From dawn to dusk, compete and yet not

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Light filters through tinted windows over a set of stairs at United Evangelical Lutheran Church on Sunday, March 25, 2012, in Swiss Alp , Texas. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff / © 2012 Houston ChronicleAs the house of a person
in age sometimes grows cluttered
with what is too loved or too heavy to part with,
the heart may grow cluttered.
And still the house will be emptied,
and still the heart.

As the thoughts of a person
in age sometimes grow sparer,
like a great cleanness come into a room,
the soul may grow sparer;
one sparrow song carves it completely.
And still the room is full,
and still the heart.

Empty and filled,
like the curling half-light of morning,
in which everything is still possible and so why not.

Filled and empty,
like the curling half-light of evening,
in which everything now is finished and so why not.

Jane Hirshfield, (extract), Standing Deer

Importance in the ordinary

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The ordinary arts we practice every day at home

are of more importance to the soul

than their simplicity might suggest

Thomas Moore

How we give up fixed positions and get peace

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Through examining and contemplating perceptions, we begin to see the relative truths of the angles or biases that we have, the blaming, self-blaming or justifying, or ignoring. Perceptions don’t give you an ultimate reality; they give you a subjective readout of where you’re coming from. Widening the perceptual field means the mind becomes more peaceful, less defensive and less obsessive….You realize everything and anything that is held onto can’t be an ultimate truth, it’s just a naming, based upon a position. Through insight into perception, the mind has given up on “naming” and has realized peace.

Ajahn Sucitto, Working with Perception

How to work with negative thoughts today

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One of the biggest problems with thoughts is that we tend to believe everything they say: “If I am thinking it, it must be true.”I have learned that the best way to deal with excessive thinking is to just listen to it, to listen to the mind. Listening is much more effective than trying to stop thought or cut it off. When we listen there is a different mode employed in the heart. Instead of trying to cut it off, we receive thought without making anything out of it. When we look at thought in this way we aren’t being pulled into it. We can just look at it. We don’t reject it or suppress it, but we don’t buy into it either. We don’t make more out of it than is there. That attitude of listening, of opening to and receiving thought, has a liberating quality in-and-of itself.

Ajahn Amaro, Thinking

Moving fluidly through our experiences

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Awareness is able to hold everything that passes through the mind – thoughts, emotions, sensations – in its kind,  non-judging space. It holds things lightly, without becoming identified with them. This “flowing” quality of awareness allows us move with the arising and falling away of conditions, without becoming fixed in any of their forms.

A person  fundamentally does not dwell anywhere. The white clouds are fascinated with the green mountain’s foundation. The bright moon cherishes being carried along with the flowing water. The clouds part and the mountains appear. The moon sets and the water is cool. Each bit of autumn contains vast interpenetration without bounds.

Hongzhi, 12th Century Zen writer

A practice for seeing difficulties differently today

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1. Consider that in order to build character the practice of patience is essential.

2. See that the best way to practice patience requires an enemy.

3. Understand that in this way enemies are very valuable for the opportunities they provide.

4. Decide that instead of getting angry with those who block your wishes, you will inwardly  respond with gratitude.

By seeing things this way you will change your attitude toward adversity. This is very difficult but very rewarding. For only when faced with the work of adversity can we discover real inner strength.

The Dalai Lama, How to be Compassionate, A Handbook for Creating Inner Peace and a Happier World