Steering By Starlight

I first read this in 2010 and

have just finished re-reading it in bits and pieces over the last 6 weeks or so,

- a paragraph or a page at a time.

 

I find her perspectives interesting -

I sense her depth of understanding relayed to

those of us less interested in depth as such,

but interested in living a better life.

 

I love the way she uses words.

 

If you want a good read about steering your life

when the course before you is not clear, and all you can see does not feel 'right'

this is likely to be a useful resource.

Some quotes I selected:

"When we learn to watch our fears without believing them, we can burst out of a fearful universe into a totally safe one in an abrupt, irrevocable flash of insight..."

"Liberation is the ability to see multiple options."

"The raw material for joy is sorrow; the raw material for compassion is anger; the raw material for fearlessness is fear."

"We burn, burn, burn until our attachment to whatever we have lost is completely incinerated."

"The alchemy of the Stargazer transmutes psychological lead into gold.  Pain becomes joy.  Fear becomes peace.  Anger becomes absolute compassion."

"The general rule to remember is that when we're scared, we're scary, and when we're scary, we're usually scared."

"In real life, people who perpetrate evil virtually always see themselves as victims, forced by circumstances to "defend themselves" by attacking others."

"... lead the relationship by sustaining calm, fearless affection."

"If you keep breathing deeply, feeling peaceful, and offering reassurance, you'll defuse arguments that could become endless, before they even begin."

"... a commitment to handle change with creativity and negotiation."

"... when we're calm, we're calming."

"If someone else freaks out, you must get even calmer. ... It works with almost everyone."

"Recognise... a Dark Arts Practitioner."

"...the dominant emotional state of someone who practices the Dark Arts is a baseline state of boredom, marked by swelling, repetitive waves of self-pity."

"Test (all they say) against the facts, against your sense of truth. ... Question every thought that causes suffering and test it against your own sense of truth."

"'When two great forces collide, the victory will go to the one who knows how to yield.'" Lao-Tzu

"... living this way... you'll learn and benefit immeasurably from your friends, but even more from your enemies."

She finishes this book with this favourite poem of one of her African guides read by him "as the sunlight faded and the moon cleared the horizon"...

“Live while you are alive …

Learn to be what you are in the seed of your spirit

Learn to free yourself from all things that have molded you

And which limit your secret and undiscovered road …

Never forget that love

Requires that you be

The greatest person you are capable of being,

Self-generating and strong and gentle -

Your own hero and star …

Be grateful for life as you live it,

And may a wonderful light

Always guide you along the unfolding road.”