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Freedom from the Struggle Against your Self. {Video}.



“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate.” ~ Carl Jung

True spirituality is the subtlest expression of non-violence.

It is learning to love, which is difficult. We must be willing to move into the darkest areas of our life and love ourselves out of the darkness through mindfulness and patience. We have to see our naked body, with all of its perfections and imperfections, and patiently resist the violent urge to reject it. This takes an immense amount of courage. We are terrified of seeing ourselves without any clothes on. We insist upon avoiding ourselves by thinking about ourselves, rather than being our self. True spirituality is about rediscovering the indestructible dignity of being through the practice of love.

Rather than waging yet another war on our self, in order to whip ourselves into shape, the practice of meditation represents the possibility of moving beyond the struggle against our self. The following talk explores this one possibility.

 

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Editor: Kate Bartolotta

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photo by: h.koppdelaney

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Ben is a teacher and student of Buddhist meditation and spirituality. He teaches at the Refuge Meditation Group in Shreveport, LA. Ben has written extensively about Buddhism, contemplative philosophy, and meditation practice on his blog. Above everything he is committed to presenting Buddhist and contemplative principles from a practical, contemporary, and western point of view. If you would like to follow his blog, The Web of Enlightenment, on Facebook then Click here. If you would prefer to follow him on Twitter then Click here. To be notified when Ben publishes a new article on Elephant Journal, click here to join his Elephant Facebook group. Think these sort of bio's are cheesy? Then click here to read my real bio.

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5 Responses to “Freedom from the Struggle Against your Self. {Video}.”

  1. Jenna says:

    Please repost with the video – I hope it plays in Canada

  2. mike in australia says:

    video wont play :(

  3. [...] At their best, the world’s great religions are the collective unconscious of humanity, the beating heart of our species. At their worst, they will be our demise. On one hand, they invite us into a deeper realization of who we truly are, and on the other hand, they actively suppress the voice of our true Self. [...]

  4. [...] is always the case, I come out stronger and more self-aware after big moments of struggle. I am now on the other side and looking back at the lessons, because there are always lessons in [...]

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