This Week's Quotation:
When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending.
When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you love, and the situation will change.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk
Amazing Grace
Soul Care Facilitator
There are several definitions for the word grace. One of the definitions offered by Merriam-Webster is "a virtue coming from God," and that's the grace Thich Nhat Hanh addresses in this quote. It's grace in the form of forgiveness, compassion, and understanding instead of responding with harsh judgment toward another who has made life miserable in some way for others.
Additionally, it's grace that gives us the strength to turn the other cheek and the patience of Job when it would be easier to blame others. Grace is also the serenity to accept the things we cannot change and the peace that fills us when we can let go and let things be.
Furthermore, I suspect we've all needed the humility that grace gives us to own up when we've made mistakes, as well as having others extend grace to us when we have messed up. How beautiful it is that Grace brings the ability to connect with that part of us that is not separate so that we keep our heart open, even in hell.
Grace grants us the wisdom to see that all the stuff of our human lives is to be used to awaken from the dramas created by the belief in separation. We are not separate from anything we witness. As soon as we remember that, we decide for heaven, and Grace comes to our aid.
May Grace sweep you up in the joys of I AM and grant you the vision to see the Divinity in all that is, empowering your kinship with all expressions of life.
About Open Windows
We, the authors of this blog, dedicate it to the transparent exploration of the world's sacred scripture and enlightened spiritual thought. We believe that the original inspiration of all faiths comes from a common source, named and revered in a myriad of ways. With that understanding, the innumerable symbols, beliefs, and practices of faith cease to divide. They become open windows to a common reality that inspires and unifies us. We find deeper insight and nourishment in our own faith and from the expression of faith from others.
We hope these weekly quotations and meditations speak to your heart and soul.
3 Responses
Oneness with all being is indeed the reality. Recognizing this, any time I blame or accuse anyone of anything actually separates me from a part of myself. May Grace come to the rescue and keep me connected with the truth of who I am and with the power of Love that runs the universe.
Of all the ways I have seen or heard in how to bring the consciousness of this world into balance, this is so profound! Thank you again, Terri, for digging deep into the pathways of the inner soul. 💕
My mom and her mother’s favorite song was Amazing Grace. I use it when I find myself having difficulty forgiving or understanding other people’s behaviors – and therefore my own. This song goes directly to the heart.