"No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can always set our compass to our highest intentions in the present moment. Perhaps it is nothing more than being in a heated conversation with another person and stopping to take a break and asking yourself, 'What is my highest intention in this moment?" If you have enough awareness to take this small step, your heart will give you an answer that will take the conversation in a different, more positive direction. Or before you enter a room to speak to those with whom you are in conflict, you can pause, take a breath, and ask yourself, 'What is my highest intention in this situation?" With simple steps like these, you can behave in ways that at least will not fuel your difficulties-or anyone else's. As Albert Camus wrote, 'We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. But our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to fight them in ourselves and others."
From Buddhist teacher Jack Kornfield's book Lamp in the Darkness:
"No matter what situation we find ourselves in, we can always set our compass to our highest intentions in the present moment. Perhaps it is nothing more than being in a heated conversation with another person and stopping to take a break and asking yourself, 'What is my highest intention in this moment?" If you have enough awareness to take this small step, your heart will give you an answer that will take the conversation in a different, more positive direction. Or before you enter a room to speak to those with whom you are in conflict, you can pause, take a breath, and ask yourself, 'What is my highest intention in this situation?" With simple steps like these, you can behave in ways that at least will not fuel your difficulties-or anyone else's. As Albert Camus wrote, 'We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. But our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to fight them in ourselves and others."
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AuthorTarn Wilson is the author of the memoir The Slow Farm and numerous essays. You may read more of her work at tarnwilson.com. Archives
September 2020
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