout the historical period of man, has said that to find that reality or God- whatever name he may give to it- you must be celibate; that is, you take a vow of chastity and suppress, control, battle with yourself endlessly all your life, to keep your vow. Look at the waste of energy! It is also a waste of energy to indulge. And it has far more significance when you suppress. The effort that has gone into suppression, into control, into this denial of your desire distorts your mind, and through that distortion you have a certain sense of austerity which becomes harsh. Please listen. Observe it in yourself and observe the people around you. And observe this waste of energy, the battle. Not the implications of sex, not the actual act, but the ideals, the images, the pleasure;the constant thought about them is a waste of energy. And most people waste their energy either through denial, or through a vow of chastity, or in thinking about it endlessly. ~~ The Book of Life
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By: Pamela Leavey On: May 13, 2011 at 2:30 pm
“Some people automatically associate morality and altruism with a religious vision of the world. But I believe it is a mistake to think that morality is an attribute only of religion. We can imagine two types of spirituality: one tied to religion, while the other arises spontaneously in the human heart as an expression of love for our neighbors and a desire to do them good.” ~~ The Dalai Lama
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