Excerpts from the book, "Presence:"

"....Everything is in everything." - physicist Henri Bortoft

"When we eventually grasp the wholeness of nature, it can be shocking. In nature, as Bortoft puts it, 'The part is a place for presencing the whole.' This is the awareness that is stolen from us when we accept the machine world-view of wholes assembled from replaceable parts." - page 5

"All learning integrates thinking and doing. All learning is about how we interact with the world and the types of capacities that develop from our interactions. What differs is the depth of awareness and the consequent source of action. If awareness never reaches beyond superficial events and current circumstances, actions will be reactions. If, on the other hand, we penetrate more deeply to see the larger wholes that generate 'what is' and our own connection to this wholeness, the source and effectiveness of our actions can change dramatically. .... We came to realize that both groups are really talking about the same process—the process whereby we learn to 'presence' an emerging whole, to become what George Bernard Shaw called 'a force of nature.'" - pages 9-10

"... The core capacity needed for accessing the field of the future is presence. We first thought of presence as being fully conscious and aware in the present moment. Then we began to appreciate presence as deep listening, of being open beyond one's preconceptions and historical ways of making sense. We came to see the importance of letting go of old identities and the need to control and, as Salk said, making choices to serve the evolution of life. Ultimately, we came to see all these aspects of presence as leading to a state of 'letting come,' of consciously participating in a larger field for change. When this happens, the field shifts, and the forces shaping a situation can shift from re-creating the past to manifesting or realizing an emerging future." - pages 11-12

— Presence: Human Purpose and the Field of the Future by Peter Senge, C. Otto Scharmer, Joseph Jaworksi and Betty Sue Flowers

Live and Dare Inspiration - #3

Self-awareness is the mother of all virtues. Its nature is to turn inside, see, reflect, and understand. Courage is the father of all virtues. It's nature is to dare, act, sacrifice, and conquer. - Niraj

Reflection

There are two essential virtues, from where all others come from: self-awareness and courage. They are the yin and yang of personal growth.

Self-awareness enables you to more objectively see what you are doing. It shows you why you think what you think and feel what you feel. It gives you a moment of pause in any situation, before you react. Without looking inside yourself and understanding your own patterns, no real change can happen, and you will continue to make the same mistakes.

[For further reading on the topic of developing self-awareness, see 'Awareness: The Perils and Opportunities of Reality' by Anthony De Mello.]

Now, once you look inside yourself and you see the beliefs and emotional patterns that are not constructive, the habits that are non-empowering, what do you do? Well, you need to take a step to change them. And this takes great courage.

Why courage? Because often this means going against yourself, or admitting that you were wrong. At other times this may mean going against the view that other people have of you, or other forms of social pressure.

Exercise

Think of a change that you are struggling to make in yourself or your life. What is lacking, self-awareness or courage?

Self-awareness is developed by reflection, meditation and honest examination; courage is developed by daring to close your eyes and take the leap.

Happy growing,

Giovanni Dienstmann 
Blogger & App Developer
LiveAndDare.com

​(Re-posted by permission of the author.)

​Jackson Hardin on Transcendence Effect suggests:

Try eating at least one meal a day in silence.

Get ridiculously interested in it’s texture, smell, and taste.

Feel the weight of your utensil in your hand, your body on your chair, your feet on the ground.

Eat slow.

Practice this consistently. A simple door to the now. 

I have started a similar practice, to be intimate with the 'small things' of daily life. Even when it is something I have aversion or resistance towards, go into it, feel it, neutralize any charge I may have towards it. I notice this softens and expands my overall awareness and experience of Life.