On Trust and Self Acceptance

I just read a very interesting piece on the relationship between trust and self acceptance, as well as developing trust with one's spiritual community, sangha. www.berkeleybuddhistpriory.org/_dharma/refuge.htm

I'm wondering, what does it take to really develop the kind of trust needed to make ourselves vulnerable and share with others the parts of ourselves that we most reject? How can we foster such open and nonjudgmental relationships?

The Báb on Trustworthiness

One day the Báb asked that some honey be purchased for Him. The price at which it had been bought seemed to Him exorbitant. He refused it and said: "Honey of a superior quality could no doubt have been purchased at a lower price. I who am your example have been a merchant by profession. It behoves you in all your transactions to follow in My way. You must neither defraud your neighbour nor allow him to defraud you. Such was the way of your Master. The shrewdest and ablest of men were unable to deceive Him, nor did He on His part choose to act ungenerously towards the meanest and most helpless of creatures." He insisted that the attendant who had made that purchase should return and bring back to Him a honey superior in quality and cheaper in price.

(Cited in "The Dawn-Breakers: Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation", trans. and ed. Shoghi Effendi, (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1974), p. 303)

Bahá'u'lláh on Trustworthiness

After a weekend at Bosch, both N and I have decided to put more effort into focusing on our virtue of the month. For me, I take this renewed commitment to our VOTM club as an incentive to expand my spiritual growth. In an effort to apply my strengths to the task, I shall set out to do a bit more research each month on the virtue at hand. This month it is trust. This is the first post of several to come on trustworthiness.

Extracts from the utterances of Bahá'u'lláh:

1. "O people! The goodliest vesture in the sight of God in this day is trustworthiness. All bounty and honour shall be the portion of the soul that arrayeth itself with this greatest of adornments."

(From a Tablet - translated from Persian)

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2. "Regard thou faith as a tree. Its fruits, leaves, boughs and branches are, and have ever been, trustworthiness, truthfulness, uprightness and forbearance."

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian)

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3. "I beseech Thee, O my God, by all the transcendent glory of Thy Name, to clothe Thy loved ones in the robe of justice and to illumine their beings with the light of trustworthiness. Thou art the One Who hath power to do as He pleaseth and Who holdeth within His grasp the reins of all things, visible and invisible."

(From a Tablet - translated from the Arabic)

4. "It behoveth ye all so to adorn your inner and outer beings that, robed in trustworthiness, girt with righteousness and arrayed in truthfulness and rectitude, ye may become a means for the exaltation of the Cause and the education of the human race."

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian)

5. "Cleave ye at all times to the cord of trustworthiness and hold fast the hem of the garment of truthfulness: thus biddeth you He Who is the Truthful, the Trusted One. God is my witness, trustworthiness is a light that shineth reflugently from the heavens, and leadeth to the exaltation of the Cause of God, the Omnipotent, the Incomparable, the All-Praised. Whoso hath remained faithful to the Covenant hath been steadfast in his adherence to trustworthiness, whilst those who have repudiated it have erred grievously."

(From a Tablet - translated from the Arabic)

6. "Trustworthiness, wisdom and honesty are, of a truth, God's beauteous adornments for His creatures. These fair garments are a befitting vesture for every temple. Happy are those that comprehend, and well is it with them that acquire such virtues."

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian and Arabic)

7. "Beseech the Lord that He deprive not His dominions of the effulgent light of the sun of trustworthiness, nor deny them the radiance of the Day-Star of truthfulness or the splendour of the orb of justice and equity. Trustworthiness and piety are even as two luminaries shining resplendent above the horizon of the heaven of the Tablet in which are inscribed the ordinances of God. Well is it with them that have discerned them, and woe betide the heedless!"

(From a Tablet - translated from the Persian and Arabic)

Questions about Patience

A friend's post on the month of patience makes me wonder,
How can we be patient, yet not passive? How can we be patient, yet direct our futures? Is patience simply a matter of being grounded in the present? Is patience non-attachment to the future or the past?

Attributes of Patience

What is patience?
Is it not a quiet and steady faithfulness to God and other duties in the midst of trials?

What are the attributes of patience?
* Detachment seems to be key!
e.g., patience in tribulation must involve detaching from the suffering of the present because of faith for trust that all situations can lead to spiritual growth. This makes me think of the Valley of Knowledge in Baha'u'llah's The Seven Valleys, which describes this foresight so beautifully.
Let us "...rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance." (Romans 5:3). "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer." (Romans 12:12).
* A healthy dose of selflessness. Rigidly demanding that things work one's own way in one's own time frame is not likely to induce great patience.
* A willingness to compromise seems very much related to the previous point.
* Compassion. Without compassion, it can be harder to relate to another person and hear them out in many situations.
* Any others? Please share out any thoughts you may have. I'm particularly interested in hearing folks' thoughts on practical things we can do to develop more patience.

Patience Continues

How appropriate that a marriage proposal should come during the month of patience, when this relationship has been such a lesson in patience (I suppose that's true of most relationships). Looking forward to a future year of wedding planning and waiting to be married will be another lesson in patience!

Goodnight Moon

This evening I had a marvelous yoga class. I am so grateful to finally to returning to my regular practice after several weeks hiatus during weeks of visitors. Yet, this evening I became quite teary-eyed because t'was the last class of my fabulous instructor Moondance, who had a baby girl just a few months ago.

Tis amazing that my heart can form such a strong connection to someone in a setting where I typically silently enter, turn inward, and quietly leave. Only on a few occasions have I paused after class to converse with her, and yet her teaching has been such a beautiful gift in my life. Her teaching has given me a clear sense of preference of yoga styles (vinyasa, thank you).

As I write this, I am given cause to think that moving connections with others must not necessarily involve conversation (which makes me think of what AA was saying the other evening about discovering silence with another person), nor knowing general trivia about another person's likes and personal life. There is something about yoga that can produce a connection of spirit between a student and her teacher. Ours was a relationship so entirely based on generosity, on her giving, and our (the students') receiving. I have at times wondered what it must feel like to be a yoga teacher, to give of yourself so fully while others come and go, enter class to find solace in themselves and the guidance of your words, the sequences you have thoughtfully put together, the music you have carefully selected. Such teachers are models of detachment. Surely they must recognition the gift of service, the light-filling energy their teaching brings to the world.

"May all beings benefit from our practice. Namaste."
Thank you Moondance.

**for those who are not familiar with the title of this post, it is in reference to a very famous children's book by Margaret Wise Brown, which seemed appropriate for honoring Moondance, who is giving up teaching yoga for now to spend more time with her infant daughter.

I've been so patient with April that some how it has flown by!

San Diego Spring Winds

With tangled hair,
billowing clothes,
steps, harried and pushed
as the mighty sea wind flows.

Like a leaf adeptly pulled
by the swift, sliding hand
of a panda bear, this wind
leaves little force to stand.

As I make my way,
down these broad avenues
I remember these words
to pay my daily dues:

"I testify at this moment
to my powerless and to Thy might"
and at this moment I am humbled
by this clear gift of sight.

Thank you Wind.

Maintaining Peace

This feels very relevant to me today:

"Peace is the willingness to love no matter what is thrown or withheld." -John Morton