tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post2286329957940538121..comments2023-12-18T17:32:03.325+00:00Comments on Kindred of the Quiet Way: Puzzlement, reticence, a degree of alarm and misgiving.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-82833706950949015522012-07-30T11:36:21.229+01:002012-07-30T11:36:21.229+01:00Thank you, friend.
Your comment here demonstrates...Thank you, friend.<br /><br />Your comment here demonstrates exactly the heart of my puzzlement.<br /><br />In my understanding, when a person says "Such and such a thing is true," they are expressing an opinion. That (as I understand it) is what an opinion is.<br /><br />I also am of the opinion that attachment to anything, including views, is an impediment to enlightenment. <br /><br />But there's a question about this area of thinking that bothers me. Describing it would be too long to be appropriate in a comment, so I'll put it into a blog post, and as you've subscribed to the blog you'll catch up with it that way.<br /><br />Meanwhile, thanks so much for your thoughtful and helpful explanation about the Buddhist terminology and understanding.Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-68371285516909460592012-07-28T17:38:49.267+01:002012-07-28T17:38:49.267+01:00That thing Thich Nhat Hanh said: it's not just...That thing Thich Nhat Hanh said: it's not just an opinion, it's a description of the experience of sunyata. Here's the thing, though: it's only true while actually in that experience of samadhi or nirvana. The rest of the time, in ordinary mundane consciousness, it is a worthy cautionary tale not to take our views too seriously. Also, attachment to views prevents the experience of sunyata, so for those on that path, it is necessary to have that non-attachment, as part of the yoga of the path. www.jnanayoga.org for instance.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-45933585187485087732012-07-16T13:21:51.461+01:002012-07-16T13:21:51.461+01:00:0) Such good thoughts! Thank you Anekha! x:0) Such good thoughts! Thank you Anekha! xPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-53430384225956681732012-07-16T13:19:52.483+01:002012-07-16T13:19:52.483+01:00I think the quote was referring to a state of deta...I think the quote was referring to a state of detachment from the world. I guess when we are detached then we no longer form opinions about things because we have such a pure state of being. I imagine that to be ( in the tradition of The Bahai Faith) akin to being in the last of the seven valleys. This describes the spiritual journey of our life as going through seven valleys and describes each of them so beautifully and profoundly. The last valley is the valley of abject poverty and nothingness. We start to detach from the world and all in it as our nature becomes so purely spiritual. Of course, that is a sign our earthly journey is done and its time to go! I honestly believe life is about learning, and we learn by not being so perfect but trying to be better every day. So we should try and be less opinionated, but not stress to much about having opinions I think. Food for thought always from your blog and I am very full! take care!Anekhanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-81728771439564491492012-07-14T08:35:19.891+01:002012-07-14T08:35:19.891+01:00Hi Sarah, hi Pilgrim - thank you for your good tho...Hi Sarah, hi Pilgrim - thank you for your good thoughts :0)<br /><br />xxPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-10165044032225731452012-07-14T04:21:29.017+01:002012-07-14T04:21:29.017+01:00Ember,
I came across this just a moment ago, by a...Ember,<br /><br />I came across this just a moment ago, by a Catholic blogging priest in the US.<br />http://wdtprs.com/blog/2012/07/of-darwinian-struggles-and-the-de-selection-of-dear-friends/<br />You may find much of what he says on his blog antithetical, but out from the laborynth shines this incredible gem as the question of 'stuff' and simplicity moves upon us all<br /><br />As an author, you may empathise with his struggles concerning books, and a deep inner longing to simply chuck it all and live only with a 'card table and folding chair' as he puts it. <br /><br />From the most liberal of liberal to the most ultra 'rad trad' of conservatives, the Holy Spirit seems to be calling us all to simplicity, I believe, in whatever manner we are able to practice it, from radical cashless living to 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it or replace it until it is'. <br /><br />Simplicity is the concern that seems to be common to us all be we 'uber liberal', 'rad trad', or everything in between...the Holy spirit's cry to return to God, community and family, and be rid of the 'anchors' of 'stuff', as the good Fr. terms the press of the material world 'anchors' is quite right, me thinks, and a thought to which I can imagine you nodding your head in his direction and saying 'on this thing, brother, we are united'. <br /><br />Blessings,<br /><br />Sarah,<br />Australia.