Brightness Inspired is dedicated to those looking to enrich and deepen their lives by walking a spiritual path.  It is here to inspire the desire to uncover our own vitality and essence and begin to live life grounded in our own wisdom. It is a place for us to start where we are and wake up to our own lives and find that peace for which we all seek.

Our drive for personal transcendence has been with humans since the time of cave dwellers. Our ancestors created cave paintings of transcendent beings- shaped partly human, partly animal. They sought to give form to that inner knowing that there is more to humanity than what we can easily touch. They acknowledged that spiritual side to humans and worked with that energy in their lives.

Even today, we still search for meaning and purpose to our lives.  I propose finding our inner guidance  and using it to light up our own personal vision and path.

Aristotle spoke of the concept of Entelechy, which is defined as: “A particular type of motivation, need for self-determination, and inner strength directing life and growth to become all one is capable of being. It is the need to actualize one’s beliefs. It is having a personal vision and being able to actualize that vision from within.”

Brightness Inspired nurtures this drive though the wisdom of spirituality, Buddhism, humanism, relationship and life itself.

This spiritual quest is  a process of recognition. We remember that there is much more to being alive than struggle or confusion. We feel anxiety, not from fear of being eaten, but from daily interactions, including traffic, angry people, and stress.

But if we recognize that there is no solid and separate self, we will become fearless and bring more intimacy and trust to our relationships. It’s only through deepening our spiritual practice, rooted in experience and insight,  that we can make sense of our world and learn to become comfortable in our daily uncertainties.

This quote by Steven Bachelor explains why I chose the word “Brightness” :

Awakening , therefore, is not a mystical insight into the true nature of mind or reality… but rather by one’s greed, hatred, fear and selfishness. Thus awakening is not a state but a process; an ethical way of life and commitment that enables human flourishing. As such, it is no longer the exclusive preserve of enlightened teachers or accomplished yogis. Likewise nirvana- the stopping of craving- is not the goal of the path but its very source.  For human flourishing first stirs in that clear, bright, empty space where neurotic self- centeredness realizes that it has no ground at all to stand on. one is then freed to pour forth like sunlight.
Such a view of the dharma fits well with the English theologian Don Cupitt’s vision of “solar ethics”. In room 33 of the British Museum you will find a small clay Ganhdharan bas relief from the 2nd century C.E.  that represents the buddha as a stylized image of the sun placed on a seat beneath the bodhi tree. In the Pali Cannon, Gotama describes himself as belonging ot the “solar lineage” (adiccagotta) , while others call him by the epithet “solar friend  (adiccamitta). A true friend (kalyanamitta), he remarks,  is one who casts light on the path ahead just as the rising sun illuminates the earth.

Brightness Inspired’s mission is to help touch that buried potential within us all and bring it forth.  With meditation, insight, inquiry, joy, creativity and heart-centered relationships, our lives nourish us so that we in turn can nourish others. It is in accessing our own, unique depths of humanity that we can bringdepth into our world.

I hope that we are challenged and inspired daily to dig deep into the stories we tell ourselves. I hope that we dismantle the illusion of control and live vulnerable and open hearted lives. I hope that with new-found groundedness we have the courage to live out our life’s purpose.

May wisdom fill our speech and love fill our hearts and hands. Until all beings are saved, be Inspired by your own Brightness.

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