A man sees in the world
what he carries in his heart.
Goethe, Faust
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
photo zuliannyGM
Tag: Awareness
Already whole
You are whole and also part of larger and larger circles of wholeness
you many not even know about.
You are never alone.
And you already belong.
You belong to humanity. You belong to life.
You belong to this moment, this breath.
Jon Kabat-Zinn
photo g. dallorto
Wanting more
So, how can we achieve inner contentment? There are two methods. One method is to obtain everything that we want and desire – all the money, houses, and cars; the perfect mate; and the perfect body. The Dalai Lama has already pointed out the disadvantage of this approach; if our wants and desires remain unchecked, sooner or later we will run up against something that we want but can’t have. The second, and more reliable, method is not to have what we want but rather to want and appreciate what we have.
The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
photo of Black Friday 2013 by powhusku
Thanks in the middle of the world
Mostly I just stand in the dark field,
in the middle of the world, breathing
in and out. Life so far doesn’t have any other name
but breath and light, wind and rain.
If there’s a temple, I haven’t found it yet.
Mary Oliver, What is there Beyond Knowing
photo Andy Beecroft
In touch with a source within
One of the aims of meditation practice is to develop a mind that sees, and does not get hooked into events too easily. The “Ten Thousand things” in this quote is a shorthand way of talking about all the experiences – good and bad – which arise and pass away. It stands for all of reality, which contains the right mix of experiences for our growth, and with its ebbs and flows is continually rearranging itself.
When the ten thousand things are viewed in their oneness
we return to the origin
and remain where we have always been.
Sosan, Third Zen Patriarch, died 606
Inside not beyond
The most heartbreaking thing is not heartbreak; it’s avoiding heartbreak. Inside the transience of life is the thusness of everything, of the tree with forty crows on it in the winter, the sound of death-metal drums from the kids in the barn, and the feeling of sadness when you lose someone. A lot of suffering is resistance to the life of feeling. If you surrender, you are surrendering to what is really going on. This is just to notice that nothing beyond your life is more important than your life.
John Tarrant, Surprises on the Way
