The Inner Path

12/25/2021

I went out to my mailbox the other day and when I opened it I found a Christmas card from a neighbor I have only spoken to a couple of times. My first reaction was surprise. My first thought was "how kind".
I went inside and sat at my computer still contemplating the kindness that I had been gifted. I did my usual routine of checking email, online banking and Facebook notifications. When I get to Facebook the first thing I sew in my news feed was a video of Bette Midler singing the "The Rose". Altogether it made for a beautiful morning.
Given that today is Christmas I thought I would share the lyrics and a short message with you.

"Some say love, it is a river
That drowns the tender reed
Some say love, it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed
Some say love, it is a hunger
An endless aching need
I say love, it is a flower
And you, its only seed

It's the heart, afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream, afraid of waking
That never takes the chance
It's the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul, afraid of dying
That never learns to live

When the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snows
Lies the seed that with the sun's love
In the spring becomes the rose"

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Mc Broom Amanda

The most valuable gift one can give another - a friend - an associate - a neighbor - a stranger - is unconditional love. A gift that keeps giving and best of all a gift that only costs a little energy. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and much love. if Christmas is not your thing then remove the title But keep the gift. 🙏

06/14/2020

I was asked recently, “What is the discipline of Tao?”. I realized later that though the question was answered it could have been answered in a more concise and direct manner. The fundamental discipline of Tao can be summed up in a single sentence. What ever you believe the purpose of life to be or your purpose in it, the principle discipline of Tao is to do that which furthers.

For example, the Taoist sees his purpose in life to be threefold, self-mastery, self-cultivation and mastering change. For self-mastery and cultivation it “Furthers” one to harmonize rather than compromise or compete. It “Furthers” to resolve rather than ignore or dispute. It “Furthers” to transform rather than repress or remove. In mastering change it “Furthers” to know when to act and when to rest, when to receive and when to give, when to yield and when to stand.

The tools to accomplish such tasks are everywhere. Yoga, Study, Meditation, Prayer, Ti Chi, and a myriad of other resources. The thing to keep in mind whatever you choose to do or how to do it is, Do that, only that, which furthers.

Questions and comments are welcome. If you have not taken the opportunity to check out our website or like and follow this page please feel free to do so. Take very good care on your journey through life and be well. Love joy and blessings to all.

12/08/2019

"With gentleness overcome anger. With generosity overcome meanness. With truth overcome deceit." Buddha

Your potential for anger, for meanness, for deceit is matched equally buy your potential for gentleness, for generosity and truthfulness. It's up to you to decide which potential will be expressed.

Please feel free to comment or question.🙏

11/29/2019

" As the fletcher whittles and makes straight his arrows, so the master directs his straying thoughts." Buddha

Please feel free to comment or question.

11/17/2019

02/11/2019

When The Inner Path first set up this page late in 2014 it was trusted that it would be more of an open forum. A place to respond to, or question the ideas posted by the The Inner Path. It didn't work out that way. The failure may have been due to our lack of understanding of how Facebook works, and/or, there was no invitation to do so.
Please consider yourself invited to do more than just like a post. Feel free to comment and question. If you have not taken the opportunity to "Like", follow or share this page, and you would like to, please do.
What follows is a re-post from December of 2014:
The foundation of a lasting authentic friendship is the ability to express who and what you are, what you feel, openly, honestly, without judgement or the fear of being judged.
Many have experienced what it is to have a true friend, unfortunately, fewer have experienced what it is to be a true friend.
Honor your friendships, cherish them, nurture them; not because there will be a soft place to land when you fall, or because of what they can do for you, or you for them. Honor them, cherish them, nurture them, because it is in that process you will awaken within yourself a love that is truly unconditional, selfless, without expectations or demands.
The experience of being a true friend, and expressing the selfless nature of real friendship, provides an opportunity to open the heart and connect to the divine within.🙏

08/24/2018

03/22/2017

Good intentions that are not expressed either by word or action puts one on a path to regret and often suffering.

