Thad Martin

From: "Corinna" <irocket@...>
that's a good thing, keep your innocence.

good advise!

to me innocence is an extremely fascinating concept. so i'm going to
pass on another excerpt. sorry, it's a bit long. i tried to cut it
down and still have it be coherent.

-susan
austin,tx

nurturing the value of innocence
Innocence is a quality we associate with babies and small children, not
adults. although the carefree heart and innocent trust of a young child
strongly appeals to us, we discount that they belong in a mature
personality. calling a grown-up innocent usually implies naivety, lack
of experience, even simple mindedness. we consider it more desirable
to be experienced and astute. yet within everyone is hidden a deep
regret that one can no longer be child-like. the regret expresses
itself in our fantasy of unspoiled islands whose inhabitants still live
as natures children. the desire to become a father or mother is also
deeply rooted in an urge to bring back ones own childhood and usually to
re-write it, letting our children enjoy the unblemished happiness we
know we never had. yet this dream never comes true. the unresolved
problems of parents continue to be passed to their off-spring.
generation after generation, innocence keeps being killed. since
innocence has not survived in our world, we need to ask what can be done
about it. perhaps we can redefine what we mean by innocence. bring
it more in-line with the spiritual growth that is taking place inside us
everyday. no one can become a baby again, but that does not mean that
the simple, open, trusting life is impossible - far from it.

the main reason people do not try to nurture innocence within themselves
is that the whole enterprise seems unrealistic. for innocence means a
condition unscared by pain and suffering and everyone has suffered -
that is simply a reality. therefore to ignore your own suffering, to
pretend that it very existed, or to paper it over with 'positivity', are
little more than escape mechanisms. banished from this world of harsh
realities, innocence has been relegated to the realm of fantasy - peter
pan's never-never land, where children can remain children forever.
but in doing that we have also banished the wonder of children - the
ever present freshness of life and a fearless curiosity about the
unknown. these are realities too, but of a different kind than pain.
so by depriving existence of wonder and freshness, we've been looking at
life extremely unrealistically. people do not really know what
innocence is. they simply accept certain beliefs about it.

...innocence has a practical value. it's not just nicer to be
innocent, if you can regain the level of your intelligence that knows
how to handle life automatically, without the burden of false belief
systems, you have achieved innocence. a new way of seeing will open
up. at present our way of seeing is fixated on problems.
...
what happens on the other hand if fear and denial are taken away - then
a new truths dawn. solving problems should be a joy, a welcome
challenge to our creativity. this truth is just as valid as the
assumption that all problems are headaches. cleaning up a river does
not have to be a headache. the headache comes from not wanting to
solve the problem. preferring to see it as hopelessly complex rather
than as a welcome challenge. ... only creativity can see past problems
to find solutions and this holds true for every area of life. the most
overwhelming disaster is an opportunity if viewed from a different
angle.
...
for whomever we understand we love. ...because we feel what the other
person is experiencing, we naturally want to help. to relieve his
discomfort is to relieve our own, to give him a gift is to give our self
a gift... love is the only solution to problems. it takes love to
dissolve separation, to bring people together, to join all life into one
harmonious whole.

... love is a way of being, not something you give. ... it expresses
itself as rock solid comfort and self acceptance. children are born
having this love. unless we take it out of them, it is part of their
innocence. mothers also contain this same unshakable love, unless they
have lost it along the way growing up.

... the possibility of living without that boundary had to precede it's
physical removal. anytime a boundary crumbles an act of healing has
taken place and innocence has been partially restored. .innocence is
the normal state of life because it is the one closest to our being.
... success in live is not determined by what you do but who you are.

innocence radiates love without boundaries. and this is not the same
as indiscriminately gushing to everyone you meet. ... instead of
feeling weak and isolated your sense of being 'i am' will be strong
enough to build the world on because you will share the same 'i am' that
life itself feels. on that basis you won't need to change things one
way or the other. everything will deserve its place under the sun.
such a state of innocence cannot be imposed. there is nothing you can
do to get closer to it and yet as you grow in being, innocence flowers
on its own. the love that accepts everything is one day found in your
own heart.

transcribed from the audio cassettes: the higher self by deepak chopra