Author: Karl Duffy

This is a Mindfulness Practice Blog written in Laois, Ireland, containing reflections on meditation practice, psychological growth, spirituality and wellness which hopefully may encourage and benefit others as they reflect on their lives and seek to develop a more balanced, mindful and conscious approach to it.

Trust

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When we cannot see the whole picture, or do not understand what is unfolding,  acceptance and trust are the best ways to proceed. Keeping the heart open and not closing down allows for growth and insight. We like to think that success in life depends on it unfolding in a clear way, when in reality, the capacity to live with what we don’t know is of greater importance. Can we live with a question without immediately trying to find the answer?

Seeing into darkness is clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your own light
and return to the source of light.
This is called practicing eternity.

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 52

photo : ceridwen

Sunday Quote: The circumstances we have

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The latest update from hospital on Thich Nhat Hahn is that he is making “extraordinary progress” .  So here, at the start of a new month,  is a small reminder of the message which he always returns to:

The present moment is filled with joy and happiness.

If you are attentive,  you will see it

Thich Nhat Hahn

photo john tann

Not always running

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There was a man who was so disturbed by the sight of his own shadow and so displeased with his own footsteps that he determined to get rid of both. The method he hit upon was to run away from them. So he got up and ran. But every time he put his foot down there was another step, which his shadow kept up with him without the slightest difficulty.

He attributed his failure to the fact that he was not running fast enough. So he ran faster and faster, without stopping, until he finally dropped dead.

He failed to realize that if he merely stepped into the shade, his shadow would vanish, and if he sat down and stayed still, there would be no more footsteps.

Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu

 

As they are

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The beginning of love is the will to let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them.

Thomas Merton, No Man is an Island

photo paul stocker

Our actions

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Not what you are, but what you do is the self.

The self appears in your deeds,

and deeds always mean relationships.

Jung, Seminar on Nietzsche’s Zarathustra

photo tsayrate

Just doing our best

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When we do the best that we can,

we never know what miracle is wrought in our life,

or in the life of another.

Helen Keller

photo alex proimos