On Writing

Having the itch to write again...
An excerpt from an article of Lindasay Clarke about writing...
"Perhaps we should also be asking what values we imagine we are serving when we take up the difficult challenge of writing a novel.
Part of the answer must lie in the unprecedented quest for individuation that has gathered force as increasing numbers of people have felt the need for a greater degree of self-knowledge and self-determination. It’s through language that we strive to open a passage from feeling into meaning, and imaginative writing can offer a lively way to explore fresh perspectives on how we see the world and our place within it."

Advent

It's second Sunday of Advent.Advent is a time of prayer and reflection about Christ's incarnation.We have the Advent wreath with 4 candles. One candle is lighted each Sunday-"a sign of the approach of the birth of the Light of the World."
The photo is the painting-St. Francis in meditation -by Francisco de Zurbaran

Generosity

"Generosity,Dana, is one of the paramitas, or transcendent actions...The aim is not to try and achieve perfection, therefore it is better to see paramitas in terms of transcendence-as going beyond...Generosity means not possessing.One can practice generosity toward oneself,because the point here is to free oneself from (this) possessiveness, this continual wanting...Then, of course, the next step is to giveaway one's possessions... It does not mean that you should not own anything at all or that you should give away what you have immediately... It isn't a question of not seeing the value of possessions, the point is that it should be equally easy to give them away...It is... giving up this concept of possession.For there is a hunger in action."

...from this foundation- one develops "a noble heart, a compassionate heart"... "It does not refer to kindness alone, but to fundamental compassion, selfless compassion".

"...with giving things away, no matter how small a thing in terms of value, one must be fully involved in the giving so that a part of one's ego is also given away. Through that one reaches the paramita, the transcendental act, which is something beyond... Then one is not conscious of 'virtue' and giving away things in an effort to be 'religious', and one is not conscious of receiving any particular reward of good merit."
-Extracted from Meditation in Action by Chogyam Trungpa