Reflection 179

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Accepting Suffering

There is a difference between suffering that is resisted and suffering that is taken on board. It is in the acceptance of it that the peace comes. Eckhart says that you have to get to the absolute end of all your resources, and then the divine power suddenly breaks through. But we’re so apt to stay a little bit short, aren’t we, resisting to the last, fighting. For me it’s a physical thing. It’s as though you say when you’re breathing out, with St. John of the Cross, I know nothing, I have nothing, I am nothing. Your shoulders and arms flop. I know this is a personal quirk, but for me, if a thing can take physical form, it’s very much more effective. I think surrender is partly physical. It is something which happens to your body. (Douglas Harding. Face to No-Face.)


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