Our Inner Nobility
The following is a quote from Thomas Merton:
Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in the eyes of the Divine, if only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed…I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.
I came across a magazine article called, Discovering Our Nobility: A Psychology of Original Goodness. The article is from a chapter in Jack Kornfield’s new book, which is called The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology. The Thomas Merton quote is from his book.
In the article, Kornfield makes his case about how Western psychology focuses on pathology; and how Buddhist psychology focuses on the inner nobility and beauty of all human beings.
From the article, Kornfield states:
“Robert Johnson, the noted Jungian analyst, acknowledges how difficult it is for many of us to believe in our goodness. We more easily take our worst fears and thoughts and to be who we are, the unacknowledged traits called our ‘shadow’ by Jung. ‘Curiously,’ writes Johnson ‘people resist the noble aspects of their shadow more strenuously than they hide the dark sides….It is more disrupting to find that you have a profound nobility of character than to find out that you are a bum.’
“Our belief,” Kornfield continues, “in a limited and impoverished identity is such a strong habit that without it we are afraid we wouldn’t know how to be. If we fully acknowledged our dignity, it could lead to radical life changes. It could ask something huge of us. And yet some part of us knows that the frightened and damaged self is not who we are. Each of us needs to find our way to be whole and free.”
Sorry, for quoting so much; but this article made be pause and wonder about myself and ask myself if I believe in my inner nobility or not. How about you?
Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in the eyes of the Divine, if only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed…I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.
I came across a magazine article called, Discovering Our Nobility: A Psychology of Original Goodness. The article is from a chapter in Jack Kornfield’s new book, which is called The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology. The Thomas Merton quote is from his book.
In the article, Kornfield makes his case about how Western psychology focuses on pathology; and how Buddhist psychology focuses on the inner nobility and beauty of all human beings.
From the article, Kornfield states:
“Robert Johnson, the noted Jungian analyst, acknowledges how difficult it is for many of us to believe in our goodness. We more easily take our worst fears and thoughts and to be who we are, the unacknowledged traits called our ‘shadow’ by Jung. ‘Curiously,’ writes Johnson ‘people resist the noble aspects of their shadow more strenuously than they hide the dark sides….It is more disrupting to find that you have a profound nobility of character than to find out that you are a bum.’
“Our belief,” Kornfield continues, “in a limited and impoverished identity is such a strong habit that without it we are afraid we wouldn’t know how to be. If we fully acknowledged our dignity, it could lead to radical life changes. It could ask something huge of us. And yet some part of us knows that the frightened and damaged self is not who we are. Each of us needs to find our way to be whole and free.”
Sorry, for quoting so much; but this article made be pause and wonder about myself and ask myself if I believe in my inner nobility or not. How about you?
posted by Brother Bob @ 5:26 AM
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