The dream of my life
is to lie down by a slow river
and stare at the light in the trees –
To learn something by being nothing
a little while but the rich
lens of attention
Mary Oliver, Entering the Kingdom
Category: Be fully present
“If only” this would change …
People [have always] faced the same kinds of issues we face now, but with different window dressing. In the time of the Buddha, men and women were arguing, gossiping, judging others, losing their perspective, overreacting, sexualizing their experiences, chasing after greener pastures, obsessing about non-essentials, feeling lonely and creating too many pipe dreams….. Nothing has fundamentally altered.
How many of us are still convinced, mature as we may be, that if our partner would only change, or if we could meet the perfect person, everything would be fine? These are the dysfunctional myths and illusions that drive our lives in very dissatisfying directions. How many people remember the song from the musical Fiddler on the Roof – “If I were a Rich Man…”
What is your “big if”? The big “if” that leads you away from wisdom and reality?
Lama Surya Das, Awakening the Buddha within
This is the way it is
Advice from two great teachers from the Thai tradition, where I find myself mainly at home.
Ajahn Sumedho has had a huge influence on the development of meditation practice in the West. Here he refers to an observation made by one of the great figures in Thai Theravada Buddhist practice, summarizing neatly the whole of mindfulness practice. Its an observation which is one of my favourites and points us towards the right attitude.
That being said, it’s not so easy to work with when circumstances are challenging, or, you know, those evenings when the heart just feels a bit lost.
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu said, “If there was to be a useful inscription to put on a medallion around your neck it would be ‘This is the way it is’.”
This reflection helps us to contemplate: wherever we happen to be, whatever time and place, good or bad, ‘This is the way it is.’
It is a way of bringing an acceptance into our minds,
a noting rather than a reaction.
Ajahn Sumedho, The Way it is
Sunday quote: Not resisting
Surrender comes when you no longer ask,
“Why is this happening to me?
Eckhart Tolle
photo enrique eliud
Not worth getting excited over
A lot of what we hold on to as important- even just a week or two ago – turns out to be, like everything else, impermanent, arising and passing away according to conditions.
I have already lost touch with a couple of people I used to be
Joan Didion, On Keeping a Notebook
photo albert bridge
Each moment
Most of us wonder from time to time how to give meaning to some days:
A Lord asked Takuan how he might pass the time, as his days were long in the office,
sitting stiffly to receive the homage of others.
Takuan wrote these 8 Chinese characters and gave them to him:
“Not twice this day
Inch time foot gem
This day will not come again
Each minute is worth a priceless gem”
Takuan Sōhō 1573 – 1645, Japanese Zen Buddhist Master
photo Lorenz Kerscher
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