Ernest Hemingway's Birthday

Ernest Hemingway was born this day in 1899. I thought a few quotes from this great American writer would be a good way to celebrate and remember him.

"But man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated."

"As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary."

"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."

"I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen."

"In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating, and to me as necessary."

"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without."

"The world is a fine place and worth the fighting for and I hate very much to leave it."

"All things truly wicked start from innocence."

"The first panacea for a mismanaged nation is inflation of the currency; the second is war. Both bring a temporary prosperity; both bring a permanent ruin. But both are the refuge of political and economic opportunists."

"Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime."

"No weapon has ever settled a moral problem. It can impose a solution but it cannot guarantee it to be a just one."

Some interesting thoughts on a wide range of subjects, hopefully, if you have never read Hemingway, this will inspire you to try. A Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises, and For whom the Bell Tolls are good starting places.

Find Hemingway's Books

Independence Day

In honor of July 4, Independence Day here in the USA, I thought I would share some of my favorite success quotes:


"Seventy percent of success in life is showing up." Woody Allen

"Self-trust is the first secret of success." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed." Henry Ford

"No bird soars too high if he soars with his own wings." William Blake

"I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." Thoreau


"The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore."
–Dale Carnegie


"...Tomorrow is the day reserved for the labor of the lazy. I am not lazy. Tomorrow is the day when failure will succeed. I am not a failure. I will act now. Success will not wait. If I delay, success will become wed to another and lost to me forever. This is the time. This is the place. I am the person."

Og Mandino

Put Her Down!

This is another story I first encountered in a collection of Zen teaching stories. It takes place in Japan, many, many years ago.

Two monks are walking down the road of a small village.

The road is unpaved, and muddy. They pass a courtesan standing on the side of the street, dressed in a fine silk kimono. She is looking for a way to cross the road without getting muddy. She seems very distressed, as there is no way to cross the road without going through the mud.

The elder of the two monks, seeing her distress, picks her up and carries her across the road, and sets her down on the opposite side.

The monks continue walking through the village and beyond.

Eventually, the younger of the two monks, turns to the other monk and says, "How could you do that? We are monks, we are supposed to keep ourselves pure. We should not even associate with women like that. But you picked her up and carried her."

The older monk looks at the younger monk, and says, "I put her down back at the corner. You are still carrying her."

How Badly Do You Want It?

Here is another teaching story I have found in many different forms.
It's been presented as a Chinese teaching story, the characters in it
have been Socrates and Plato, sometimes there has been another
character who attempted to take the journey for the Seeker in the
story, but was told by the Teacher only the Seeker himself can find
what he seeks. What the Seeker is searching for is sometimes health,
sometimes truth, and sometimes wisdom. It really doesn't matter,
the wisdom of this story applies to anything you wish to attract,
even wealth or fame.

I'm presenting here just the basic bones of the story. There's
always a Seeker, always a Teacher, and it usually takes place near a
body of water, a lake or river or the ocean.

After a long, arduous journey, the Seeker reached the dwelling
of the Teacher. The Seeker approached the Teacher, and begged the
Teacher to show the way to wisdom (or health, or truth). The Teacher
at first refused, but the Seeker remained persistent, and the Teacher
finally relented.

The Teacher invited the Seeker into the water until they stood waist deep.

The Teacher then firmly grasped the Seeker by the neck, and firmly
thrust the Seeker's head under water.

The Seeker at first reacted calmly, expecting the Teacher to release
his hold, and explain the lesson. As the seconds crawled by, the
Seeker began to suspect perhaps the Teacher was mad. Eventually
the Seeker began to panic and began to struggle against the hold of
the Teacher.

When the Seeker was sure his lungs would burst and he was about to
die, the Teacher pulled his head above the water. The Seeker gasped
mightily for air, filling his lungs again and again.

The Teacher looked at the Seeker, and said, "When you desire wisdom
(or health, or truth) as strongly as you wanted that last breath of air,
you will find it."

Bury Me Upside Down

I have encountered this story in several different forms. Some are more elaborate, but I'm just giving you the most basic form:

A group of friends is sitting around discussing life, the universe and everything. Eventually the subject of death comes up. Each of the friends describes what kind of funeral and memorial they would like, and how they would like to be remembered.

