| All cultures have stated that attitude is a very important
factor in how we handle difficulties and the relationships we have
with our selves, other people, nature, God and all things that we come
in contact with. Prayer, meditation,
spiritual studies all have effects on our relationships and our health.
Studies by Western Medicine have show that attitude helps to determine
survival in people with cancer. Traditional
Oriental Medicine says that the first rule of medicine is honor the
Spirit.
With a healthy Spirit, many diseases can be over come. In Lie
Zi (Lieh Tzu),
a great doctor is one who understands that one's viewpoint of disease is
more important that whether there are imbalances between the organs.
Difficulties provide us with opportunities to examine and improve ourselves. The Yi Jing (I Ching) states this in Hexagram 39, Diffculty/Halting. Virtue in the Chinese/Daoist(Taoist) sense is different from the Western/Christian sense. It is more than a sense of morality. Indeed, the Dao De Jing (Tao Teh Ching) is about the Dao and Virtue. Yet, in that book, we can see that Virtue as defined by Lao Zi (Lao Tzu) is more than morality. It includes how we view ourselves and others, how we interact with the world and how we view the world's interactions with us. Attitude can be seen as an expression of one's Virtue. The expression of one's values in relation to the flow of life's experiences. It may not be what we do, but how react to what we do that is the important thing. When we are young and inexperienced, we often do things that we may not have if we knew better. That is no fault, because we are all young and inexperienced at some point in our lives. If we berate ourselves for doing as we did instead of acknowledging our youthful inexperience and learning from it, then we harm ourselves more with that judgment than the action that we committed.
In today's society, we have seen a proliferation of motivational speakers and courses. Self-help books abound with advice on conditions ranging from bad relationships to sexual abuse to self abuse. All have the premise that we can change the world that we live in my changing how we view that world. All seek to change our attitude towards the world. All seek in increase our "Virtue."The sky in the mountains symbolizes great buildup. While I list only one book below, any book of inspiration will help to broaden our attitudes towards the handling of difficult situations. I use the Yi Jing to help with finding answers in difficult situations and to help prepare for events to ensure that my approach is appropriate. An online source of motivation is the link below. I have found it to be an interesting and balanced source of inspiration.
Another source of inspiration, thought and study is Parabola
Magazine. Each issue of the magazine is dedicated to the topic
from the perspective of different cultures and religions. Often times
when I have read this magazine, I have stopped to think about how cultures
that we think of as not being advanced may have a concept that brings the
viewpoints of our modern society in a clarity that is not possible from
within our own culture.
|
This page was last updated on May 31, 1999
