BLIND

This advice from Pema Chodron holds for dealing with Alzheimer's Disease. With Alzheimer's things change so fast and we have the tendency to hold on to the way things used to be (BLIND.) We get used to the way things are so we do not see the signs of the needed change in our care giving (BLIND.) When the changes do happen, we are surprised, wrecked, depressed, down (BLIND.) If we are able to be ALIVE and AWAKE, we will see that even then there is so much for which to be joyful, grateful, balanced in all things.

November 26, 2014 HOLDING ON TO OUR BELIEFS In Taoism there’s a famous saying that goes, “The Tao that can be spoken is not the ultimate Tao.” Another way you could say that, although I’ve never seen it translated this way, is, “As soon as you begin to believe in something, then you can no longer see anything else.” The truth you believe in and cling to makes you unavailable to hear anything new. Holding on to beliefs limits our experience of life. That doesn’t mean that beliefs or ideas or thinking is a problem; the stubborn attitude of having to have things be a particular way, grasping on to our beliefs and thoughts, all these cause the problems. To put it simply, using your belief system this way creates a situation in which you choose to be blind instead of being able to see, to be deaf instead of being able to hear, to be dead rather than alive, asleep rather than awake.