Will visit the small 12th Century church in the countryside this morning, where one can see this statue of Saint Francis meditating. He had an inner freedom, similar to this quote. Things arise and pass away. We are the ones who make a big fuss over them. There is no need to shut down or contract in fear.
When you realize emptiness,
there is no fear.
Lama Zopa Rinpoche
Do not speak to me of angels
unless you want to lie by
their side on the surface of emerald lake
and live forever with your eyes open.
My own angels take many forms.
Today they are trees.
Etel Adnan, born Beruit 1925 Lebanese-American poet
I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
The suns I see and the suns I cannot see are in their place.
The palpable is in its place and the impalpable is in its place.
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
If each day falls
inside each night,
there exists a well
where clarity is imprisoned.
We need to sit on the rim
of the well of darkness
and fish for fallen light
with patience.
Pablo Neruda
Meditation is a form of training the mind, so that it does not get hooked by all our inner storms, but rather relates to the world, or other people, in a fresh way, just as they are:
Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche used the phrase “first thought, best thought” to refer to that first moment of fresh perception, before the colorful and coloring clouds of judgment and personal interpretation take over. “First thought” is “best thought” because it has not yet got covered over by all our opinions and interpretations, our hopes and fears, our likes and dislikes. It is direct perception of the world as it is.
Dr Jeremy Hayward, First Thought
Some Taoist wisdom for the journey. Real relationship with what is deepest in our hearts is something we know instinctive and survives our poor words and concepts:
I confess that there is nothing to teach:
There is no religion, no science, no writings, which will really show your mind the Way.
Today I speak in this way, tomorrow in another,
but always the Path is beyond words and beyond mind.
Lao Tzu (attributed), The Huahujing
The Buddhists say there are 149 ways to God.
I’m not looking for God, only for myself, and that is far more complicated.
Jeanette Winterson, Sexing the Cherry
Mindfulbalance 