Category: Be fully present

Who Knows?

Karl Duffy2 Comments

File:Dark Days Are Coming.jpg

We don’t know a lot. We don’t know much more than we know.

And it’s a relief to let go of our attachment to views, our attachment to opinions, especially about things we don’t know.

A new mantra began to form in my mind: “Who knows?”

This not-knowing is not a quality of bewilderment; it’s not a quality of confusion. It actually is like a breath of fresh air, an openness of mind.

Not knowing is simply holding an open mind regarding these very interesting questions to which we might not yet have answers.

Joseph Goldstein

photo Taro Taylor

Monday morning miracles

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fungi

The Lord has spread the delicate net of his presence across the world.
See how He gets under your skin, inside your bones.
If you can’t see Him while you’re alive,
don’t expect a special vision once you’re dead.

Lal Ded (Mother Lalla),  1320 – 1392, Kashmiri Hindu poet and mystic

Sunday Quote: Doorways

Karl Duffy1 Comment

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When experience is viewed in a certain way,

it presents nothing but doorways into the soul.

Jon Kabat Zinn

photo Bjoertvedt

Simply…one step at a time

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Steps theatral area Phaistos.jpg 

As we go through our daily activities, we frequently get lost in thoughts of past and future, not staying grounded in the awareness of our bodies. A simple reminder that we’re lost in thought is the very common feeling of rushing. Rushing is a feeling of toppling forward. Our minds run ahead of us, focusing on where we want to go, instead of settling into our bodies where we are.

Learn to pay attention to this feeling of rushing  — which does not particularly have to do with how fast we are going. We can feel rushed while moving slowly, and we can be moving quickly and still be settled in our bodies. Either way, we’re likely not present. If you can, notice what thought or emotion has captured the attention. Then, just for a moment, stop and settle back into the body: feel the foot on the ground, feel the next step.

Joseph Goldstein,  A Heart Full of Peace

A new month: possibilities

Karl Duffy1 Comment

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When the shadow cast
by my past
meets the shadow
cast by my future,
I become the door
that opens both ways,
I become the conch shell
at the water’s edge:
one ocean outside me,
the other within.

Gregory Orr, American Poet, born 1947,  Some Notes on Shadows

Where to stay anchored

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File:Boats tied up on Lake McDonald (4457743509).jpg

The past is a memory,

the future is uncertain,

now is the knowing.

Ajahn Sumedho

photo glacierNPS