Donald James Duncan

Donald's Blog

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4/13/18

Life is always interesting. Every day there is a new challenge. Just when you think you're in the zone, something pulls you back to reality. Has anyone else ever felt like this? This is why I have a spiritual practice. My spiritual practice helps me connect with something beyond myself. It is that connection that provides me with a bigger picture. For instance, spider is one of my constant companions. Spider shows me through the design of her web that everything is connected. Rarely a day goes by that spider makes an appearance to remind me of that. Spider first appeared at my altar. She wove a web from my altar to the wall. Every day I prayed with spider. One day, while I was teaching in front of my class, spider rappelled from the ceiling on her web string to within inches of the top of my head. All the students were pointing, but I didn't see it. I looked up and there was spider making another entrance into my life. Many episodes later, Spider continues to teach me. 

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4/23/18

In my last blog I commented about having a spiritual practice. What is a spiritual practice? A spiritual practice is anything that helps you connect with God. 

Instead of God, I like to think of a universal energy source that is in all things. The Lakota use the saying “mitaquye oyasin” which translates as “all my relations”. This energy is in all things: plants, trees, rocks, animals, and humans. For me, a spiritual practice is WHAT I DO to connect to this force in the universe. In my next blog, I will share some of the things I do for a spiritual practice.

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8/17/18

Been a while since my last blog. I have posted on Twitter and Facebook, but have neglected the website. Here is something I wrote on fearlessness.

 

The genesis of fear is the thought that we have something to lose. A warrior goes into battle with nothing to lose. The warrior is not attached to anything and therefore has nothing to fear. The warrior does not fear death because he/she is already dead. The fear is not absent, but it no longer holds the warrior hostage. Fear begins to disappear because death is no longer the ultimate fear. In fact, death becomes an ally. Death teaches the warrior to live in the present without concern for the past or the future. Subsequently, the warrior discovers a vast reservoir of energy that was previously channeled into past issues /wounds and future concerns. Fearlessness is not about the absence of fear. It is a moment in time when someone is without fear. Fearlessness is a way of living. Fearlessness is being undaunted when a challenging obstacle presents itself. Fearlessness knows that there is nothing to lose. Fearlessness does not become discouraged or disheartened when things do not go according to plans. Fearlessness is resolutely courageous. Fearlessness is associated with the heart. Fearlessness is totally being guided by heart. The heart knows no boundaries or fear. It is the mind that generates boundaries and fear. Fearless warriors are known as lion hearted, great hearted, or stout hearted.

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