2010: A year of personal transformation

2010 has been a good year for me, not in a materialistic term but in a spiritually way...

"Spiritually in its widest sense can refer to any source of inspiration, awe or wonder that impacts on an individual's identity or sense of purpose. Spiritual growth is about personal transformation and the belief that life is a process of moving towards enhanced awareness."

... at this moment, as I bid goodbye to 2010, I am thankful for the transformation that it has brought unto me :))

the Extraordinary People

According to Paul Ekman (in Destructive Emotion), extraordinary people share four qualities:

1. they emanate a sense of goodness (a transparency between their personal and public life);

2. they are selflessness;

3. they have a compelling personal presence that others find nourishing; and

4. they have amazing powers of attentiveness and concentration.

... images of Buddha, Jesus, Mother Theresa, Gandhi, instantly appear in my mind.

Reminisce: 2010

Here, at home alone in the last few days of 2010, I am in a reminisce mode.

What started as a growth journey in 2009 has evolved into a soul searching journey in 2010.

2010:

* has shown me the path to take to continue my life journey;

* has taught me to not seek answers from outside but from within;

* has led me to examine and reestablished my belief and faith;...

the year has not ended yet, what else will it teach me...

Marriage ~ a mutual consent that robs one's freedom...

"The point of marriage is not to create a quick commonality by tearing down all boundaries; on the contrary, a good marriage is one in which each partner appoints the other to be the guardian of his solitude, and thus they show each other the greatest possible trust.

A merging of two people is an impossibility, and where it seems to exist, it is a hemming-in, a mutual consent that robs one party or both parties of their fullest freedom and development.

But once the realization is accepted that even between the closest people infinite distances exist, a marvelous living side-by-side can grow up for them, if they succeed in loving the expanse between them, which gives them the possibility of always seeing each other as a whole and before an immense sky."
~Rainer Maria Rilke (Letters to a Young Poet)

When a marriage falls apart, one may be awaken with the feeling of continuing where one left off; reliving one's freedom and continuing one's growth/ development...

Sales: greed for acquiring more

20% Off!, 70% Off!, Buy 1 free 1!

Lately, I noticed that I have been missing out on sales... just missed (last weekend)the sales from a shop that I frequent; the recent bodyshop sales; the MoMo sales; etc. Well, I am not going to fret about it anymore (I used to)... now I have taken on a new perspective:

"I see sales as greed for acquiring more and more."

In Buddhism, a person who is on his way to spiritual growth must try to reduce his own selfishness and his strong desire for acquiring more and more. He should reduce his strong attachment to possessions which, if he is not mindful, can enslave him to greed.