November 2014 – Page 2 – Mindfulbalance

Not rushing through

November 24, 2014November 23, 2014 Karl Duffy4 Comments

Life is so short,

we should all move more slowly.

Thich Nhat Hanh

photo Ryan Hodnott

Sunday quote: Now

November 23, 2014November 15, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

We don’t have to hurry through the now.

Now is not on the way to something else

John Tarrant

photo US Fish and Wildlife Service

The flow of the breath

November 22, 2014November 20, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

Breath – you invisible poem!

Pure, continuous change

with all that is, flow and counterflow

where rhythmically I come to be.

Each time a wave that occurs just once in a sea I discover I am.

You, innermost of oceans, you, infinitude of space.

How many far places were once within me.

Some winds are like my own child.

When I breathe them now, do they know me again?

Rainer Maria Rilke, Sonnets to Orpheus II, 1

photo Zwiadowca21

As it comes

November 21, 2014November 14, 2014 Karl Duffy4 Comments

I have learned to live each day as it comes,

and not to borrow trouble by dreading tomorrow.

It is the dark menace of the future that makes cowards of us.

Dorothy Day, American journalist and Catholic Social activist

photo Audrey

In touch with a source within

November 20, 2014November 14, 2014 Karl Duffy2 Comments

One of the aims of meditation practice is to develop a mind that sees, and does not get hooked into events too easily. The “Ten Thousand things” in this quote is a shorthand way of talking about all the experiences – good and bad – which arise and pass away. It stands for all of reality, which contains the right mix of experiences for our growth, and with its ebbs and flows is continually rearranging itself.

When the ten thousand things are viewed in their oneness

we return to the origin

and remain where we have always been.

Sosan, Third Zen Patriarch, died 606

A space beneath

November 19, 2014November 17, 2014 Karl Duffy2 Comments

File:Bird in the Sky (5229140646).jpg

Good or bad, happy or sad,

all thoughts vanish into emptiness

like the imprint of a bird in the sky.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

photo afrikaforce

About this Blog

Mindfulbalance supports the slow, patient practice of mindfulness meditation, as a way to find balance and meaning in life, reduce stress and develop health and wellbeing. It contains reflections to encourage the practice of meditation as well as occasional posts from psychology, spirituality and the wisdom traditions. The daily posts are prompted by Rilke's advice: "Write about what your everyday life offers you, your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind, and your belief in some kind of beauty". Written in County Laois, Ireland