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-76544111336441494592012-07-13T17:11:41.341+01:002012-07-13T17:11:41.341+01:00I would miss your more frequent blogging, but agre...I would miss your more frequent blogging, but agree with you: it's risky to open one's mind to such a range of people as cruises the internet.<br />Password protecting would go a long way toward avoiding that, but then you would lose a lot of serendipitous passersby.Pilgrimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13263860830512792429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-48479775841747201792012-07-12T21:11:23.459+01:002012-07-12T21:11:23.459+01:00Got your comment, Paula - thanks for address xGot your comment, Paula - thanks for address xPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-86428128088129616862012-07-12T21:11:01.086+01:002012-07-12T21:11:01.086+01:00:0) Thanks, friend x:0) Thanks, friend xPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-16936437462792350712012-07-12T15:03:09.289+01:002012-07-12T15:03:09.289+01:00I vote with Kat. Please don't stop your blog....I vote with Kat. Please don't stop your blog. It's thought-provoking. Never pushy.<br />Peace and All Good!VickyFhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07654269626672083444noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-40718878312091190722012-07-12T14:15:25.916+01:002012-07-12T14:15:25.916+01:00:0) Hooray! Thanks, Pilgrim! Let me know what y...:0) Hooray! Thanks, Pilgrim! Let me know what you think of it . . . xPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-4659431848860045002012-07-12T14:09:04.637+01:002012-07-12T14:09:04.637+01:00I pre-ordered your book, months ago....I pre-ordered your book, months ago....Pilgrimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13263860830512792429noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-64893517592097606822012-07-12T09:08:00.797+01:002012-07-12T09:08:00.797+01:00Hi dears - thanks Ali, thanks Hawthorne.
To con...Hi dears - thanks Ali, thanks Hawthorne. <br /><br />To confirm - I'm not going away, just applying the brakes so that when I write what I write will be properly considered.<br /><br />Your encouragement is heart-warming.<br /><br />As before - if you would like to be in old-fashioned paper correspondence, send me a comment with your street address. I will delete not publish it, and send you a letter.<br /><br />xxPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-33176153304247693002012-07-12T01:53:50.299+01:002012-07-12T01:53:50.299+01:00Well, prompted to break radio silence because I ha...Well, prompted to break radio silence because I have read your blog almost every day and will miss your thoughts. Thank you for sharing your life with the world - it's beauty filled and your path resonates deeply with me. Why does a person need an opinion about something that is true? It either is or it isn't; a person either understands something so fully and profoundly that opinion is needless because the right action is so blatant that to do or think otherwise would seem absurd, or they don't. Truth, reality, just is.<br /><br />Just my opinion though...:) <br /><br />Very best wishes,<br />AliAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-57987460348936748842012-07-12T00:10:07.600+01:002012-07-12T00:10:07.600+01:00Hi Ember. I think everyone else has said what I wa...Hi Ember. I think everyone else has said what I wanted to say! <br />I love to read your blog: I love the way you put into words things I've been thinking but couldn't express, I love that you have the Biblical training to expand my knowledge, I love that you give me ideas I would never have dreamed of and I love that you challenge me too. I feel part of a community of like minded souls - the Kindred of the Quiet Way, and have found many other bloggers through you. 'Keep yew on a -troshin my booty', as we say in Norfolk. (Keep going.)<br /><br />PS I agree about the format of 'In Celebration of Simplicity',and the 'laminated' cover is especially useful when reading it in the bath! I love 'The Clear Light of Day' too. God bless you xHawthornehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08538563836252189874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-1481690399908154612012-07-11T12:12:33.851+01:002012-07-11T12:12:33.851+01:00Goodness me - hello friends :0)
