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Winter Holidays

As the holiday season is in full swing, I’ve been reflecting a bit on what these winter holidays actually mean.  To the Christian, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Christ.  From where I sit, to the average American, Christmas means nearly unbearable stress as they struggle to prove their love and their worth by spending way more than they can afford, and planning events they don’t really want to attend, all while dreading the time they feel obligated to spend with family members they dislike or are almost guaranteed to make them miserable.  I find this sad, and this is definitely not how I want to spend my holidays! (And I’ve actually managed a good job of NOT spending holidays in this fashion for many years.)

Historically, though, the winter holidays around the world all seem to be related more to what we Americans CLAIM thanksgiving is about: celebrating family, cultural heritage, harvests, and just generally being thankful for who and what we have in our lives, as well as a celebration of LIGHT.

Light has many meanings, and is rich with cultural symbolism everywhere.  Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of lights, is a celebration of the retaking of their temple from the Romans.  Triumph of the light of Judaism over the darkness of the evil Romans.  In the religions of many ancient agrarian cultures, they celebrate(d) the triumph of the Sun over darkness as days were beginning to lengthen.  In Christianity, they celebrate the light of the Son over the darkness of evil.

Interestingly, most of these celebrations, despite the varied cultural differences, also include a theme of PEACE and GOODWILL, and many include gift-giving, acts of charity, and a policy of non-violence.

Though the Islamic holidays revolve through the seasons (a result of their calendar), they too have a similar holiday season.  Ramadan is a month of fasting during daylight, promoting peaceful action and acts of charity.  When Ramadan ends, Muslims celebrate Eid al-Fitr by praying and then spending time with family, giving alms to the poor, feasting, and exchange gifts.

The Buddhists celebrate Bodhi Day, considered the day of the Buddha’s enlightenment, marking it as a celebration of the Light of Knowledge and Wisdom. Some Buddhists consider this a special day for acts of kindness.

The Hindus celebrate Pancha Ganapati, a 5 day festival with the central theme of love and harmony.  They also have Diwali Festival, which (like Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr) revolves through the seasons due to the calendar used.  This festival is also a Festival of Lights, and again celebrates the triumph of good over evil.

I find it both beautiful and fascinating that so much of humanity shares this same type of celebration, whether it’s celebrated the same season as Christmas/Yule or travels throughout the year.

So… what’s my point?  This holiday season, rather than focusing on all those stressful things that Christmas has become in America, perhaps we should celebrate with the whole wide world, and focus on peace, love, kindness, charity, and the beauty of whatever Light symbolizes for us.

Happy holidays, humanity!  May the coming year bring all of us more peace and understanding.

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Sadhana

There is no conflict among spiritual practices so long as the purpose of spiritual practice is understood. 

You cannot make the Real anymore real nor the False anymore false. 

How real is the Real? Find out. How false is the False? Find out. 

Set aside all assumptions that you know who and what you are. To whom do the notions of Real and Unreal appear? Who and what is that? Without world, society, and subject-object relation/perception: Who are you? 

To the ends of revealing that which is endless, the means must be equally boundless. 

Nothing is true; everything is permitted. 

Are you going to be a madman who falls down? Or a sage who falls up?

Not all who wander are lost. 

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When you rest in quietness and your image of yourself fades, and your image of the world fades, and your ideas of others fade, what’s left? A brightness, a radiant emptiness that is simply what you are.

Adyashanti (via ashramof1)

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The Universe provides what we need, not what we want.

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If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never truly be fulfilled.

Lao Tzu (via thecalminside)

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People forget that when Jesus would heal somebody he would tell them that they too could do as he did if they had sufficient faith. His power was not unique to him.

"All things are possible to him who believes."

— Jesus of Nazareth, Mark 9:23

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You are not separate from the whole. You are one with the sun, the earth, the air. You don’t have a life. You are life.

 Eckhart Tolle (via purplebuddhaproject)

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Anytime you’re gonna grow, you’re gonna lose something. You’re losing what you’re hanging onto to keep safe. You’re losing habits that you’re comfortable with, you’re losing familiarity.

James Hillman (via wordsnquotes)

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Give up defining yourself - to yourself or to others. You won’t die. You will come to life. And don’t be concerned with how others define you. When they define you, they are limiting themselves, so it’s their problem. Whenever you interact with people, don’t be there primarily as a function or a role, but as the field of conscious Presence. You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.

 Eckhart Tolle (via purplebuddhaproject)

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Less and less do you need to force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

Lao Tzu (via thecalminside)

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Deal with the world the way it is, not the way you wish it was. - John Chambers

TheDailyPositive.com (via thedailypozitive)

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The aim of my teaching is enlightenment, awakening from the dream state of separateness into the reality of the One. In short, my teaching is focused on realizing what you are.

Adyashanti (via thecalminside)

We are ALL the One. :)

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If people refuse to look at you in a new light and they can only see you for what you were, only see you for the mistakes you’ve made, if they don’t realize that you are not your mistakes, then they have to go.

Steve Maraboli (via onlinecounsellingcollege)

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It is precisely through the onset of old age, through loss or personal tragedy, that the spiritual dimension would traditionally come into people’s lives. This is to say, their inner purpose would emerge only as their outer purpose collapsed and the shell of the ego would begin to crack open. The emphasis shifts from doing to Being, and our civilization, which is lost in doing, knows nothing of Being. It asks: being? What do you do with it?

 Eckhart Tolle (via purplebuddhaproject)

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Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.

 Eckhart Tolle (via purplebuddhaproject)

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Also, go inside and listen to your body, because your body will never lie to you. Your mind will play tricks, but the way you feel in your heart, in your guts, is the truth.

 Miguel Ruiz (via brosetta-stone)

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Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can’t always understand them, but we have to trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith.

Lauren Kate, Torment  (via thatkindofwoman)

Yes, I have lived this! :)