Lastly, I wish to say to the people of good will, to the workers, to the poets: The whole future has been expressed in this line by Rimbaud: “Only with a burning patience can we conquer the splendid City which will give light, justice and dignity to all mankind“
Pablo Neruda, 1904 – 1973, Chilean poet
People take different roads seeking fulfilment and happiness.
Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.
The Dalai Lama
When we seek happiness through accumulation, either outside of ourselves-from other people, relationships, or material goods-or from our own self-development, we are missing the essential point. In either case we are trying to find completion.
Completion comes, not from adding another piece to ourselves,
but from surrendering our ideas of perfection
Mark Epstein, Going to Pieces without Falling Apart: A Buddhist Perspective
If you know a view as a view, you can be free of that view.
If you know a thought as a thought, you can be free of that thought.
Norman Fischer, Beyond Language
The person who has gone beyond likes and dislikes, Sri Ramakrishna will say, is like an autumn leaf floating in the wind.
It floats gently here when the wind flows here, it goes there when the wind blows there, and slowly it settles to the ground.
Eknath Easwaran, The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living
Rinzai Gigen, the founder of the Rinzai school of Buddhism, said: “Be master wherever you go – then wherever you are, things are as they truly are.”
This means that no matter the circumstances, if you try your best to do what you’re capable of in the here and now, you will realize your potential protagonist, or who you’re meant to be. A protagonist is not misled by information run rampant, does not allow their focus to be drawn this way and that. Their gaze is fixed steadily in one direction. A protagonist stands firmly on the ground, carving a path of their resoluteness. You could even say they are leading their life with certainty.
We are all capable of becoming our own protagonists, anytime and anywhere. But first, we must focus our efforts. Concentrate on the here and now.
Why not begin there?
Shunmyo Masuno, Don’t Worry
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