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Elizabeth Lesser

Elizabeth Lesser Quotes

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Famous Elizabeth Lesser Quotes

“When you approach spirituality as an adventure of being alive, you start as you would any adventure--with a sense of mystery and not-knowing. Instead of searching for answers that make you feel safe, you set out into the vastness of life and death, with a willingness to continually grow. You open up to the possibility that your ordinary life is an extraordinary adventure, and that your joys and sorrows have meaning. Spiritual practice becomes your rudder, offering direction and insight and discretion as you venture into the unknown.”

FeelsSpiritualLife IsJoySpiritualityGrowsAnswersPracticeKnowingAliveMysteryPossibilityAdventureSorrowSafeApproachOrdinaryExtraordinaryInsightLife And DeathWillingnessOfferingNot KnowingVentureDiscretionOrdinary LifeVastnessSpiritual PracticeJoys And SorrowsRudders
Book:The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure
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“One of the reasons I love prayer is that it is an antidote to guilt and blame. If we are unhappy with the way we have acted or been treated, instead of stewing in self-recrimination on the one hand, or harboring ill will toward someone else on the other, prayer gives us a way out of the circle of guilt and blame. We bring our painful feelings into the open and say, "I have done wrong," or "I have been wronged." And then we ask for a vaster view--one that contains within it all the forgiveness we need in order to move forward.”

IfsWayNeedsGivingHas BeensSelfReasonDoneFeelingsHandsMovingOrderAsksPrayerViewsBlameGuiltIllPainfulCirclesUnhappyTreatedMoving ForwardAntidoteWrongedIll WillLove PrayerPainful Feelings
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“Recognition of the harm that patriarchy has caused to people and the planet does not mean that men are wrong and women are right; rather it is a call for new organizational forms and for relishing gender differences within a context of equality.”

PeopleMenMeanDoeFormDifferencesPlanetsGenderHarmRecognitionPatriarchyOrganizationalGender Differences
Book:The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure
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“It isn't so much that God is the unified state of consciousness that each of us came from and will return to, but more so that God is the creative energy flowing between all states of consciousness. God is in the land beyond the mountains, but God is also in the mountains and in the valley of illusions cradled within the mountains. God is not one thing or another, rather God flows between and through all things.”

StatesEnergyConsciousnessCreativeOne ThingLandReturnMountainIllusionFlowAll ThingsValleysUnifiedStates Of ConsciousnessCreative EnergyAll State
Book:The Seeker's Guide: Making Your Life a Spiritual Adventure
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“I do not wish upon anyone a descent into hell. But if your life has to be turned inside out in order for you to know yourself--if the shadow of a shaman crosses your path and you turn and follow it down--I pray that you use its force wisely. I hope that you take the ultimate responsibility for your actions and that you consecrate any destruction to the rebuilding of your higher self and a more radiant life.”

IfsKnowsSelfUseActionOrderTurnsForceWishResponsibilityHellPathPrayingHigherShadowCrossesDestructionUltimateKnow YourselfI PrayRadiantDescentHigher SelfRebuilding
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“One practice I rely on all the time is basic meditation which allows me to strip away the noise. It's like the old-fashioned dial on the radio, where you were getting static and then you found that clear, sweet spot on the dial, where the music would come through. That's what meditation is for me. Dialling out the static, the noise, the anxiety, the fear, and coming into a place that's deep and quiet. It's like dropping into a well of inspiration and wisdom.”

WellsInspirationFoundPracticeClearMeditationSweetQuietAnxietyRadioNoiseSpotsRelyOld FashionedDroppingStatic
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“There is an art to grieving. To grieve well the loss of anyone or anything--a parent, a love, a child, an era, a home, a job--is a creative act. It takes attention and patience and courage. But many of us do not know how to grieve. We were never taught, and we don't see examples of full-bodied grieving around us. Our culture favors the fast-food model of mourning--get over it quick and get back to work; affix the bandage of "closure" and move on.”

KnowsWellsChildrenArtHomeJobsMovingCultureParentLossAttentionKnow HowCreativeExampleTaughtModelsFavorsErasGrievingMourningOver ItGet BackGet OverFast FoodClosureBack To WorkBandages
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“Things do fall apart. It is in their nature to do so. When we try to protect ourselves from the inevitability of change, we are not listening to the soul. We are listening to our fear of life and death, our lack of faith, our smaller ego's will to prevail. To listen to the soul is to stop fighting with life-to stop fighting when things fall apart, when they don't go our way, when we get sick, when we are betrayed or mistreated or misunderstood. To listen to the soul is to slow down, to feel deeply, to see ourselves clearly, to surrender to discomfort and uncertainty, and to wait.”

WayFeelsTryingSoulFallFightingWaitingListeningProtectEgoSickSurrenderUncertaintyLife And DeathBetrayedFalling ApartSlow DownMisunderstoodDiscomfortInevitabilityFears Of LifeMistreatedLack Of Faith
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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“When we descend all the way down to the bottom of loss, and dwell patiently, with an open heart, in the darkness and pain, we can bring back up with us the sweetness of life and the exhilaration of inner growth. When there is nothing left to lose, we find the true self - the self that is whole, the self that is enough, the self that no longer looks to others for definition, or completion, or anything but companionship on the journey.”

WayLooksHeartSelfEnoughWholePainLeftGrowthLosesLossDarknessJourneyBottomDefinitionsCompanionshipTrue SelfSweetnessCompletionOpen HeartExhilarationInner GrowthSweetness Of Life
Book:Broken Open: How difficult times can help us grow
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“I'm calling my initiative take the other to lunch. If you are a Republican, you can take a Democrat to lunch or if you're a Democrat, think of it as taking a Republican to lunch because there is no shortage of the other right in your own neighborhood, maybe that person who worships at the mosque or the church or the synagogue down the street or someone from the other side of the abortion conflict - or maybe your brother-in-law who doesn't believe in global warming.”

IfsThinkingBelievePersonsLawSidesChurchStreetsBrotherCallingRepublicanConflictWorshipDemocratAbortionGlobal WarmingNeighborhoodLunchInitiativeIn-lawsShortageYour BrotherMosquesSynagogueBrother In Law
Author:Elizabeth Lesser
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