Springing up and falling back

boat dunmore

Happiness is not to be found through great effort and willpower.

It is already present in open relaxation and letting go.  Don’t strain.

There’s nothing to do or to undo. Whatever momentarily arises in body–mind has no real import at all, has very little reality whatsoever.

Why identify with it and become attached to it, passing judgment on it and on yourself and others?

Far better simply to let the entire play just happen on its own,  springing up and falling back again like waves, without ‘rectifying’ things or manipulating things.

Just noticing how everything vanishes and then magically reappears, again and again and again. Time without end.

It’s only our searching for happiness that prevents us from seeing it.

Lama Gendun Rinpoche, Free and Easy

Touch

File:Espejo (3207185886).jpg

Being aware of subtle emotional qualities you may be embodying at various times of the day. Pay particular attention to your hands.  See if you don’t become more mindful by becoming more “bodyful.” Everything from opening a door to making love involves touch. It is possible to open a door so mindlessly that your hand doesn’t know what your body is doing and you hit yourself in the head with it. Imagine the challenge of touching another person without automaticity, with no gaining idea, just presence and caring.

Jon Kabat Zinn, Wherever you go, There you are

photo agustin ruiz

The secret

livenow

The present moment
contains past and future.
The secret of transformation,
is in the way we handle this very moment.

Thich Nhat Hahn, Understanding Our Mind

A sea of light

light-in-the-cave

The more a man enters the light of understanding, the more aware he is of his own ignorance. And when the light reveals itself fully and unites with him and draws him into itself, so that he finds himself alone in a sea of light, then he is emptied of all knowledge and immersed in absolute unknowing

Simeon the New Theologian, 949–1022

Simply being aware

en-pleine-meditation_620x465

When you meditate, do not try to have good thoughts, do not try to keep away bad thoughts,

do not try to stop thoughts, and do not try to go after them.

Rather, rest in a state of being aware of the thoughts as they arise.

Kalu Rinpoche

We never fully arrive

Three quotes on not knowing....

Jizo asked Hogen, “Where are you going?”

“I just wander aimlessly” replied Hogen.

“What is the nature of your wandering,” asked Jizo.

“I don’t know,” replied Hogen.

“Not knowing is the most intimate,” replied Jizo.

And at this Hogen experienced great enlightenment.

Zen Story

One Zen story states, “Not knowing is most intimate.” I understand this to mean that what is most essential is not understood through the filter of our judgments, past knowledge, or memories. When not-knowing helps these to drop away, the result can be a greater immediacy – what some might call being intimate. This practice of beginner’s mind is to cultivate an ability to meet life without preconceived ideas, interpretations, or judgments.

Gil Fronsdal