Greetings Readers!
Welcome to another edition of our Perennial Meditations (Saturday Review) with a short contemplation and links to this week’s meditations.
The 7-week Perennial Habits course continued this week with meditations on The Paradox of Small Changes and a podcast on Becoming Every Day: A User’s Guide. The course is free for members (and anyone interested in becoming a member that cannot afford it can request a complimentary membership or utilize this discount link if you need a little help).
Here is your Saturday Review with a short meditation & contemplation!
Who am I?
This week’s Saturday meditation comes from the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy on the perils of labeling and classifying ourselves (and others).
According to Tolstoy,
One of the most common and generally accepted delusions is that every man can be qualified in some particular way — said to be kind, wicked, ignorant, energetic, apathetic, and so on. People are not like that. We may say of a man that he is more often kind than cruel, more often wise than ignorant, more often energetic than apathetic or vice versa; but it could never be true to say of one man that he is kind or wise, and of another that he is wicked or ignorant. Yet we are always classifying mankind in this way. And it is wrong. Human beings are like rivers; the water is one and the same in all of them but every river is narrow in some places, flows swifter in others; here it is broad, there still, or clear, or cold, or muddy or warm. It is the same with men. Every man bears within him the germs of every human quality, and now manifests one, now another, and frequently is quite unlike himself, while still remaining the same man.
The late Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh said when you sit with the question, “Who am I?” If you have enough time and patience, you may be surprised at what you discover. As Tolstoy alluded, there is a tendency to attach labels to ourselves and others. But who are we beyond the labels and classifications? The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard said, “Once you label me, you negate me.”
Contemplation Questions (Pick one or create your own!):
Who am I?
How does a cosmic view from above change your perspective?
This Week’s Meditations…
Sundays with Seneca: A Refufe from Wordly Distractions (Part II)
Perennial Lives: The Wisdom of Jesus
Perennial Habits Course: The Paradox of Small Changes
In Search of Wisdom: The Wandering Mind — How to Avoid Distractions Like a Monk
Reading & the Good Life: The Wisdom of Montaigne
Perennial Habits Course: Becoming Every Day: A User’s Guide
Additional Resources on the Art of Living:
Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful this week.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
P.S. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or make suggestions!