Simply letting life appear

Karl Duffy3 Comments
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We need to frame our practice in such a way that we do not get lost in dualisms of right or wrong, progress or the lack of it. I have found that a good way of maintaining this perspective is to liken sitting to looking in a mirror. When you sit down on your cushion, the state of your mind and body automatically appears to you, the way your face instantly appears in a mirror. The mirror does all the work. You can’t do it right or wrong. Approach your sitting in the same way. You can’t do it wrong. It’s not a technique to master or something you can fail at. It’s just being yourself, being your experience of this moment, over and over.
Barry Magid, Practice: You cant do it wrong

Rushing

Karl Duffy3 Comments

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As we go through our daily activities, we frequently get lost in thoughts of past and future, not staying grounded in the awareness of our bodies. For simple, useful feedback when we’re lost in thought, we can use the very common feeling of rushing. Rushing is a feeling of toppling forward. Our minds run ahead of us, focusing on where we want to go, instead of settling into our bodies where we are.

Learn to pay attention to this feeling of rushing — which does not particularly have to do with how fast we are going. We can feel rushed while moving slowly, and we can be moving quickly and still be settled in our bodies. The feeling of rushing simply reminds us that we’re not present. If you can, notice what thought or emotion has captured the attention. Then, just for a moment, stop and settle back into the body: feel the foot on the ground, feel the next step.

Joseph Goldstein, A Heart Full of Peace

photo blkutter

Stilling the mind

Karl Duffy2 Comments

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The mind quiets down because we observe it

rather than getting lost in it

Charlotte Joko Beck

photo hila axelrod

Not getting stuck in passing thoughts

Karl Duffy6 Comments

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One should learn from nature by observing the fact that flowing water never stagnates

and a busy door with active hinges never rusts

Sun Ssu–mo

photo dhowes9

 

 

Not in the ideas

Karl Duffy3 Comments

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One may explain water,

But the mouth will not get wet

Takuan Sōhō, 1573 – 1645 Zen Buddhist from the Rinzai school

Direct contact

Karl Duffy1 Comment

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Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust the momentum, the force that’s moving you forward – physically.

Distrust words and thoughts. For they are still, but they convey upon you the illusion that their moving.

Life happens when you’re moving, not when you’re thinking.

Alfred Adler

photo yaros

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