Coming, going,
the waterbirds
don’t leave a trace,
don’t follow a path.
Dōgen Zenji, 1200 – 1253, Japanese Buddhist writer, founder of the Sōtō school of Zen, On Non-Dependence of Mind
Hold it lightly
Expect the circus
The glorious, colorful life comes to those who expect it, dream it. Remember how grand life was when the circus or the fair was imminent? Colors changed. More dramatic than the change of seasons was the change of attitudes.
So expect the circus, always.
Be the circus.
Tennessee Williams
Sunday Quote: Consider this
Think of the wren
and how little flesh is needed to make a song
Galway Kinnell, Why Regret?
Free of care
It is blossom season in Japan and in gardens here. They are often used as a metaphor for human existence – beautiful but short lived – a reminder that life needs to be celebrated yet always contains an element of impermanence.
You ask me why I dwell in these green mountains;
I smile and am silent, for my heart is free of care.
As the peach-blossom flows down the stream and goes into the unknown,
I live in a world apart that is not of men.
Li Po, 701-762, Green Mountain
Gladden the heart
The beginning of the season of Ramadam
What actions are most excellent?
To gladden the heart of a human being, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the wrongs of the injured.
That person is the most beloved, who does most good to God’s creatures
From the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in the Sahih al-Bukhari
No path
Some thoughts as we end one month and start another….
Gawain, Arthur’s nephew, stood up and said, “I propose a vow to this company, that we should all go in quest of that Grail to behold it unveiled.” Now we come to the part that interested me. The text reads,
“They thought it would be a disgrace to go forth in a group.
Each entered the Forest Adventurous at that point which he himself had chosen, where it was darkest and there was no way or path.”
You enter the forest at the darkest point, where there is no path. Where there is a way or path, it is someone else’s path; each human being is a unique phenomenon.
The idea is to find your own way.
Joseph Campbell, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation
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