Month: March 2020

Give, not get

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On the spiritual path, there’s nothing to get, and everything to get rid of.

Obviously, the first thing to let go of is trying to “get” love, and instead to give it. That’s the secret of the spiritual path. One has to give oneself wholeheartedly. If we want to be loved, we are looking for a support system. If we want to love, we are looking for spiritual growth. Love is the warmth of the heart, the connectedness, the protection, the caring, the concern, the embrace that comes from acceptance & understanding for oneself. Having practiced that, we are in a much better position to practice love toward others. We realize they are just as unlovable as we are, and they have just as many unwholesome thoughts. But that doesn’t matter. When we relate to other people, we can let them just be and love them

Ayya Khema

Forgiveness

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There is a simple practice we can do to cultivate forgiveness. First we acknowledge what we feel – shame, revenge, embarrassment, remorse. Then we forgive ourselves for being human. Then, in the spirit of not wallowing in the pain, we let go and make a fresh start. We don’t have to carry the burden with us anymore. We can acknowledge, forgive, and start anew. If we practice this way, little by little we’ll learn to abide with the feeling of regret for having hurt ourselves and others. We will also learn self-forgiveness. Eventually, at our own speed, we’ll even find our capacity to forgive those who have done us harm. We will discover forgiveness as a natural expression of the open heart, an expression of our basic goodness. This potential is inherent in every moment. Each moment is an opportunity to make a fresh start.

Pema Chodron

A time for doing nothing

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Let my doing nothing
When I have nothing to do
Become untroubled in its depth of peace

like the evening in the seashore
when the water is silent.

Rabindranath Tagore

Advice in a crisis

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The beginning of being fine is noticing how things really are.
1. Life is uncertain, surprises are likely.
2. If you are alive, that’s good; lower the bar.
3. In a dark place, you still have what really counts.
4. If you are in a predicament, there will be a gate.
5. What you need might be given to you.
6. The true life is in between winning and losing.
7. If you have nothing – give it away.

John Tarrant, It Would Be a Pity to Waste A Good Crisis

Simple words for today

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It was early on in my first meditation class. We had been taught about breathing from our haras [the lower abdomen] and the importance of straight backs and shoulders. I had discovered the knee pain that comes with sitting longer than, say, a half hour. It was overwhelming. Then a tiny little Thich Nhat Hanh teaching, casually expressed, changed my whole experience. It was this:

“Breathing in, I calm body and mind.
Breathing out, I smile.”

Suddenly it was okay to not try to be some samurai warrior meditating through grit teeth. Instead my job was to relax into the posture and to enjoy myself. Behind all of the jetsom and flotsam of everyday life that was circling around in my head like a scrabble game gone rogue was a smile. I still think of this teaching every day.

Geri Larkin, How Can I Love you Better?

Sunday Quote: No time to them

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These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence. Its nature is satisfied, and it satisfies nature, in all moments alike.

Ralph Waldo Emerson