Er - one thing at...Goodness me - hello friends :0)<br /><br />Er - one thing at a time!<br /><br />1) I'm not torturing myself or feeling guilty, and I don't feel bound from expressing opinions. The problem was that I recognise I have begun thinking aloud on my blog - just letting thoughts fall out of my head onto the page without due care and consideration. Why this matters is that a) 8,000 people come along here and look at this blog every month, so any careless observations have their impact magnified and b) if I think aloud about anyone other than myself, a google search on their name will lead readers here and therefore any thoughts I post should be weighed and considered, not careless or random.<br /><br />I have always tried to write in a style that *seems* informal and like thoughts were just falling out of my head, but my concern has been that now they actually *are*, and this is incautious and could lead to indiscretion, and that matters.<br /><br />I have often felt uneasy about the level of discretion people display on the internet. I've lost count of the number of times women whinge about their husbands publicly. If, for example, someone were to come along here and write "I want to live simply too but I can't because my husband won't let me; he's a terrible hoarder and he knows it makes me ill and I've done everything I can to change him but he just won't listen" etc etc - well, 8,000 people would read that - and one of them might be him. There have to be more direct and less humiliating ways to communicate. But I digress.<br /><br />2) It's a bedwarmer.<br /><br />3) God bless you for your friendship and companionship. I'll still be posting here from time to time - I mean more like every week or so, not once in six months or something, just not most days, so I can be sure what I'm saying is properly and responsibly thought through.<br /><br />4) Please note my new novel "Remember Me" is out at the end of the month, and I'll be most grateful for anyone who can buy a copy, and maybe leave a comment on Amazon. The book that follows it is with the publisher, but they will make up their mind whether to publish it or not entirely on the basis of sales figures for the ones already out.<br /><br />5) God bless your day!!Pen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-81293483856417578972012-07-11T05:14:27.686+01:002012-07-11T05:14:27.686+01:00And, I would like to know what the round electrica...And, I would like to know what the round electrical item was... :) I've got NO idea.pennyhttp://www.pennyreeve.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-74457708235803823692012-07-11T04:29:14.352+01:002012-07-11T04:29:14.352+01:00I agree with Daisy re her reasons for not putting ...I agree with Daisy re her reasons for not putting your actual address up for the world to see. <br />And I agree with everyone else who said they'll miss your blog posts. <br />I too, don't always agree with 100% of what you write here, but you probably wouldn't agree with 100% of what I write either. And that's OK. <br /><br />I was thinking the other day that the internet can be balm for our opinions. That can be unhealthy if we simply 'follow' those who agree with us,ignore those that don't and dumb down thoughtful consideration. <br /><br />To live we need to know what we believe, and that will change and refocus as we keep learning. I like the echoes in your blog that show you have grown and changed over the years, and that you are still learning. The followers of Christ that inspire me most are the ones that continue to ask questions - and that is what you certainly do. Thank you. <br /><br />I'll continue to pop in over here to read what you write, even if it comes less and less. The internet is an interesting sponge and we all need to decide how to respond to it. <br />Much love from little me, whatever you decide to do,<br />pennypennyhttp://www.pennyreeve.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-9204321543198404292012-07-11T02:59:41.632+01:002012-07-11T02:59:41.632+01:00Dearest Ember/Pen ... your wee Virtual Abbess tota...Dearest Ember/Pen ... your wee Virtual Abbess totally understands! I have taken to Tweeting ... because In have only 140 characters and must be succinct!<br /><br />I second the idea of a private blog -- I have one with my four sisters -- and hope you would include me, of course.<br /><br />I treasure the way we think differently --- and alike, as well. You are a joy in my life....<br /><br />Be blessed as you walk the path Father shows you. Know that you are a beloved sister. I'm still waiting for my copy of "Remember Me" to arrive....<br /><br />Abi/PeggyAbiSomeonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08541511210479882916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-72235325454540764232012-07-11T00:43:26.642+01:002012-07-11T00:43:26.642+01:00Pen, what are you torturing yourself for?
