No one escapes the wilderness on the way to the promised land.
Annie Dillard
photo peter dowley
Endings are also beginnings
Become totally empty. Let your heart be at peace.
Amidst the rush of things coming and going,
observe how endings become beginnings.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
To see beginnings and endings is a great support in difficult times. Early on, as I began to trust in the fiber of my being that nothing lasts, I became less afraid of pain. The fact that everything has an end comforted me. “One way or another,” I would say to myself, “this too will pass.” I was glad I saw that…the end of the day is the beginning of the night, and that a dead rose becomes compost for new growth….When I recognize the pain I feel as the legitimate result of loss, I am respectful of its presence and kind to myself. My mind always relaxes when it is kind, and around the edges of the truth of whatever has ended, I see displays of what might be beginning.
Sylvia Boorstein
photo dominicus johannes bergsma
When we feel fear
If you find yourself doubting or hesitating today…
The next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. When I was first married, my husband said I was one of the bravest people he knew. When I asked him why, he said because I was a complete coward but went ahead and did things anyhow.
Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart
photo dwight sipler
Stop pushing
In one of his insightful talks Zen master Shunryu Suzuki said that in your practice you should walk like an elephant. “If you can walk slowly, without any idea of gain, then you are already a good Zen student.” There’s a mantra for your religion: Walk like an elephant. It means to move at a comfortable pace. No rushing toward a goal. No push to make it all meaningful.
Thomas Moore, A Religion of One’s Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World
photo charlesjsharp
with thanks to the always inspiring and nourishing blog https://davidkanigan.com/
Start again: A gentle way in a harsh world
Be patient with everyone, but above all, with yourself.
I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.
I am glad you make a fresh beginning daily.
There is no better means of attainment to the spiritual life than by continually beginning again…
How are we to be patient in dealing with our neighbor’s faults if we are impatient in dealing with our own.
All profitable correction comes from a calm and peaceful mind.
from the ever gentle Saint Francis de Sales,
photo LinSu Hill
Trust
Sometimes it is hard to see what what is really going on in our lives or where they are leading to. Underneath, something is happening. We just have to be patient for it to emerge.
If you break open the cherry tree
Where are the flowers?
But in the Springtime
see how they bloom!
Ikkyu, 1394 – 1481 Japanese Zen monk and poet
