Awareness

“There is an experience of shame that surrounds the self (everybody’s self) that is simply unavoidable. Shame is associated with the inner sense that there is something wrong with “who I am.” It is acquired from experiences, mostly unavoidable, within life. And so, we never go very far within ourselves without encountering some level of pain and discomfort. There are parts of ourselves that we do not share and prefer to remain hidden. Often enough, the discomfort surrounding such things is great enough that we avoid confronting them ourselves. It is the primary cause for our avoidance of inner awareness. All of this means that the journey to knowing the self will inevitably require going into and through the shame that surrounds it. The true self should not be confused with the “shame-self.” They are not the same. The shame-self is who I am, defined by how I feel about myself, or that aspect of myself. The true self is beneath that and deeper. By the same token, God is beneath even the true self.” (Father Stephen Freeman) 

“When we realize we are the awareness and not the drama unfolding in our awareness our lives are freer, simpler, more compassionate. Fear remains frightening but we are not afraid of fear. Pain still hurts, but we are not hurt by pain…This advice is especially valuable for people with a high sense of sin or who struggle with self-loathing or the inability to forgive themselves. Very often we think we’ve got to keep all this ever in mind. While awareness of sin and transgression has its place, it must nevertheless be set aside if growth in humility is to continue…We have to let go of everything, even our sense of being a miserable failure.” (Martin Laird)

“Dispassion can be differentiated from detachment, although from the outside they may sometimes appear similar. To make a clear distinction, I will use the word detachment to mean the preservation of the individualistic autonomy of my life at the expense of real living and relating. In contrast, dispassion (usually achieved only through long ascetic practice) would permit me to truly live and relate in full awareness of my reality and the reality of the other without losing control of my emotional reactions.” (Andrew Williams)

“As for the general principles for combating passions, the following steps can be pointed out: Awareness of your passions. The first step to fighting passions is to become conscious of their presence. Everyone should understand exactly what desires and bad habits have begun to take control over us and cause negative emotions in us or in people around us, and what actions make them stronger. It is important to learn to discern our passions and try not to yield to them. Turning to God. According to the ancient saying: “Without God you can do nothing.” It is impossible to get rid of your sins and passions without God's help. We can easily drown out our voice of conscience and get a swelled head over our successes. Keeping in mind that we are weak in the face of sin, we must begin to live a spiritual life.” (Priest Alexei Taakh)

“After the fall of the first men, man didn’t completely depart from God and didn’t cease to strive for Him, because this desire for the Infinite Being is embedded in human nature. Now, after the fall, this desire should have increased, intensified by the awareness of our grave sinfulness. This awareness of sin is an expression of humility, without which Adam was deceived by the devil. This awareness of sin and distance from God is repentance! Through repentance, faith is given: The Lord reveals Himself only to those who are aware of their sinfulness.” (Schema-Archimandrite Kyrik)

#FatherStephenFreeman #MartinLaird #AndrewWilliams #PriestAlexeiTaakh #SchemaArchimandriteKyrik