Believe

“The only thing that stands between a man
and what he wants from life is often merely
the will to try it and the faith to believe that
it is possible.” ~David Viscott, M.D. (1938-1996)

~Linda

Dumping Emotional Garbage

“Guilt drives people to be deaf, dumb, and blind to their own drives, hopes and fears and wants, bias and prejudices therein.” ~ Spirit, Dr. James Martin Peebles, from Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom by Linda Pendleton



I was speaking with a friend today about feelings and letting go of the past. You know, dumping the garbage that one can tend to hold onto. So that brought to mind the late Dr. David Viscott, Psychiatrist—his books, his radio show, and his TV show.

I very much admired him and did know him on a social level. I had read his first book, The Making of a Psychiatrist, published in 1972, and then a few years later, in the late 1970’s, I found Dr. Viscott’s book, The Language of Feelings, to be insightful and it gave me a greater understanding of the dynamics of feelings, of emotions.

“Anxiety is the fear of hurt or loss.
Hurt of loss leads to anger.
Anger held in leads to guilt.
Guilt, unrelieved, leads to depression.”
~David Viscott, M.D., The Language of Feelings

And here from my book, Three Principles of Angelic Wisdom, Chapter 12, Dumping the Garbage:

More than a hundred years ago, Dr. James Martin Peebles wrote in one of his many published books, "The oak remembers not each leaf it bore; and yet each leaf and bough and brawny limb help to make up the towering tree. Many of the acts and minor events of our lives have died out, or cease to echo in the memory chambers of our souls; still, their results live in our characters. Let then, be forgotten! It is not wise to brood over the broken rounds of the ladder our feet just pressed. The summit of the temple is to be reached. Direct the eye upward, and press forward towards the higher altitudes of heavenly truth and wisdom.

"The toiling seamstress remembers not each stitch she took in the garment; and yet, every stitch helped to make up that garment; and so each thought, word, purpose, and deed, help to make up the real life of the soul; and backward-looking memory, tracing the effects, may--ay, must construct a mirror before which we shall be necessitated to stand, face to face with ourselves...We weave the moral garments in this life that shall in quality clothe us when entering the future state of existence."

I asked Dr. Peebles about that and he told me: “Hmm, much wisdom there, indeed. I did not refer to events as lessons as I now do but I would suppose my meaning is exact. Life is an upward movement toward heavenly truths, a remembering so to speak of our spiritual nature, a fulfilling of our soul, and it is true that every thought, every movement, every action and deed, become part of our very soul, at least in a deductive sense. It is the reflection in the mirror which enables one to have new understanding of self. I still agree with all that I wrote as one has to let go of the backward-looking memories in order to continue on a smooth path toward enlightenment. There is no point in retracing or brooding over where one has walked. The movement is forward and upward. To stop on one broken round of the ladder and to not step beyond to the next, stifles. Do you understand?”

I said to him, “Perfectly. I also opened this chapter with one of your more recent heavenly quotes which I think you are familiar with.” (the quote at the top of this posting).

Dr. Peebles: “Ah, yes. When one becomes blinded to life, closed to the echoes, the beauty of life becomes absent, silent, and fear takes hold. Fear of diversity, fear of love and intimacy, and the illusion of separation becomes overwhelming. Guilt disables, lowers self esteem, reduces hopes, kills dreams, destroys creativity, alters the ego to the point that self worth suffers tremendously. So what do you do about it? You release it by realizing that you don't need it any longer. It becomes a lesson learned. When you accept that you created that place, you also realize that you can create another place, one free of guilt, full of joy, full of love.”

“When one is faced with looking at all that garbage, what many refer to as baggage, recognize that it no longer serves you. And in all probability, the person who may have been the reason for your baggage, that is, in your own mind, has probably not even given you any thought, or the event any thought, so why do you continue to carry it with you? Remember, your world is your very own perception. You have the choice to perceive it as you wish. And if you wish to be the victim, so be it. But if you wish to be the pilot of your life, the one at the wheel, so to speak, then consider that you can shift your perception, let go, forgive, and move forward.”


In this video Dr. Viscott reads from one of his excellent books, Emotional Resilience: Simple Truths for Dealing with the Unfinished Business of Your Past, published not long before his untimely death at the age of 58.

~Linda

Fear and Courage and Love

Photograph by Eric Stephens

This book was suggested to me by my psychologist in understanding my own courage. When faced with a serious medical situation, I had fear, fear of the unknown, but somehow I quickly moved beyond those fears. I was optimistic...and I was continually hearing from nearly everyone around me how courageous I was. I didn’t know how else to do it. It seemed natural to acknowledge fear and let it go, but I was told not everyone reacts to a life changing event and challenges in the way I did. I do see that now.

This might not have been a book I would have picked up on my own, but I am finding it rather interesting. One of my late friends admired this man’s work and while living in Sedona I knew a couple of others who had studied his spiritual philosophy. The book is “Courage, The Joy of Living Dangerously,” by Osho, an Indian mystic and spiritual teacher, also known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh during the 1970s and 1980s, He had taught Philosophy at a University for a number of years at one time. He took the name of Osho in 1989. I do recall when he was deported from his place in Oregon and sent back to India in about 1987, and there was a lot of rumor and controversy about his “group.” He died in 1990. There is an Osho Foundation in Sedona, Arizona.

This is an excerpt from the opening chapter, What is Courage?:

“Courage means going into the unknown in spite of all the fears. Courage does not mean fearlessness. Fearlessness happens if you go on being courageous and more courageous. That is the ultimate experience of courage—fearlessness. That is the fragrance when the courage has become absolute. But in the beginning there is not much difference between the coward and the courageous person. The only difference is that the coward listens to his fears and follows them, and the courageous person puts them aside and goes ahead. The courageous person goes into the unknown in spite of all the fears. He knows the fears, the fears are there.

“When you go into the uncharted sea, like Columbus did, there is fear, immense fear, because one never knows what is going to happen. You are leaving the shore of safety. You were perfectly okay, in a way; only one thing is missing—adventure. Going into the unknown gives you a thrill. The heart starts pulsating again; again you are alive, fully alive. Every fiber of your being is alive because you have accepted the challenge of the unknown.

“To accept the challenge of the unknown, in spite of all fears, is courage. The fears are there, but if you go on accepting the challenge again and again, slowly, slowly those fears disappear. The experience of the joy that the unknown brings, the great ecstasy that starts happening with the unknown, makes you strong enough, gives you a certain integrity, makes your intelligence sharp. For the first time you start feeling that life is not just a boredom but an adventure. Then slowly, slowly fears disappear; then you are always seeking and searching for some adventure.

“But basically courage is risking the known for the unknown, the familiar for the unfamiliar, the comfortable for the uncomfortable, arduous pilgrimage to some unknown destination. One never knows whether one will be able to make it or not. It is gambling, but only the gamblers know what life is.” ~Osho

It takes a lot of energy to be caught up in fear, in negativity, in a depressed state. I am always reminded of the words of the late Psychiatrist, Author and Radio and Television personality, David Viscott, M.D., "If we each used our feelings as a guide to reach the path for becoming our highest selves, we would at least be on the way to finding fulfillment in our own life, and the greater world would begin to make sense." That is from Viscott's excellent book, The Language of Feelings. He also wrote:

"The light you are seeking is inside. The light is life, is love, is you. Find it, nurture it, share it. To seek it is to take part in the infinite." ~David Viscott, M.D.

~Linda