I live by the truth that “No” is a complete sentence.
I rest as a spiritual act.
Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
Slowing down
Different weathers, different times
Colder weather, higher fuel and food costs and the presence of a cruel war…
Times of scarcity need to be met with generosity,
times of fear with comfort,
times of uncertainty with presence.
Thomas Hübl
Cold
The first real cold spell of winter expected over the next few days. We prefer life to be all sunshine, but…
Without the bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone,
how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?
Dogen, 1200 – 1253, Buddhist monk, founder of the Soto school of Zen.
Neither drifting nor clinging
The art of living is neither careless drifting on the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other,
It consists in being sensitive to each moment in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive
Alan Watts
Float
I saw the leaf leave the branch and float down to the soil, dancing joyfully,
because as it floated it saw itself already there in the tree.
It was so happy. I bowed my head,
and I knew that we have a lot to learn from the leaf
because it was not afraid;
it knew that nothing can be born and nothing can die.
Thich Nhat Hanh
letting go
Sometimes we try too hard, and then life has a way of revealing what we need
The early sun dissolves the mist
that has covered the mountain.
All night I have listened to the wise,
yet failed to learn.
Dimly, darkly, the eternal pines
rise without effort from the vanishing fog.
Xue Tao, c770–832, Chinese poet
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