"Around the corner I have a friend
in this great city that has no end;
yet days go by and weeks rush on,
and before I know it a year is gone,
and I never see my old friend's face,
for life is a swift and terrible race.
He knows I like him just as well
as in the days when I rang his bell
and he rang mine. We were younger then,
and now we are busy, tired men-
tired with playing a foolish game,
tired with trying to make a name.

'Tomorrow,' I say, ' I will call on Jim,
just to show that I am thinking of him,'
But tomorrow comes-and tomorrow goes,
and the distance between us grows and grows,
around the corner!-Yet miles away...
'here's a telegram, sir'...' Jim died today!'
And that's what we get, and deserve in the end-
around the corner, a vanished friend."
Charles Hanson Towne

Don't put off the good you can do today for tomorrow is guaranteed to no one!

11/06/2016

I search for a place in the world as designed by me. I do not rebel against anything! I rebel for everything that gives me the freedom to be my true self.

08/22/2016

I am but an egg therefore I struggle!
I struggle so that I may come out of the darkness into the light of truth.
I struggle for the light of truth so that I may perceive reality amidst the haze of illusion.
I struggle to perceive reality so that I may understand.
I struggle to understand so that I may “know”.
I struggle to “know” so that I may break the chains of fear.
I struggle to break the chains of fear so that I may love.
I struggle to love so that I may view the “10,000 things” with compassion.
I am but an egg therefore I struggle!

05/08/2016

"The comfort of a mothers touch, like the beauty of the rose, endures." For all who are mothers I wish you a joyous Mothers Day!

04/03/2016

"Awareness is fire; it burns all that is wrong in you. It burns your ego. It burns your greed, it burns your possessiveness, it burns your jealousy - it burns all that is wrong and negative, and it enhances all that is beautiful, graceful, divine." Osho

06/01/2015

The Seven Principles Of Life
One. No one is a supreme authority.
Two. No one possesses a precise formula for a perfect life.
Three. No one can know you as well as you know yourself.
Four. The very best you can hope for from the wise is guidance.
Five. It's your journey no one can do it for you.
Six. There is no such thing as a normal life there is only life.
Seven. Should you take issue with one or all the fundamental principles of life, refer to principle number one.

03/22/2015

Please forgive the delay of this final installment of Difference. I have been trying to gain a better understanding of the Facebook process. For those who wish to follow and receive notice of postings to this page please go to the inner path page and under the "Liked" button select follow and receive notifications. Thank you for your interest and support. Namaste.

03/22/2015

The "Illusion of Sameness" is one of the most destructive forces in the human experience. One of the primary, if not the primary, source(s) of judgement, condemnation, violence, even death! The insistence that others must behave according to some acceptable construct for behavior, stifles creativity, stifles productivity, denies individuation, inhibits growth and seriously limits our capacity for understanding. Set yourself free, set those you love free, set those you don't know free, by letting go of the "Illusion of Sameness" and embracing what is real, by accepting that which is different.
Whatever the relationship, ..."If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right - for me. ...Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my difference from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences."Keirsey-Bates, Please Understand Me

02/06/2015

The "illusion of sameness"-the fear driven need for predictability-prohibits any real understanding of one another and is the root cause for social and interpersonal manipulation. If you are not like me then I can't know how you'll respond to a given circumstance. If I can't know how you will respond then it is necessary to either judge you - relegate your behavior to to the realm of madness or badness - or convert you - convince you to surrender your uniqueness.
"I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you."Keirsey-Bates, Please Understand Me

02/02/2015

One of the more violent things we do to one another while steeped in the, "Illusion of Sameness", is judging others for failing to act in accordance with some imagined design for action. "If You really loved me you would...", "If that were the truth you would..." and so on. These judgments lack compassion and understanding and are an exercise of unrighteous dominion.
"...Yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be." Keirsey-Bates, Please Understand Me

01/19/2015

Emotion is governed by The Law of Capacity (an individuals ability to experience, do, and understand). No two people share the same capacity; as with everything else capacity is a continuum from the shallow and superficial to the deep and comprehensive. Sensitivity-responsiveness to a given stimulus-also varies from individual to individual. The idea that others should respond to a given circumstance as we do is one of the more destructive aspects of the illusion of sameness.
"...If my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weekly."
Keirsey-Bates, Please Understand Me