The shortest days of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Yesterday was very foggy here in Ireland. Darkness and light, shadows and haze. Metaphors for the different experiences we have to work with in our lives.
A certain darkness is needed to see the stars
Osho
Instead of blaming our discomfort on outer circumstances or on our own weakness, we can choose to stay present and awake to our experience, not rejecting it, not grasping it, not buying the stories that we relentlessly tell ourselves. This is priceless advice that addresses the true cause of suffering – yours, mine and that of all living beings.
Pema Chodron, Taking The Leap
The thing about reality is that there is no later, there’s no second moment when one is going to be enlightened, when one is going to understand non-being, where there’s no outside, no second moment – only infinite first moments arising as now. If you recognize this as the way the universe is, everything coming and going, not belonging to anyone, that’s the universe of not-self, a sense of space.
Katherine Thanas, The Truth of This Life
Applying attention to smaller emotions—or simply focusing on form, sound, or physical sensations—develops your capacity to look at long-term, overwhelming emotional states.
Once you begin to grow your “attentional muscles,” you can begin drawing attention to larger emotional issues. As you do so, you may find yourself directly confronting the underlying self-judgment and judgment of others as “enemies.” You may unravel the belief in being stuck, or the blind spot that inhibits your awareness of your potential. Almost certainly, you will confront the “myth of me,” the tendency to identify with your loneliness, low self-esteem, perfectionism, or isolation.
Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, The Aim of Attention
If we sit quietly, making no effort, life expresses itself clearly; it simply happens on its own.
There’s nothing else to get. The great truth is obvious.
The heart beats; the breath comes and goes.
Darryl Bailey, Awakening
The past is already past — don’t try to regain it.
The present does not stay, don’t try to touch it from moment to moment.
The future is not come, don’t think about it beforehand.
Layman Pang, 740 – 808, Chinese Chan layman.
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