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Being and Thinking: the Quality of Life Blogs Begin :)

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
MeditationWater.jpgThe Quality of Life Blogs:
Explorations in Being (or Looking for Happiness in an Unwell World)

What is ‘be- ing’? It’s very simple - almost too simple; it's just what it appears to be - it’s just be-ing - it’s the place present just before thought… a place of stillness and peace that spiritual practitioners (and philosophers) assert is who we really are - a place of grace. When we are just be-ing in the moment things come naturally….things they flow more…..If you’re an athlete and you inhabit be-ing you’re a star…if you're unhealthy and you inhabit being - you are at peace.

Research suggests, however, that there is probably not a lot of ‘being’ in chronic fatigue syndrome. Some studies have found that the brains of people with ME/CFS have difficulty shutting off innocuous stimuli such as background noise. Other studies suggest that problems with the planning mechanisms may make it work harder to plan movement. Others suggest other neural networks aren’t working as efficiently as they should be…Findings of increased sympathetic nervous system activity (fight or flight) suggest that just ‘be-ing’ is hardly a priority. With problems such as these the grace of simply being becomes harder and harder to come by.

"All the things that truly matter, beauty, love, creativity, joy and inner peace arise from beyond the mind."
Eckhart Tolle​
That’s not helped by the upsetting situations that quite naturally throws many of us into frustration, anger, sadness and fear. Since our culture places little emphasis on be-ing over time we forget about the option of just being and become our thinking; our goals, our anger, our frustration, our hopes, our sadnesses all eclipse our be-ing.. (One of the options of be-ing is forgetting about be-ing!). Then we become angry, we become sad or frustrated - and the longer and more angry, sad, frustrated we are - the more that fills up our day. Spiritual seekers say, however, that is not who we are...

We are be-ing - a place of grace and space. This blog is a journey away from thinking - a remarkably energy intensive place to be - and towards be-ing - a place of grace and space - in an unwell world.

The beginning of Freedom is the Realization that you are not your mind. - the thinker. There is a vast realm of intelligence beyond thought. Echkart Tolle
These blogs will focus on my attempt to access be-ing, so to speak, as I read different books and try different exercises....
 

Sue C

Sue C
Messages
33
Location
NJ
Thanks, again Cort. It has been my ongoing effort to use what tools I have learned over the years to
'quiet the mind'. Even knowing not just believing, it is still a challenge as you wrote with all of the nervous system, etc involvement. Not able to write often due to this condition wearing me down over time. One thing most important is to be reminded...be reminded how capable, valuable and loved we are, despite our self esteem issues being ill. As the recent near suicide shows, we can and have ability to fall into that dark place through no fault of our own, Moods can change and be all over the place from one end of day to next. Information is good to have this site....having the balance of caring for the whole person including spirit, Higher Power, whatever our belief, but to have the REMINDER that we are connected and all part of that enduring love and its grace is a vital piece.. _SueC
 

CBS

Senior Member
Messages
1,522
Nothing like "wishing the day away" - day after day after day!

"They call it livin' and it feels like dying." Tom Paxton - Cindy's Cryin'
 

Cort

Phoenix Rising Founder
Thanks, again Cort. It has been my ongoing effort to use what tools I have learned over the years to
'quiet the mind'. Even knowing not just believing, it is still a challenge as you wrote with all of the nervous system, etc involvement. Not able to write often due to this condition wearing me down over time. One thing most important is to be reminded...be reminded how capable, valuable and loved we are, despite our self esteem issues being ill. As the recent near suicide shows, we can and have ability to fall into that dark place through no fault of our own, Moods can change and be all over the place from one end of day to next. Information is good to have this site....having the balance of caring for the whole person including spirit, Higher Power, whatever our belief, but to have the REMINDER that we are connected and all part of that enduring love and its grace is a vital piece.. _SueC


Yes, that we are still connected to that spirit, higher power, be-ing...whatever it is that really nourishes us in a our time of need (and our times of plenty) - getting to that place - is what the blog will be about....It's still there!!! It's just covered up...
 

Dreambirdie

work in progress
Messages
5,569
Location
N. California
Yes, that we are still connected to that spirit, higher power, be-ing...whatever it is that really nourishes us in a our time of need (and our times of plenty) - getting to that place - is what the blog will be about....It's still there!!! It's just covered up...

I look forward to the uncovering. I have read Eckhart's Power of Now many times. I look forward to more like it.
 

MEG

Senior Member
Messages
242
Location
Asheville, NC
I will be looking forward to this Cort...

Dreambirdie, I loved "The Power of Now", and work by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Used both of these books as I developed the spiritual part of a Cardiac Rehab program...

It has taken me 10 years to come to this place of be...ing. I love it. I am quiet with it. Serene. Rested. Blessed.
 
Messages
1
Location
MI
Hi ...

This is my first post here. I suppose I'll look for the intro. place. Anyway, I would ask those that pray to please keep me in theirs tonight. I am in the "hardest" crash since I became disabled four years ago.

I'm w/Cort ... "being" is hard. How does one self actualize while physically/emotionally being throw under the bus (so to speak!)
 

CJB

Senior Member
Messages
877
Just posted about the new gaiam.tv link on another thread, but interestingly, they interviewed Thich Nhat Hanh who has coined a new word - "inter-be" as none of us can "be" alone. It was in the Awakening the Dreamer seminar.

:hug:

I have missed you all.
 

Little Bluestem

All Good Things Must Come to an End
Messages
4,930
I will continue to read this blog, but I must admit that the first thing that popped into my head when I read This blog is a journey away from thinking was and then how will I be any different from the plants that sit by my windows or the one I have taken as a namesake. I presume I will find out.
 

justinreilly

Senior Member
Messages
2,498
Location
NYC (& RI)
I will continue to read this blog, but I must admit that the first thing that popped into my head when I read This blog is a journey away from thinking was and then how will I be any different from the plants that sit by my windows or the one I have taken as a namesake. I presume I will find out.
I think the idea is that you just do what comes naturally, rather than feeling that you have to be thinking all the time and that you are your mind. To be what you are without over thinking it. So youd be more like a human with cfs that doesnt overthink including the unhelpful thought that we must do more- yes, i guess this will look a lot like being a plant sometimes!

Tolle said in something I listened to that "a bird just sits on the branch and when it feels like flying to another branch, it does so. It doesn't think, 'what will be the benefits and detriments of flying to the next branch and is it the most productive use of my time; what will my neighbors in the next nest over think if I do it?'"
 

allyann

Senior Member
Messages
418
Location
Melbourne Australia
Tolle said in something I listened to that "a bird just sits on the branch and when it feels like flying to another branch, it does so. It doesn't think, 'what will be the benefits and detriments of flying to the next branch and is it the most productive use of my time; what will my neighbors in the next nest over think if I do it?'"

This quote is making me think. It is definitely what I am striving to achieve. A mindfulness state where I no longer think about why I am doing something but just live and be in the moment.

I already know I am incredibly grateful for having ME/CFS as it has made me a better person, Without ME/CFS I would never have met my husband and would not have my gorgeous son. But I still feel really guilty in not being able to do more and I need to work on accepting where I am and the limitations that this illness demands. Like the bird in this quote I need to stop thinking about what I "should be doing" and just be happy in the now.

I wish you luck Cort in your exploration of being and thinking. I think it is time that I started a similar quest.
 

Nielk

Senior Member
Messages
6,970
There is time for being and there is time for thinking.

Quieting the mind for relaxation is very important and can't be minimized yet, we are not birds. Birds don't get brain tumors where they need to make a decision what to do about it.