L - Loving Alternative This Weeks Video This is Part 3 in the blog series on HALE, one of the key mindfulness tools taught in The Centre...

Establishing Forgiveness as a Habit This Weeks Video Applying forgiveness to any situation that requires it, can be quite challenging. So, is it possible to have a consciousness of forgiveness that naturally, and easily flows when the circumstances demand it? Can conscious forgiveness become a habit? To form a habit, we have to regularly repeat in action, and/or thought, the thing we want to be habitual. To do that we first have to be motivated to want to do that. The regular

Self Forgiveness This Weeks Video In The Centre for Western Mindfulness’ Pathways to Mindfulness program we assess people’s current state of awareness regarding who they are physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. There are 15 statements in each of the four elements, which highlights an aspect of that element. One of the spiritual aspects reads - It is easy for me to be self-forgiving. People have three options to indicate how they relate to that statement: Yes, N

Pardon Wrong Doers This Weeks Video Come on! As if loving your enemies, blessing those who curse you, and doing good to those who hate you aren’t tough enough. Now I’m expected to pardon those who do me wrong? You’ve got to be kidding!! It seems that the world is full of people who are doing ‘wrong’. Mass shootings, war, environmental abuse, sexual abuse, and the list goes on. So this facet of forgiveness expects me to pardon these people? Really? Well, yes if you are wanting

Judge Not This Weeks Video “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (1) The word judge as a verb arose from words that typically meant “to form an opinion about”. More broadly speaking it meant to “make a decision, decide, think, suppose”. It can be extrapolated then that this aspect of forgiveness, which is about not judging, means; don’t form an opinion, don’t decide, think, or suppose. You could well be justified in asking, “Well what am I supposed to do?” In short, observe an

Turn the Other Cheek This Weeks Video The very first of the situations proposed in the Sermon on the Mount for not resisting evil was “…whosoever will smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” (1) The obvious conclusion is that when you turn the other cheek you are prepared to be struck a second time. That action almost seems to perpetuate violence. Obviously, these is a difference when the motive for turning the cheek is insolent in nature, or true humilit

Bless Those Who Curse You This Weeks Video …and do good to them that hate you! This is the loving approach to life that was taught in the Sermon on the Mount, not an approach that endorsed crusades, the inquisitions, or the genocide of heretics. The patron saint of Lucca, in Italy, is Saint Zita. The story goes that at the age of twelve, Zita became a servant to the Fatinelli, a noble family of Lucca. In spite of many years of serious abuse by her ‘noble’ employers, as well a

Love Your Enemies This Weeks Video There is a saying that declares, “What you resist persists”. A resistive consciousness gives permission for what we resist to perpetuate. Mahatma Gandhi championed what he called satyagraha, what the West called passive resistance. Gandhi insisted it was more about love and firmness (non-violent) serving as a “synonym for force”. Inspired by Tolstoy’s The Kingdom of God is Within You , Gandhi became an advocate for using non-resistance to o

If peace is your priority, then forgiveness will be your only function. This Weeks Video I know this may seem too simple, but the key to forgiveness is to fully understand that all human motive for how one thinks, behaves, and emotes is either driven by the desire to extend love, or is a call for help. That’s it! Just two core motives. When perceived from that context, there are only two responses to these two motives; gratitude for the love extended, or compassion for the su

Blessed Are The Merciful The thirteenth-century etymology of the word mercy meant having “a disposition to forgive or show compassion.”...

Mindful Leadership Michael Bunting in his book The Mindful Leader wrote,”The equation is simple: Highly engaged organisations are more...

Divorce Where There is Honour & Love & Respect Right now, there are several people that I know who are experiencing separation and...

Sustaining Mindfulness with Gratitude Mindfulness isn’t an end in itself, it is more of a means to an end. It’s the bridge between life...

How to Choose Peace When You Realise You Have Become Disturbed In a recent mentoring session the issue was raised about how to stay in...

A Consciousness of Forgiveness Remember the scene in the movie ‘The Matrix’ when Neo is being shot at and ‘Mr Smith’ couldn’t understand...