Hope and fear are feelings with two sides; as long as there is one there is always the other. Hope and fear come as a sense that we lack something, we are unable to sit, relax and be ourselves. Holding on to hope and fear robs us of the present moment.
All cultures know a mystical core that emphasizes continuing refinement, meditation and unification with the greater cosmos. You can do this self-cultivation in the midst of everything and you will be thoroughly sustained and rewarded by these practices.
We make a clay pot, but it is the inner empty space we use. We build a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. Do we create what is to use what is not? We work with being, but nonbeing is what we use. Nonbeing and being create each other.
When unfriendly forces are advancing, retreat is the right course of action. We are not running away, but are offering some resistance while planning for the time when the aggressive forces end. Anger and hate are not resistance, all resistance must be done in a thoughtful and considerate way.
Quote: Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine. – Emerson