One of the group declares, "When I die, bury me standing on my head."

All the other members of the group look at him astounded, and say, almost in unison, "What? Why would you want to be buried upside down?"

He replies, "If we are right side up in this world, I want to be upside down in the next."

Comings and Goings

I was recently reminded of this story, during a conversation with friends. I first came upon this story in a collection of Zen teaching stories, and have since some slightly different versions, two of which I include here.

An old monk is dying. He is very near death, drifting in and out of consciousness. At one point, he opens his eyes to see some of his disciples gathered around his bedside, all looking terribly sad.
“What’s wrong?” asked the old monk. “Why are you so unhappy?”
“We are unhappy, Master, because you are going to leave us.” replied one of the younger monks.
The old monk sadly shook his head, and said, “If you still think there is a coming or a going, you have a long way to go.”

The second version is only slightly different, but I like it equally as much as the first:

An old monk is dying. He is very near death, drifting in and out of consciousness. At one point, he opens his eyes to see some of his disciples gathered around his bedside, all looking terribly sad.
“What’s wrong?” asked the old monk. “Why are you so unhappy?”
“We are unhappy, Master, because you are going to leave us.” replied one of the younger monks.
“Don’t be silly.” said the old monk. “Where would I go?”

Enjoy Time, or Waste It

Rereading an old journal recently, I came across another quote that had a big impact on me at the time. The journal is dated 1967, and the quote is attributed to Vernon Howard, but I did not record what book I found it in. The quote reads: "If we have not enjoyed the last hour, we have wasted it."

Over time my understanding of that quote has changed as my experience has changed me. And I have grown to appreciate the wisdom of that statement even more.

When I first read this statement, I took it to mean if I was not enjoying what I was doing, I needed to change what I was doing. And that led to a lot of changes in terms of jobs, where I lived, who was a part of my life, what I did in my free time. But I never reached a point where I could change enough things in my environment to enjoy every hour.

Over the course of many years, I came to understand that what needed to change was not my world, but me. And that has made all the difference.

Who Has Mastered the Way?

"I do not write as someone who has mastered the way, but as someone who has been walking it, though often clumsily, for several decades of my life."

That is a quote from Marianne Williamson, someone I have begun reading only recently, but it relates to why I am writing this blog. I do not claim to be a guru or enlightened master, but I have been studying mysticism and self development for some forty years now, and want to offer a little light to others walking the same way.

I actually believe there is only One Way, the differences are illusory between all the different "ways", whether you call them "religion", "science", spiritual development", meditation", "yoga", "New Age", or any other label you may want to use. They all come from and return to the same Source. (See my previous post: Teaching Stories, it talks about One Truth)

Along the way, I have come upon many useful ideas, from many sources, and my goal here is to share the best of them, hopefully in a light-hearted manner. (I believe anyone who claims to be spiritual, but lacks a sense of humor, is either lying, or deluded. The more spiritually developed people I have met all laugh easily, and often, especially at themselves. )

Ready to Live?

Way back in the 1960's, when I first became interested in personal growth, I began to read widely. One author I really felt drawn towards was Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I read whatever I could find written by and about him, and was especially fond of his journals. I found an old journal of my own today, and chanced upon a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson I thought was worth sharing.

"We are always getting ready to live, but never living."

I think it is worth reflecting on whether the things you do every day are part of getting ready to live, or really living your life.

More on Teaching Stories

In my last post, I told a story that was inspired by a previous post, and I promised that I would have more to say about stories in this post.

I have another story today, it's the one I usually start with whenever I tell teaching stories, because it talks about the usefulness of teaching stories for personal growth.

The story begins...

I had a dream recently, in which I met an enormous wolf. I was terrified, and unable to move.

The wolf looked directly at me, and slowly walked toward me, until it stood directly in front of me. It sat back and looked down at my face.

Not knowing what else to do, I said "Hello". as if it was some neighbor's dog I had met on the street.

To my astonishment, the wolf replied with a hello of it's own.

