Each Moment
life as it is
the only teacher.
Zen Center of San Diego, Practice Principles
photo tobosha
Learning to be open
I sit before flowers
hoping they will train me in the art
of opening up
Shane Koyczan, 22 May 1976, Canadian poet and writer
photo katrina wiese
Sunday Quote: Quiet
A quote for the beginning of the most important week in the Christian calendar:
The quieter you become
The more you can hear
Ram Dass
photo USFWS Mountain Prairie
Being kind to ourselves – even the difficult bits
Face the shadow side of yourself, but do not identify with it. It represents only part of who you are. So there is a difference between relating to the denied parts of yourself (bringing light to them), and totally “acting them out” (which is to leave them in their unconscious and dark state). This is why it is so foundational to know yourself, and to learn to be honest about your real motivations.
The hero in us wants to attack, fix, or deny the existence of our dark side. We can also be tempted to share dramatically everything about it as a way to control it (sometimes called ventilating or dumping). The saint merely weeps over the shadow and forgives it — and by God’s grace forgives himself for being a mere human. He opens his arms to that which has been in exile and welcomes it home for the friend that it often is.
Richard Rohr, On the Threshold of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men
Never enough
One of the more persistent forms of suffering, the sense that we have to do more, have more:
One of the deepest habitual patterns that we have
is to feel that now is not enough.
Pema Chodron
Stopping negative thoughts
Keep your heart clear and spacious
and you will never be hooked.
A single disturbed thought
causes ten thousand distractions
Ryokan, Zen Buddhist monk, 1758 – 1831
photo Adityamadhav83
Mindfulbalance 