The path of meditation and the path of our lives altogether has to do with curiosity, inquisitiveness. The ground is ourselves; we’re here to study ourselves and to get to know ourselves now, not later. One of the main discoveries of meditation is seeing how we continually run away from the present moment, how we avoid being here just as we are. That’s not considered to be a problem; the point is to see it.
Pema Chodron.
photo Vitold Muratov
Be gentle with yourself. Be kind to yourself. You may not be perfect, but you are all that you have to work with. The process of becoming who you will be, begins first with the total acceptance of who you are.
Bhante Henepola Gunaratana
What we are seeking is right here. But we persist in looking south to find the north star. Any kind of speculating is just the discursive mind doing its habitual thing – creating scenarios in the mind that block us from discovering what is right in front of us. This moment is not some narrow, tiny point but is actually everything. Right now includes memories of the past, fantasies about the future, judgements about the present, emotions and sensations of all kinds. As soon as we say, “I’m living in the present,” we’ve made a significant cognitive error, and created another barrier for ourselves. Meditation practice ….. brings us into the direct intimate experience of this moment. There’s no room for speculating. We feel fully alive. There’s no place to go, and yet, we are continually moving through space and time. The path is never blocked if we can realize that we are always on it, going in the only direction we can go. We’re always heading for here, here, here, here.
Melissa Blacker, Trail Temporarily Closed
One of the functions of mindfulness is to give us options. We can see our reactions building early, and not just after we have already pressed “send” on that nasty, hostile email or closed a door we actually hope could remain open. We see what is happening within, without panic or getting lost in the reaction. We know we can follow it out or let it go. And because mindfulness helps us be in touch with a big range of feelings, thoughts, and reactions, we know from experience that we can take a strong, principled stand on something while not demonizing someone else for their views or even their actions. We learn that we can be fierce without hating.
Sharon Salzberg
Mindfulness meditation is a wonderful tool for making each day, each moment of our life count. Paradoxically this is achieved by not doing more, but by doing less. We may feel that we need to do the things have to be done faster so that we have time for doing more things. Mindfulness practice goes the other way. I may need to go to the store to get a carton of milk. The way to make the experience more satisfying is not doing it as fast as possible while thinking of other things, but to enjoy the walk to the store by paying attention. This way, we make every moment count. We are not sacrificing the means for the goal., Otherwise, our day becomes a series of dry chores. When night comes we may feel that we haven’t lived.
Joseph Emet, Buddha’s Book of Sleep
Genuine faith is born of the ability to trust in what is most fundamentally true within ourselves. Circumstance will change, and all manner of things pleasant and unpleasant will arise and fall away; sometimes our lives will be touched with joy, and at other times we will be given tremendous pain and sorrow. Many times we will be afraid. But the object of faith is not to eliminate difficult circumstances, nor is faith about trusting in a God who will rescue us from hurt or who – if only believe strongly enough – will make everything better. The real question of faith is when pain and loss inevitably come our way, do we withdraw in fear that we will be destroyed, or do we deepen our trust in our innate capacity to endure them?
Wayne Muller
