The Brown Book Commentaries

―Tears are often the telescope by which we see far into Heaven.‖ ~ H. W. Beecher
Tears of sadness (just like tears of relief) actually obscure all external perceptions, and as such are
actually not telescopes by which we can peer into the heavens, but rather are potential microscopes
through which we can choose to see far into the Heaven within us – i.e. deep into our empathic Souls
&/or far into the reaches of our interconnected Compassion … Indeed, we can only truly See others when
we can empathize with their emotional states of being, and we can only truly See objective Reality to the
degree that we choose to perceive it as one
Whole – by choosing to See others as facets
of ourselves and our Selves as facets of all
others; and by then choosing – through our
heartfelt tears – to act accordingly.
―Every Human Being is your counterpart. Every other Human Being both possesses and
embodies aspects of yourself: your dreams, your sorrows, your hopes. For each of us there was
a time when the world was young, a springtime of Spirit that was later tested by the winters of
discontent; and in the middle of each of our Lives lies the shadow of death. Therefore we are all
quite alike, indeed at the core we are all One; all lost – and found – in the same mysterious
enterprise that is Life.‖ ~ D. R. Kingma
Firstly, note that the latter portion of this quote is True enough – namely, that in general we all do
indeed face the same fundamental challenges of the fear of death, the fear of pain, the fear of being
confined or constricted, and the fear of being abandoned (i.e. cast out of our ―herd‖) … Note as well that
realizing this Truth can indeed provide to be a valuable launching pad for an enhanced sense of
Compassion for others – a commonality that makes it easier to see others as Siblings or Cousins or even
Soulmates, to then peel away all preconceptive judgments of them, and then to be sincerely Caring
towards the same … That having been said, the first part of this quote can be quite misleading, for while
we do all have dreams– all of our dreams are uniquely different; and while we do all have sorrows – each
of our trials are ours alone. And it is believing otherwise that tempts us to provide solutions for others
where we actually have none – to give
advice to others regarding their problems
instead of reaching out to them with simple,
non-judgmental acts of heartfelt Kindness.
―In you live three people: one is adventure; the second is yearning; and the third is pride … Is it
possibly too crowded in there – in your Temple?‖ ~ Iris Mahler
Interestingly enough, as long as we see ourselves as a ―temple‖ of any great personal importance, that
―temple‖ will always be far too crowded … It is only when we replace individual desires with acts of
selfless service (and thereby replace thoughts of self-focused pride with a heart of selfless Caring) that
our lives become the Adventure they were meant to be … In essence, it is only when we cease worrying
about the state of our own Temple that
we can effectively cleanse the same …
Indeed, it is in adventuring into Loving
others that empties all zealots and
charlatans from within us; it is Loving
others without thought for self that
becomes that same cleansing.
Image 242 (Page 96b - bottom) … This picture is of a costumed Iris Mahler, a
dear Friend who provided me with companionship (& who ultimately taught me to
speak German) in 1994 & 1995. This image reminds me of the Truth that – while
there are ―demons‖ within every ―angel‖ (i.e. that every expectation is ultimately
shattered, that every commitment is ultimately betrayed, and that every hope proves
ultimately pain-filled) – there are also ―angels‖ within every ―demon‖ (i.e. that
every enemy is actually a Soulmate worthy of being treated accordingly, and then when
we have the courage to do so, their inner Angel always ultimately shines forth) …
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