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Our Universal Journey
Publish Date:
December 23, 2006
incurable:
cannot be cured
tenuous:
uncertain; easy to
change
fragile:
easy to break, breakable
unpredictable:
cannot know the
future; unable to know (future)
tumultuous:
quickly changing; full
of conflict, change, and/or emotion
subject to:
possible to be affected
by; susceptible to
fatigue:
tiredness (longterm)
have a handle on it:
control it; are
successful with it
tough:
difficult
intellectually:
mentally; with ideas
impermanent:
not permanent,
always changing
instinctively:
deeply; emotionally;
biologically
persist:
continue; don’t quit
manipulate:
control; influence
have a strong influence on:
can
affect; can change somewhat
the case:
the situation
manipulation:
attempt to control
best laid plans:
best thought
plans for the future; best plans
catastrophic:
disastrous, terrible
security:
safety; changelessness;
safe and without change
conceivably:
in theory; possibly
in the blink of an eye:
suddenly;
instantly
appropriately:
correctly
catastrophe:
disaster; total failure
failure of nerve:
fear; worry; fail-
ure of courage
adaptability:
ability to change with
the environment
self-reliance:
ability to depend on
yourself; ability to help yourself
obsess over:
think only about
All Sound (Audio) Archives Available At:
http://www.effortlessenglish.libsyn.com
A cat with an "
incurable
" kind of cancer. A job that is always
tenu-
ous
. Human relationships that are
fragile
,
unpredictable
, and
sometimes
tumultuous
. My own body, seemingly healthy- but still
subject to
disease,
fatigue
, and aging.
Life is unpredictable. However much we think we
have a handle on
it,
the truth is we never really know what's to come. Everything can
change in an instant. This is a
tough
truth to accept, for though we
know
intellectually
that all things in life are
impermanent
, we often
don't feel it
instinctively
. We
persist
in our attempts to control life-
we imagine that we can predict and
manipulate
future events. We
imagine that we control, or at least
have a strong influence on
,
external events.
But this is not really
the case
. In fact, all that worry,
manipulation
,
and attempted control is mostly wasted energy. We are not the mas-
ters of the external world. We cannot predict the future. Our
best
laid plans
are always subject to
catastrophic
failure.
There is no
security
to be found in the outside world. There is no
secure job, or relationship, or situation of any kind. Everything
changes. We can,
conceivably
, lose them all
in the blink of an eye
.
Where then is true security to be found? Certainly not in the external
world, but rather, internally.
"Trust yourself to react
appropriately
when
catastrophe
happens.
Failure of nerve
is really failure to trust yourself." -- Alan Watts
This is the only true security- the security of trusting yourself, the
security of flexibility and
adaptability
, the security of spiritual and
emotional
self-reliance
. Rather than
obsess over
external events,
we better serve ourselves by obsessing over our inner resources.
Our security and happiness come from our inner peace-- our ability to
accept any situation, adapt to it, use it, learn from it, and (perhaps)
www.effortlessenglish.com
overcome:
beat, defeat; solve (a
problem)
confident:
strong (mentally); feel-
ing good about oneself
sense:
feeling
circumstances:
situations
implies:
suggests
task:
job
to seek out:
to look for; to try to
find
capacity:
ability; potential
potentially:
possibly
challenging:
difficult
expands:
grows; makes bigger
concentrated:
intensive; powerful
mythologist:
person who studies
mythology (spiritual stories)
the common thread:
the common
idea, the same idea
mythological journeys:
spiritual
travels
symbolic:
representative of
face:
encounter, meet
challenges:
problems, difficulties
wisdom:
deep knowledge, deep
understanding
universal:
for all people; in all
places
overcome
it.
The more we do this, the more
confident
we grow and, in time, we
develop a true
sense
of security in our lives... one that is completely
independent of external
circumstances
. Practically, this
implies
that
our
task
is
to seek out
new experiences and build our
capacity
to
adapt to them. This is the reason I think of travel as a
potentially
spiritual practice. Travel-- especially long,
challenging
journeys--
expands
our ability to accept and adapt to the unexpected and the
unknown. This kind of travel is a
concentrated
training exercise in
impermanence and change.
Joseph Campbell, the famed
mythologist
, identified
the common
thread
running through the
mythological journeys
found in most cul-
tures. He noted that while these stories are always presented as
external journeys, they are in fact
symbolic
of the inner journey we
must all make.
In the end, we must all leave home (the safe and comfortable), we
must all
face
life-changing
challenges
, we must all face loss, and we
must all arrive at our own understanding of impermanence, and our
own
wisdom
. This is the
universal
journey.
Learn More:
The Joseph Campbell Foundation
http://www.jcf.org/index2.php
The Hero With A Thousand Faces (Wiki)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hero_with_a_Thousand_Faces
Alan Watts
http://www.alanwatts.com/
www.effortlessenglish.com
Plik z chomika:
zenas13
Inne pliki z tego folderu:
Our Universal Journey MS.mp3
(11998 KB)
Our Universal Journey Vocab.mp3
(12473 KB)
Our Universal Journey Audio.mp3
(4608 KB)
Our Universal Journey.pdf
(91 KB)
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