Discernment - Tumblr Posts
September, elevate my perspective and lower my tolerance for anything pushing me out of alignment, nourish my self-assurance, and starve any feelings of comparison. water my discernment with love so flowers can grow from all my decisions. may I find clarity every time I choose me.
Part of 5D consciousness is discernment.
Choose wisely where you put your energy.
Trust your intuition.
A tip for those still in highschool:
Don't spend the highlights of your highschool experience with people that will dampen those memories. Please select the people in your life carefully, more so than I did, so that you can look back on those memories and smile. Differentiate who stuck with you through the hard times, who values your honesty, who tells you what you need to hear rather than what you want to hear, who brings you closer to Christ, who is loyal to you no matter what, who never talks shit about you, who believes in self improvement, who sees how much you care and appreciates you for it, who has their priorities straight, who reminds you what you're worth even when you forget... and who is all talk.
Coming from someone who is deathly afraid of being alone, it is always better to be on your own than to be surrounded by liars and manipulators and fake "I love you"s.
Because you are who you hang out with. Everything you hate about them is what you will become. And even after you come to your senses, discover your worth and emerge from the waves of half truths you were trapped under, because of the time already spent with them, their stench will remain.
And it will drive you mad.
Pray for discernment, my friends. There are few wounds in life as painful as betrayal.
“Silence is a source of great strength.”
—Lao Tzu
I have a book on Norse religion and I want to be sure it isn’t white supremacist misinformation (or influenced by said misinformation) considering it was basically my introduction to the topic. How would I go about figuring that out? (The book is The Viking Spirit by Daniel McCoy, if you’ve heard of it)
I haven't read it, but it's okayish, from what I understand.
You're going to be hard-pressed by anything in English that isn't influenced by white supremacist ideology. It's why I built my website, because for the past 60 years, everything we understood about Heathenry was built on the work of Odinists.
Impulse, Discernment, and Daoism
What is your first impulse when you find a bug in your home? Almost invariably, our first thought is to squish the thing. Whether out of fear, anger, or annoyance, we instinctively take action to kill the creature, even though very often it presents absolutely no threat to us. We are conditioned and raised in the modern world to despise all sorts of creepy crawly creatures, so this reaction is not surprising. However it does demonstrate how our impulses can lead us to do things that are frivolous, wanton, and off the Path. Simply because something feels right in the moment doesn’t mean you are acting in harmony by embracing it. Another example would be the sort of people that eat compulsively in reaction to stress or boredom. It is something that I have struggled with in the past, and even today I sometimes find myself drawn to the fridge for no other reason than procrastination. It is a habit that can range from being just unhealthy to absolutely life-threatening in some cases.
Instead of giving in to every one of these impulses, we should always take a moment to think before we act on them. How do I really feel about this action? Are my emotions clouding my judgement? Is this really the only or best course of action for this situation? The Dalai Lama calls this use of our faculties “discernment,” and that it is a vital step for us to truly live our lives more peacefully, more wholesomely, even simply more happily. Although it sounds silly to think about, it is surprising to see how often we are led by our impulses to act without thinking things all the way through. Once we recognize such situations in our everyday routines, we can then begin addressing them and righting ourselves from any number of bad habits and choices. Daoism is about seeing the truth in things, and that means that we must search for the truth of our own actions first of all. And while it may seem daunting to try and examine every action we take over the course of every single day, once you undertake the mindset of choosing your own path down the mountain, it becomes almost second nature to pause yourself before acting out of anger or fear and reevaluate the situation.
Like any new skill, it is difficult to begin, especially when we have been conditioned our entire lives in the opposite direction. In America, it is often a point of pride for people to act without thinking, to go in on nothing more than a “gut feeling.” On one hand, this can appear very Daoist indeed, to simply act in alignment with one’s nature and to not waste time overanalyzing the situation. But because so much of our culture has taken us off the Path already, it is imperative that we exercise our faculties of discernment to truly determine whether our instincts are on the Path or not. If our first reaction to a rude word is immediate violence, you can imagine all the sorts of trouble we could find ourselves in. Only after we have already developed a calm mind can we start to trust our gut feelings again, and even then our gut feelings and intuition are only informed by the breadth and depth of our past experiences. If we react strongly to something we have very little familiarity with, it once again brings up the need for us to introspect ourselves to see what it is we are truly having a reaction to.
Exercising discernment is a passive skill; once you begin to practice it, it is something you can constantly carry with you throughout your journey. It should always be on, always present to help you stop and breathe before committing to a rash decision. For further reading on discernment, I highly recommend the Dalai Lama’s Beyond Religion, a beautiful little book on pursuing a non-religious system of ethics.
How our brains fool us on climate, creationism, and the vaccine-autism link.
A bit of a read, but absolutely worth it. This article really demonstrates the need for us to separate our emotional attachment to political and social issues, to exercise our faculties of discernment as much as possible. Reality is reality, and no matter what you value in your life, denying the way things actually are will never make things better. Remain calm and keep your mind open to the evidence that is there.
Overthinking exists on a scale that equates it as a curse and a blessing. Which can lead to unmitigated mental madness. But the latter, if the madness doesn't crush the individual, leads to powerful discernment; a blessing which increases with time.
Love is hard to grasp for those who don't carry it in their heart. Revenge doesn't exist in a heart of discernment and love.
The word KNOWLEDGE is defined as the 'acquaintance with facts, truths or principles' It means to perceive or understand as fact or truth; to apprehend clearly and with certainty. Knowledge is typically gained through books, research, and delving into facts.
WISDOM is defined as 'the state of being wise,' which means 'having the power of discernment and judging properly as to what is true or right: possessing discernment, judgement, or discretion.' Wisdom is typically gained from experiences acquired over time.
So, we can see that knowledge and wisdom are two different things. In one sense, Knowledge resides in the MIND, but Wisdom resides in the HEART.
The wisdom book of Proverbs points us to the differences on achieving wisdom over knowledge in order to see life from God’s point of view and how to apply His wisdom in life. When you meditate on and listen to God ’s Word; and obey it, there will always be a Positive Benefit. Proverbs 24:3 says, “ Through wisdom lives are built, and by understanding it is established.”
My friend, if you want to be wise, trust in God and make a place for it in your heart. When you do, your path through life will always be well directed.
God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org/archive
Being so afraid of being wrong that you can’t move is actually the worst thing you could do for your practice.
You aren’t imposing on anyone.
You aren’t insulting the Gods. Arguably, you don’t actually know what would be considered insulting unless you’ve actually asked Them.
You’re not going to be beaten up and told you are the worst devotee ever.
You aren’t going to be told by any Deity you are morally imbalanced or impure.
The only thing the Gods are actually concerned with is the ability to get you to listen to Them which means peeling away layers and layers of trauma, biases, and patterns that take you away from Them. They would not forcibly remove you from Their attentions just because you wanted to try something new or do something that no one else is doing.
The ultimate goal of any Divine relationship for either side should always be to draw nearer to Them, not be pushed away because your discernment is inaccurate while you are learning.