I TAKE THE VOW
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From: Verronika W.
Date: Saturday, November 29, 2008, 12:00 AM
Subject: i take the vow
Reply to: 265989
ID: 265997

Dear all in this "vowing" - "listening" - "wording" discussion

oh yes

very intersting that more and more come up with words and their frequency and so on...

and yes ...

more and more often i get kind of stich

when i read anything that is full of anxiety and NONs

Bruce, you asked about the difference - meaning for each one - of

• vow
• commitment
• agreement
• intent
• goal
• objective
• purpose
• mission

as i am not a native speaker

it may be that i go more for the each frequency of english words

sometimes it is much easier to take an english word than a german one....

as this says - because of its different frequency - " better" what i want to verbalize

vow - (schwur in german)

commitment - (einbindung =attachment / hingabe = devotion)

agreement - (zustimmung = kind of consensuality)

intent - (absicht)

goal - (Ziel)

objective - (richtwert = guide)

purpose - (aufgabe, Bestimmung = designation , berufung=calling)

mission - (berufung - but in a sense of "guru")

may be you can go by the different words in german to get "my difference"

so

i took the vow in agreeing - committing - to the intent for the goal of non-violence at school

as i feel the purpose - not the mission ( i am no missionary - this seems to be a horror-vision to me)

to work with the kids at school

for peace and non-violence

being the guide for them

as i do live this non-violence

and

train them in non-violence

for themselves and so for others...

this came in a moment where i finish the training as an " antiaggression - and coolness"trainer...

and this was one of the first discussions we had

why antiaggression - we took anti"gewalt" (anti-violence)

...

The wording becomes more and more necessary...

one interesting exercise is

take for half an hour - and more and more often -

the word "is" from your thinking/talking/ writing ....also when talking to others...

then the absoluteness of the statement is taken away...

....

for me this taking the vow felt good

as i do know

that i have to live it mysef

before asking any other to live it

and if there comes a violating thought - i get aware quickly and can remove it....

and the violence one gives to oneself

means to be the first to release oneself

from convicting oneself because of anything that happened out of un-awareness in that special moment...

love is all you need

and i am love - even if there is a moment in that i do not feel it outside - it always is a flame inside....

love you all

enjoying the clear winterblue morning sky

veronika

--- On Fri, Nov 28, 2008, in msg265989, Bruce Schuman wrote ---

oh good, thanks VerroniKA -- i'm glad that this connection felt right to you -- i guess that is a little bit of "resonance" ....

i just got that good message from jonathan, over on the main GRN network, where he makes a bunch of points, and i think we should look at all of those...

but right here -- i just wanted to ask a couple of little questions that were coming up for me.

i was thinking about this concept of "intention" -- and jonathan was suggesting that we clarify our language a bit...

i did go over and look carefully at the deepak vow site -- but i didn't "take the vow" yet. i'm thinking about it.

deepak does say right off the top that a vow is a heavy-duty thing -- that you can't take back. i also went to the site suggested by Karen/Univisions:

http://www.intent.com/blog/2008/11/08/the-vow-non-violence

and there, somebody made this comment:

I'm going to join you today in the vow. It's amazing what one person can start. Truthfully, I'm anxious about how thoroughly I can uphold the vow (and I'm a relatively gentle person).

that's kind of what i am thinking about -- that i am a little unsure about how faithfully i could keep that vow, so i am being a little cautious...

i might make this vow, thinking i am very sincere -- and then later today, when i am feeling ornery about something, i suddenly throw a fit about something -- and there i go, "breaking my vow".

i have been experimenting with "vows" for a long time. i don't always do so great with them -- and i have learned that it is generally a good idea for me to tone it down a little bit. instead of saying "i will absolutely do this for all time and never blow it and never change my mind" -- it's usually better for me to say something like "i really want to do this, and i promise to try hard, as best i can, and to pick myself up again if i fall." but i don't want to feel like a broken fool and a betrayer if i can't quite manage it to do it. i need a little wiggle-room.

so...

along the lines of "clarifying the language", and in the context of this love-radiance-intent framework -- let me ask: what is the difference between these terms:

• vow
• commitment
• agreement
• intent
• goal
• objective
• purpose
• mission

?

deepak's vow site asks us to make one commitment -- pretty-much black and white. it's absolute.

how about -- a site -- that allows us -- to make 500 slightly softer commitments -- that we can change if we feel we have to -- commitments or agreements --

sort of a "cloud of agreements" -- a looser softer floating field, with many nuances and facets and aspects, none of them rigid -- though some may be more rigid than others....

what IS your personal purpose or commitment? what is your goal?

any time we put something like this in words -- those words have a particular meaning at that moment -- a meaning that might be different at another moment, or have different meaning for another person.

so, instead of worrying about that -- just make it a "soft statistical cloud" -- every single one of the particular meanings is soft and fuzzy. they don't have to be rigid and exact. but make a lot of them -- and there will be a shape -- that is very strong. each point in the cloud is fuzzy -- but there are millions of points, and as a group, they don't move very easy....

we could ask everybody here in this group -- "what do you want to do?" what do you agree to do? what is your "purpose" (or goal or objective or mission) --

just make it simple and approximate, and say it in just a few words, don't worry about getting it perfect. just so that people generally know what you are talking about.

then, maybe -- "how do you hope or expect to reach that goal?"

"how can others help you reach that goal?"

if you share that goal with someone else -- what kind of partnership or collaboration would you like to explore?

it feels to me -- like this concept of a "unity portal" more or less reaches around all of these things, in one big inclusive embrace. it puts it all into one box, inside one circle.

and yes -- this would work for "politics" as well -- as it got stronger. these ideas on "integral politics" -- could emerge within this framework....

for everybody who wants to "work within the context of Oneness" -- everybody who checks that option -- we could then explore what that means. what, for example -- should we do about "capitalism"? wolfgang would have some thoughts on that....

what is the natural organic economy of The One --

maybe it does not take any one form in all cases? or who knows....

"i take the vow" -- "i make the promise" -- "i agree to try hard" -- "i agree to do my best...."

all of that is good. i you can't promise absolutely for all time -- then just agree to do your best for now, and try to keep it up. that's a great first step -- one that lots of people could take....

thanks, all

(PS -- i am experimenting a little bit with color and layout -- hope that's ok, let me know what you think)

--- On Fri, Nov 28, 2008, in msg265986, Verronika Walch wrote ---

dear Bruce..

yes - this was what i thought when i posted it

and wonderful that you connected these both sites...

sending showers of "winter" love

with snow

the same as summerlove

with sand

may be a bit clearer because of the coolness...

laughing love

veronika

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