Point Four of the Seven Points

Point Four – Maintaining the Practice

            The following excerpts were written by former NASA astronaut Russell Schweickart in an article entitled “No Frames, No Boundaries:”

...he sees the Earth not as something big, where he can see the beautiful details, but now he sees the Earth as a small thing out there. And the contrast between that bright blue and white Christmas tree ornament and the black sky, that infinite universe, really comes through, and the size of it, the significance of it. It is so small and so fragile and such a precious little spot in the universe that you can block it out with your thumb. And you realize that on that small spot, that little blue and white thing is everything that means anything to you – all love, tears, joy, games, all of it on that little spot out there that you can cover with your thumb. And you realize from that perspective that you’ve changed, that there’s something new there, that the relationship is no longer what it was.

And from where you see it, the thing is a whole, the earth is a whole, and it’s so beautiful. You wish you could take a person in each hand, one from each side in the various conflicts, and say, "Look. Look at it from this perspective. Look at that. What’s important?”

Point Four includes the Five Strengths, practices that are a distilled form of lojong (similar to a “quick reference guide” you might find in an instruction booklet). They (slogans 17 & 18) show us where to concentrate our effort throughout our life and as we are dying. These practices allow us to develop and maintain an awakened heart and mind; then we too can live with an expansive and inclusive understanding such as Schweickart describes.