The Tao of Spiritual Partnership / Gabriella Kortsch, PhD: April 2016

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"All humans seek the illusive touch of another's Soul, which opens us to the sense of belonging to something bigger than the self. Dr. Kortsch has given us the true "tao" of relationship in this brilliant exploration of emotional tapestry. We will be grateful for this illumination of spiritual partnership for generations to come." Chris Griscom, Spiritual Leader, Author

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"The Tao of Spiritual Partnership is a unique blend of wit and wisdom; Dr. Kortsch encourages us to take responsibility for our relationships, while recognizing and seizing the opportunities for our own personal spiritual growth." William Buhlman, Author of Adventures Beyond the Body

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Finding the Divine in Small Daily Jobs

How do you run a mile if you've never done it before? You start small, with one or two minute increments of running, followed by walking, in order to catch your breath, and then you run another minute or two. Eventually, after some time depending on your physical condition, and by having completed a series of 'small jobs' every day over weeks or months, you will be able to run a full mile without slowing down to walk.

How do you complete a 3,500 piece puzzle? By doing a bit every day. You've broken it down into 'small jobs'. How do you write a book? Build a raft? Design and plant a garden? Lose weight? Learn a language? In each case it makes sense that you break the big job into small jobs. It seems less overwhelming. It was Henry Ford who said nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs. Management gurus refer to it as 'chunking down'. And so you see that you can actually complete the large job in a timely fashion. But you have to stick to it every day.

In our quest to grow spiritually, to grow towards, rather than away from our soul, to allow the ego less and less prominence in our daily lives, and to focus on our inner knowing, our inner voice, or the higher self, it is no different. So yesterday you read a book, or heard a seminar, or went to a group meeting, perhaps a satsang, perhaps just a meeting where ideas were exchanged, and you felt that it hit a chord in you; you knew it was speaking to you in a way that created excitement and a vibration of something so totally new, yet so totally familiar, that you want to go there, and go all the way. But then you see how you fall absolutely short. You step back in dismay. You realize how far you still are from the goal. You may never reach it.

Yet that is precisely where this idea of small jobs leading to the divine comes into the picture. Use all those little upsets, annoyances, irritations, and challenges that enter your life every day in order to grow and learn. Recognize that in stepping up to them and using a more aware consciousness to choose to react responsibly and from a self-loving position, you are literally breaking the process of moving towards the inner divine into small, and much more manageable bits. Each day brings you a bit closer, and each day you grow. Some days may be dark and filled with pain, but on those you can take care of your thoughts and feelings in ways you would not have been able (or knowledgeable enough) to do so before. Spiritual growth is not about trumpeting your new insights and beliefs to the world, but about living in a spiritual way in all the little things you must do and that happen to you as much as possible every day.

Finally, pay close attention to this brilliant Zen adage that has inspired my life since the 70's:

Before enlightenment

Chop wood, carry water

After enlightenment

Chop wood, carry water

Photo credit: Mizzy Pacheco

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Also visit my book website: www.gabriellakortsch.com where you may download excerpts or read quotations from any of my books. My latest book Emotional Unavailability & Neediness: Two Sides of the Same Coin is available globally on Amazon in print & Kindle. You can also obtain it (or any of my other books) via Barnes & Noble.

Books by Dr. Gabriella Kortsch (English)

Bücher von Dr. Gabriella Kortsch (Deutsch) ... JETZT bei Amazon (Taschenbuch oder E-Book) erhältlich

DEINE SEELE UND DU

Angefangen mit Rewiring the Soul - auf Deutsch: Deine Seele und Du, jetzt weltweit erhältlich als Taschenbuch oder Kindle E-Book (Blog hier), werden auch meine anderen Bücher in Zukunft auf Deutsch bei Amazon erhältlich sein.

Libros por Gabriella Kortsch (español) ... ahora en Amazon en versión bolsillo y E-Libro para Kindle

Empezando con Rewiring the Soul - en español: Reconectar con el Alma (blog aquí), se podrán encontrar mis libros en español por todo el mundo próximamente en Amazon.

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Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Can You Still See the Truth?

How serene are you when you argue? How much are you able to keep yourself focused on what is true when you argue? You probably think those are useless or superfluous questions, because we all know that when people argue, they tend to be angry, or annoyed, or upset, and due to this altered state, they may often lose sight of the truth. In other words, their emotional state has been affected by the nature of the argument and they no longer see - or are able to - see the truth.

In Spanish the word 'discusión' does not mean 'discussion', as you might assume, but argument. The first time - when I was learning the language, that I realized that, I had a small epiphany. What in one language was a friendly verbal interaction, in the other language was an argument, which, as we've already seen, is most frequently not so friendly.

Yet can we not learn from that transposition, if you like, of the meaning of one word in two languages? Can we not, in other words, make of our 'arguments' a 'discussion'? In such a state, is it not much easier to keep our eyes on truth?

Evidently, in order to be able to do this, it implies that we have to hold on to our serenity. We must remain conscious. We must recognize that we have choices in the matter, and we must have sufficient freely-accepted self-responsibility to actually choose to do this. The whole matter is also impacted on by our degree of self-caring and self-love, because as you very well know, arguments can lead to feeling very bad about yourself, others, or the world in general. Yet choosing that other path means that the self-caring part of you is truly interested in your inner well-being.

As you can see, this is a rather important matter. And as so much else, it depends on you to choose well. It was Publilius Syrus who said: In a heated argument we are apt to lose sight of the truth.