It is good, every once in a while
to let ourselves be stupefied by gratitude
to cast upon ourselves a spell against indifference
by moving through the word with an inner bow
at every littlest thing that prevailed
over the odds of otherwise in order to exist
Maria Popova
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
Pope Francis, Laudato Si
There is a full moon this evening – the Harvest Moon.
The moon here represents our original mind: luminous, complete and unstained, not disturbed by fear or by having to explain itself. The lake is our ordinary everyday experience, which can get agitated by worries and anticipations. When stirred, the moon seems fragmented. When we are still and at ease, the water becomes clear and the moon is revealed, an indescribable and serene completeness.
吾心似秋月，
碧潭清皎潔。
My heart-mind is like the autumn moon,
in a clear and bright jade-green lake.
Nothing can compare with it
– how can I explain it in words?
Hanshanzi, Chinese Buddhist monk, poet, and spiritual writer
Events themselves are neutral; distress arises from our judgment about them,
You dont have to turn this into something
It doesn’t have to upset you
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book VI, section 52
It’s about being embodied, being with the primary experience of being alive, rather than with the nervous energy of our daily and kammic functions.
When there is embodied security and confidence, the breathing-energy will carry that message through the entire body. It’s about simplifying and getting to the roots of what you’re experiencing. Notice how triggering and conditioning occur.
Learn to calm these saṅkhārā by referring to them directly: not so much ‘They don’t like me’ but ‘agitation and uncertainty’. Translate ‘I should be’ and ‘I ought to do’ into ‘pressure’. Then you can contain these activating effects in your entire body (widen attention to include feet and back) and through mindfully relaxing, release them
Remember: there’s nothing wrong with you.
Ajahn Sucitto
All that is necessary to awaken to yourself as the radiant emptiness of spirit is
to stop seeking something more or better or different,
and to turn your attention inward to the awake silence that you are.
Adyashanti