You have...Pen, what are you torturing yourself for?<br />You have opinons..so what?<br />Isn't that part of what makes us human, creative, interesting, interactive, decisive and thoughtful?<br />I feel a sense of guilt burdening you and it makes me sad.<br /><br />Actually, all this talk of what is "reality" and should we even have personal "views" etc. seems far too restrictive and like religious psycho-babble to me.<br />I'm no brainiac.<br />But in my view.. trying to find the one perfect path through life and save the world every day is mentally exhausting and a recipe for disaster.<br />When we sweat over every action and word uttered by ourselves or others our 'simplicity' becomes awfully complicated!<br />Does my head in!!<br />I find it robs one of the joy and peace and purpose of why one pursues a simple life at all.<br />But then I'm pretty basic:<br /><br />Love God..love your neighbour.<br />Live simply, quietly, kindly and care for all the good things He's given you - including yourself - seek beauty and smile a lot.<br /><br />I'm glad you are keeping the blog up and will still post!<br />There would be quite a big hole in the blogworld if you disappeared from it completely.<br />We'd all miss you too much!<br /><br />love and blessings from Trish..xx<br /><br />(who has an opinion and is not afraid to use it occasionally, lol!)Trishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07502174233868442174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-27140151360616138612012-07-10T23:19:16.853+01:002012-07-10T23:19:16.853+01:00Hi Ember, it would be fabulous to receive a letter...Hi Ember, it would be fabulous to receive a letter from you.<br /><br />AND......... what the heck is that thing, I have no idea at all. It looks like a space ship, could it be something to warm a bed with, or some strange creeping iron, or I don't know what my imagination is failing me.<br /><br />BeanBeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14484707482492844677noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-56264327963426490172012-07-10T23:04:10.221+01:002012-07-10T23:04:10.221+01:00well I had to read the post twice ...first time I ...well I had to read the post twice ...first time I didn't seem to get it...and then I thought ..NO! you have been through so many phases even since I found your blog and they have all facinated me and helped me to know that my mad thoughts and outspoken beliefs and non-beliefs are just normal. Oh I'm not writing this very well...but <br />I like honesty and there is so little genuine honesty anywhere around at the moment... so to think that your's is going to disappear...well it's not a good thing for my daily existence! but then you must do what you know you must do!! and we shall all hope to hear a little from you from time to time...as my beloved aunt Helen said regularly ..."you are alright wee pet"!!!Gerry Snapehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07269492251928362799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-23398234566394779182012-07-10T20:21:51.694+01:002012-07-10T20:21:51.694+01:00Gail, I will pass on your kind comments to the Bad...Gail, I will pass on your kind comments to the Badger, whose idea it was to add in the quotes to the Simplicity book and have it produced in the format with the french flaps etc. Glad you like it!<br /><br />Kat - indeed, and I shan't vanish - just cut back a lot.<br /><br />Buzz - you make I larf! "insane(r)" :0D<br />It's a two-fold thing; partly that I think I can be very careless in the way I express myself, and I have noticed that I don't see very clearly the differences between outer and inner - which is jolly handy for spiritual ministry but less so for tact! And partly that I feel the path under my feet curving round towards greater silence/recollectedness, and also I think availability. For what, I am not sure, but you know how it is; you listen and get ready, and then the task presents.<br /><br />Julie - yes, writers should *appear* to be thinking aloud - that's part of the art of writing! But if they really are they're walking on dodgy ground.<br /><br />Zillah - absolutely! xPen Wilcockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13818227904371811230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-82293538844875899502012-07-10T20:07:43.445+01:002012-07-10T20:07:43.445+01:00'Remember that Christianity is not a notion bu...'Remember that Christianity is not a notion but a way' (A&Q 2) And life too. It is in seeing the way that others are following that we are inspired and know that we are not alone in our journey.Zillahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12347799103341131560noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55532501364780143.post-78375960756575567902012-07-10T20:01:20.603+01:002012-07-10T20:01:20.603+01:00"It’s my belief (here we go again – a view, y..."It’s my belief (here we go again – a view, you see, an opinion) that thinking aloud in a public place is unwise and possibly a sign that the person is becoming unhinged." -- this comment you made rather stunned me, Ember. Isn't this what every author has done in some way or another? Even an author of fiction somehow puts his/her opinion or views across in their writings. I, for one, am interested in what other people's opinions are, even if they differ from mine. I don't believe that the handful of bloggers I read who give their opinions and think out loud on their blogs are becoming unhinged. So many have given me hope and peace with their thinking aloud - you included. I have experienced friendship, welcome admonition, hilarity, comfort, prayer, and more by reading what people have opined online. I have gotten new ideas that have changed my life by reading other's thoughts and opinions online. I respect your need to step back, but I add my name to the list of your readers who will feel very sad at this. I feel a little bereft already. :(<br />xxooJulie B.http://www.justjulieb.comnoreply@blogger.com