Month: May 2025

The weeks of sunny settled weather since the start of the month broke yesterday. Back to more typical Irish summer weather, sunshine and showers….

There is no attainment whatsoever. Because there is nothing to be attained.

The Heart Sutra

The first time I heard Suzuki Roshi speak, he said “You are perfect just as you are”. I thought “He doesn’t know me. I am new here” But again and again he would keep pointing in that direction saying “You have everything you need”, “You are already complete”, “Just to be alive is enough”. I finally had to assume that I was not the sole exception to these assertions, but I was still dubious.

And as I continued to practice and talk with other students, I found that many people share the conditioning that leads us to think that there’s something wrong with us. If we could only “get”, “do” or “be” something more, “then” we would be alright.

Its so easy for us to get the idea that there is something wrong with us. And so hard to let go of that and just appreciate this one life, as it is, as a gift.

Blanche Hartman, Seeds for A Boundless Life

Repetition is what allows something brand new to happen.

Repetition, like the lapping of ripples against a rock,

gently shifts the ground on which we tread,

and alters our relationship to the things we experience

Anne C. Klein, American professor of Religious Studies and Buddhist teacher

Can you allow ten seconds for a pause in the midst of what arises?

It seems easy in theory, but the difficulty, and the learning, is that you have to face your planned drive, as well as meet the reflexes and reactions that arise when you do that: ‘What’s the point of pausing?’ ‘Not now’ ‘ I have to get on.’ Pretty convincing, aren’t they?

Meeting and investigating this urge to get on (bhava tanhā) is what meditation training is about. 

Take mindfulness of breathing: the practice is to follow the exhalation into the pause phase where the abdominal muscles come to rest, as if there is no next inhalation. Then let the inhalation gather, fulfil itself and also come to rest with the upper chest and throat lightly expanded. The pause phase is the crucial bit: it’s when the will lets go. That brings a relaxation at the end of the out-breath, and a bright opening at the end of the inhalation. As you tune into that pause, and trust letting go of the next moment, or of what to do, or even who you are – there is a growing sense of release.

Ajahn Sucitto