Let's all pay attention to how we "tie our shoes!"Our lives are our stories. Ultimately it is the state of our total being that affects the world. I was impressed by a comment made by someone who was part of a party invited to dialogue with the Dalai Lama. While this person was certainly interested in what His Holiness had to say, he admitted that he mainly wanted to see how the Dalai Lama tied his shoes. That’s what eventually affects us most of all, isn’t it? Not the eloquence of words, nor books and concepts, but the way the truth is being lived in the world.
-- Gloria Karpinski in Barefoot on Holy Ground
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Our lives are our stories
The ways in which we apply what we believe to be spiritual truths, the ways in which we integrate them into our ordinary lives, speak more loudly than our actual words:
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Would someone please explain this further. The quote makes absolutely no sense to me. To me, it sounds much like the nonsense with which I was raised--that all of a person's behaviour should be dictated by what other people think. Please, help.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Carolyn L.
Oh, goodness no! It doesn't mean that at all. It's about application. It's about consistency. It's about not being a hypocrite. The person was more interested in being in the Dalai Lama's presence and experiencing his BEING rather than specifically hearing the words he had to say. In old fashioned western terms, this is saying that it's important to practice what you preach.
ReplyDeleteI like your interpretation. Unfortunately, to me, it doesn't fit the original quote. I will have to find this book and read it in context. Maybe then I will see it as you do. Thanks for the response.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn L.