I follow four principles:
Face it,
Accept it,
Deal with it,
Then let it go.
Sheng Yen, 1930 – 2009, Chinese Buddhist monk
Category: Be fully present
Sunday Quote: What we learn..
One learns only one thing,
how to rejoice in life.
Osho
Paying attention
Friday…a little more space appears…we can perhaps notice the beauty all around us, in the little things, new colours, some time for ourselves:
I do not think there is anyone who takes quite such a fierce pleasure in things being themselves as I do.
The startling wetness of water excites and intoxicates me; the fieriness of fire, the steeliness of steel,
the unutterable muddiness of mud…
GK Chesterton
Making the most of life
Mindful eating at its best, the poet fully taken by the eating of a peach. It can be the same for us today if we give any moment our full awareness:
O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.
There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.
extract, Li-Young Lee, From Blossoms
South Korean Screen painting of the Sun, Moon and Peach Trees
One step at a time
Ideals exist in the mind, with absolutes of right and wrong, which tend to give us a sense of striving, of not being good enough On the contrary, once we touch into the heart faculty, we connect more with the actual here and now and let go of the need to be prefect and certain. This brings about a deeper sense of balance and groundedness:
Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how.
The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.
Agnes George de Mille, American dancer and Choreographer.
Our limited words
All of the wisdom traditions speak of the limitations of the interpretations or labels which we use to guide us through the day, or even through life. We form judgements about events and get strongly attached to those views, when we actually have no way of really knowing how things will turn out in the long run. Oftentimes, all we succeed in doing is raising our own anxiety. What we seek is that in each moment we have a direct experience of our life. The deepest realities about life, love and beauty cannot be put into words.
The true seeing is when there is no seeing
Heze Shenshsui, Chinese Zen monk, 684 – 758
The disciples were absorbed in a discussion of Lao Tzu’s words ” Those who know do not say. Those who say do not know” When the Master entered they asked him what the words meant. The Master answered “Which of you knows the fragrance of a rose”. All of them knew.
Then he said “Put it into words” All of them were silent.
Anthony de Mello, One Minute Wisdom
photo mike plante
Mindfulbalance 