Not knowing what else to do, I tried to make conversation, and blurted out that wolves appear in many stories that we humans tell each other. The wolf asked me to tell one. The only one that occurred to me was The Boy Who Cried Wolf, so I told that one.

After I had finished, the wolf said, "That is very interesting. We wolves also tell stories, and we have one called 'The Wolf Who Cried Boy'."

I remarked that it was a good thing that we could tell each other stories, and save each other from making big mistakes.

The wolf sadly shook it's head. "I am afraid that I have greatly over estimated your intelligence. Even stupid wolves know that a story does not teach before the experience."

End of story...

My experience has confirmed that stories teach more after the experience, and I have often found new levels of meaning in stories after having new experiences.

Teaching Stories

Yesterday, I said that we all see a part of a greater whole, often thinking we get the whole picture.
The idea about understanding the same occurrence differently because we each have a hold on a different part of the "elephant" reminded me of a story, and I wanted to tell that story today.

There are three characters in this story. The first I will call "Our Hero", who represents a person of some spiritual understanding, meaning someone who gets that the elephant is bigger than any one description of a part of it. The second, I will call "The Neighbor", who represents someone in ordinary consciousness, someone whose understanding of the spiritual comes from watching the television show "Medium". The third character I will call the "Wild Eyed Mystic", someone who has glimpsed the elephant, and is no longer wholly focused in this world, but lost in some Spiritual Reverie.

Our story opens with Our Hero holding a small sack, standing along a roadside, talking with The Neighbor, just chatting, about the weather.

Suddenly, the Wild Eyed Mystic appears.And what an apparition! Ragged, disheveled clothes, eyes that seem focused elsewhere , and a look that may be bewilderment, or maybe amusement, or even madness.

The Wild Eyed Mystic comes directly in front of Our Hero and The Neighbor and stares intently at both. Suddenly he thrusts his right index finger skyward, and continues glaring at Our Hero and The Neighbor.

The Neighbor thinks, "This man is deranged." and positions himself behind Our Hero for protection against the madman.

Our Hero understands the Wild Eyed Mystic is saying "One Truth, which covers all." then opens his sack and pulls out a coil of rope, which he hands to The Neighbor.

The neighbor is much relieved, and thinks, "Good. If he becomes violent, we can restrain him with the rope."

The Wild Eyed Mystic nods and smiles, understanding Our Hero to say "Ordinary Man tries to reach that One Truth in the same way one would try to climb into the sky with a length of rope."

Then, just as quickly as he appeared, the Wild Eyed Mystic is gone, much to the relief of the neighbor.

That is the story, there is more to it than just how different people perceive things differently, but that's for another discussion.

I'll have more to say about teaching stories in my next post.

Understanding

"Each of us touches one place
and understands the whole in that way."

These lines are from the poet Rumi, as translated by Coleman Barks. They come from a poem where Rumi is talking about the story of The Blind Men and the Elephant. (If you are not familiar with that story, here is a quick synopsis: a group of blind men encounter an elephant, and each decides what an elephant is, based on his touching a small part of the animal. One who touched the ear said the elephant is like a fan, another who touched the trunk said like a snake. Each insisted his version of the animal was the correct one.)

I find this image of touching "one place' to be a great description of how we all approach Spiritual Truth. In our limitation, we touch one part of a much greater Whole. We get into trouble, or cause trouble for others when we believe that we have the Whole (and only version of) the Truth.

In my postings here, please understand they come from the "one place" I touch, and represent how I have come to view the Whole from that one place.

Welcome

Hello and welcome to Comes The Dawn.

The goal of this blog is to be a source of inspiration and encouragement, lighting a candle against the darkness.

I hope to offer a place where you can find an antidote to the "darkness" which seems rampant in our world today. (I put the word "darkness" in quotes for two reasons: this blog is an attempt to "light candles against the darkness"; and I have come to believe that darkness is not the opposite of light, but the absence of light, no amount of darkness is sufficient to destroy the smallest light, but the tiniest light will disperse the darkness.)

I have been a student of self development and spiritual development since 1967. I do not claim to be enlightened, but I have learned a few things in all these years. I hope to share those ideas I have found helpful, and that have brightened my life as it has evolved.