Clouds draw water from the ocean to fall as rain on the earth
And there is neither increase nor decrease;
Just so, reality remains unaltered like the pure sky.
Saraha, 8th century Buddhist teacher
Month: December 2013
Projecting our commentary and our moods….
We are each living in our own soap opera. We do not see things as they really are. We see only our own interpretations. This is because our minds are always so busy. When we try to look into the mind itself, we cannot see anything below our surface consciousness. But when the mind calms down it becomes clear. This mental clarity enables us to see things as they really are, instead of projecting our cometary onto everything.
Ani Tenzin Palmo, Reflections on a Mountain Lake
…Such as the story of being separate
Human beings are a part of a whole, called by us “the Universe”, a part limited in time and space. We experiences ourselves, our thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest — a kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security.
Albert Einstein.
Letting go of stories that shake us
Be strong then, and enter into your own body; there you have a solid place for your feet.
Throw away all thoughts of imaginary things, and stand firm in that which you are
Kabir
Patience means letting things develop in their own time
The gusts of wind have blown any remaining leaves off the trees. They lie in large piles on the ground, bright yellow and orange. The end of another cycle.
The leaves have almost completely covered
the backyard, and there are leaves to fall.
The wind whistles through its thin teeth
and no one seems to mind. For weeks we
have watched from windows, seen colors
changing, but not talked about it. One night,
when we went to gather another load
of wood, we heard the dead leaves crunch
beneath our feet. Now a light snow has begun
to touch the trees and the woodpile, first
fingerprinting them, then blurring, blending
everything in. Someday, I may get around
to saying what I’ve been thinking for months.
William Virgil Davis , Leaves,
Staying solid and enduring
The strong winds in Ireland this morning remind me of this teaching on being shaken and standing firm
When you look at a tree in a storm, you see that its upper branches move more violently in the wind. But if you look at its trunk, you see that it is very solid and still. Your belly is the trunk of your being. It is important to allow everything in your head to move down to your abdomen. Place your hands on your abdomen and practice your breathing. After five, ten, fifteen minutes the storm will pass and you will be ok.
Nguyen Anh-Huong and Thich Nhat Hahn, Walking Meditation
Mindfulbalance 