Not only is life always in movement, but the mind is also.
So, in meditation as in life, how to deal with negative thoughts and difficult feeling states…
In zazen [meditation], leave your front door and your back door open.
Let thoughts come and go.
Just don’t serve them tea.
Shunryu Suzuki
One of the foundations of wisdom is to see that things are always changing, and changing in ways that we do not expect. The weather we are having these “Summer” days helps – showers, followed by sun, followed today by longer spells of rain:
It must be obvious..
that there is a contradiction in wanting to be perfectly secure in a universe
whose very nature is momentariness and fluidity.
Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity
At any time you can ask yourself: At which threshold am I now standing? At this time in my life, what am I leaving? Where am I about to enter? What is preventing me from crossing my next threshold? What gift would enable me to do it? A threshold is not a simple boundary; it is a frontier that divides two different territories, rhythms, and atmospheres.
John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us
With mindfulness practice, you learn to see how the untrained mind is agitated by the human condition and how not to allow this general anxiety to fuel your fear in a specific situation. You also gain tolerance for the unpleasantness of uncertainty and also the naturalness of your own imperfection. You have confidence that “life is like this.” You cannot and are not supposed to miraculously fix it; rather, you gain the insight that happiness and peace come from relating to life just as it is.
Philipp Moffit, Freedom from Fear
Take rest;
a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop
Da requiem; requietus ager bene credita reddit
Ovid
This weekend, thousands of pilgrims will climb Croagh Patrick, a mountain which was considered sacred as far back as 3000 years BC and associated with St Patrick from the time he fasted there. Ireland today is bombarded today with lots of examples of what will lead to a happy life, such as wearing certain types of clothes, such and such a diet, success in achieving goals, quick-fix self-help slogans and imitating celebrities. However, in the wisdom developed in Celtic spirituality around the time of Patrick – over 1500 years ago – a fulfilled life had three elements: being close to nature, having concern for those less fortunate and being grateful. Let’s see which will lead to greater contentment….
Let me bless almighty God, whose power extends over sea and land, whose angels watch over all.
Let me do my daily work, gathering seaweed, catching fish, giving food to the poor.
Let me say my daily prayers, sometimes chanting, sometimes quiet, always thanking God.
Delightful it is to live on a peaceful isle, in a quiet cell, serving the King of kings.
The Prayer of St. Columba, 521-597 A.D.
photo: kanchelskis
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