We’ve talked about what prayer is, the purpose of prayer, and how to pray affirmatively. Today’s talk addresses two issues that can clog up our prayers: toxic shame and unforgiveness.
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary; new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or the old laws be expanded, and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with the license of a higher order of beings.”
Henry David Thoreau
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”
Thich Nhat Hanh
“We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
Carlos Castaneda, Don Juan
“Lack of forgiveness causes almost all of our self-sabotaging behavior.”
Mark Victor Hansen
Metta Prayer of Loving Kindness
May all beings be peaceful.
May all beings be happy.
May all beings be safe.
May all beings awaken to the light of their true nature.
May all beings be free.
Resources for further study:
- Daring Greatly by Brene’ Brown, Ph.D., MSW
- Healing The Shame That Binds You by John Bradshaw
- Radical Forgiveness by Colin Tipping
- Loving What Is by Byron Katie
- I Thought It Was Just Me(But It Isn’t): Making The Journey From “What Will People Think?” To “I Am Enough” by Brene’ Brown, Ph.D., MSW