The five instructions given to Machig Labdron in the 12th century by her teacher Padampa Sangye
Confess your hidden faults.
Approach what you find distasteful.
Help those you do not want to help.
Anything you are attached to, let go of.
Go to the places that scare you.
The start of November is the start of Winter in the old Celtic calendar, and even if we follow a more universal way of marking time, there is no denying the shortening of the days and increasing darkness. One can see why one of the themes associated with this time of year is letting go. Is is also easy to understand why today became All Souls Day, the traditional day for remembering those who have died. It is still celebrated as an important day in the Latin countries, such as Italy, where cemeteries are covered in flowers as families take time to visit and remember. Sadness on a day like today is related to love, when we cannot be with someone who is dear to us. Learning how to live life fully and gratefully in each moment and yet still hold things lightly is one of the hardest and yet most important inner practices in our every day and in our lives.
All I know from my own experience is that the more loss we feel the more grateful we should be for whatever it was we had to lose. It means that we had something worth grieving for. The ones I’m sorry for are the ones that go through life not knowing what grief is.
Frank O’Connor, 1903 – 1966, Irish writer of short stories
photo dudva
Imitate the trees.
Learn to lose in order to recover,
and remember that nothing stays the same for long,
not even pain.
May Sarton
The next time you lose heart and you can’t bear to experience what you’re feeling, you might recall this instruction: change the way you see it and lean in. 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 beings.
Pema Chodron, Taking the Leap
photo maureen
Buddhadasa Bhikkhu said, “If there was to be a useful inscription to put on a medallion around your neck it would be This is the way it is’.” This reflection helps us to contemplate: wherever we happen to be, whatever time and place, good or bad, ‘This is the way it is.’ It is a way of bringing an acceptance into our minds, a noting rather than a reaction.
Ajahn Sumedho, The Way it is
photo : sharada prasad
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