Complaining and reactivity are the favourite mind patterns through which the ego strengthens itself. For many people, a large part of their mental-emotional activity consists of complaining and reacting against this or that. By doing this, you make others or a situation “wrong” and yourself “right.” Through being “right,” you feel superior, and through feeling superior, you strengthen your sense of self. In reality, you are only strengthening the illusion of ego.
Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks
Having the capacity to be still
means stop interfering with what’s happening.
Adyashanti
Our daily efforts and failings. And all the while, there is beauty around us
I write, erase, rewrite,
Erase again, and then
A poppy blooms
Hokushi, 1603-1868, Japanese haiku poet.
Today I pass the time reading
a favorite haiku,
saying the few words over and over.
It feels like eating
the same small, perfect grape
again and again.
Billy Collins, PIcnic, Lightning [excerpt]
To be silent the whole day long, see no newspaper, hear no radio, listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and completely lazy, thoroughly and completely indifferent to the fate of the world is the finest medicine a man can give himself. The book-learning gradually dribbles away; problems melt and dissolve; ties are gently severed; the body becomes a new and wonderful instrument; you look at plants or stones or fish with different eyes.
Henry Millar, 1981 – 1980, The Colossus of Maroussi
The best meditation and, indeed, life instruction ….
The lillies!
The stems, just as they are,
the flowers, just as they are.
Matsuo Bashō, 1644 – 1694, Japanese poet, recognised as the greatest exponent of the haiku form.
Walking takes longer..than any other known form of locomotion, except crawling. Thus, it stretches time and prolongs life.
Life is already too short to waste on speed.
Edward Abbey, 1927 – 1989, American author, essayist and environmental advocate.
Mindfulbalance 