The way of Wisdom is not the way of why, but the way of what. The Hebrew word [for wisdom] “chochma” can be read as choch mah, “what is”. Wisdom will not tell you why things are the way they are, but will show you what they are and how you can live in harmony with them
Rabbi Rami Shapiro, The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature
Everything in life changes. The path to true happiness is one of integrating and fully accepting all aspects of our experience. This integration is represented in the Taoist symbol of yin/yang, a circle which is half dark and half light. In the midst of the dark area is a spot of light, and in the midst of the light area is a spot of darkness. Even in the depths of darkness, the light is implicit. Even in the heart of light, the dark is understood, acknowledged, and absorbed. If things are not going well for us in life and we are suffering, we are not defeated by the pain or closed off to the light. If things are going well and we are happy, we are not defensively trying to deny the possibility of suffering.
Sharon Salzberg
In my hermitage in France there is a bush of japonica. During the night a cold snap arrived and brought with it frost. The next day I noticed that all the buds on the bush had died. A few weeks later the weather became warm again. I saw new buds on the japonica manifesting another generation of flowers. I asked the japonica flowers: “Are you the same as the flowers that died in the frost or are you different flowers?” The flowers replied to me: “We are not the same and we are not different When conditions are sufficient we manifest and when conditions are not we go into hiding. It’s as simple as that.”
When conditions are sufficient things manifest. When conditions are no longer sufficient things withdraw. They wait until the moment is right for them to manifest again. Just because we do not perceive something, it is not correct to say it doesn’t exist.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Snow, rain and low clouds on the Jura. The weather moves from Spring to Autumn, confusing the plants and the birds. A useful lesson for us in working with our inner changing moods:
High winds do not last all morning
Heavy rain does not last all day
Why is this? Heaven and Earth!
If heaven and earth cannot make things eternal
Why do we think it happens for us?
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
At my feet the white-petalled daisies display
the small suns of their center piece, their – if you don’t
mind my saying so – their hearts.
Of course
I could be wrong, perhaps their hearts are pale and
narrow and hidden in the roots.
What do I know?
But this: it is heaven itself to take what is given,
to see what is plain; what the sun lights up willingly;
for example – I think this
as I reach down, not to pick but merely to touch –
the suitability of the field for the daisies, and the
daisies for the field
Mary Oliver, Daisies
Only the hand that erases
can write the true thing.
Meister Eckhart
photo: mgmoscatello
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