Poet Rainer Maria Rilke was secretary to the sculptor Auguste Rodin when he temporarily lost the ability to write. To Rodin, this meant that Rilke had stopped seeing.
He suggested that the poet go to the Paris Zoo every day and look at one animal until he “saw” it.
Seventy-two poems later, all about a panther, Rilke could say, as he later said of the painter Paul Cezanne , “Suddenly one has the right eyes“
Phil Cousineau, The Art of Pilgrimage
One of the foundational “truths” of Buddhism is that there is an unsatisfactory nature to our existence, which does not mean that we are getting it wrong.
“Dukkha” arises from the brain’s tendency to crave what it doesn’t have, resist what it doesn’t like, and cling to what’s fleeting
– leading to a background hum of stress.
Rich Hanson, Buddhas Brain
People often ask, ‘How do I attain enlightenment?’ But these questions themselves are the problem. You are already complete – nothing is lacking. The moment you seek something outside yourself, you move away from the truth. Zen is not about acquiring knowledge or achieving some special state. It is about realizing what has always been here, before thought arises.
When you sit in zazen, just sit. Do not try to become a Buddha – Buddha is already sitting. Do not try to stop thoughts – just let them come and go like clouds in the sky. The more you chase after enlightenment, the farther it runs away. But when you give up all seeking, even the desire for enlightenment, then – without expecting it – you may suddenly see. Let go of everything, even the idea of ‘letting go.’ Then, for the first time, you are truly free.
Yamada Ryōun Roshi, Japanese Rinzai Zen master
Home is not just the place where you happen to be born.
It’s the place where you become yourself.
For some of us, that means refusing to be just one self, or belonging to just one place.
Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness
The sailor who does not adjust to the wind conditions will have a difficult time.
One ship drives east and another drives west by the same winds that blow.
Its the set of the sails
and not the gales that determines the way they go.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 1850 – 1919, American author and poet.
It’s not the road ahead that wears you out –
it’s the grain of sand in your shoe.
Old Arabian Proverb
Mindfulbalance 