Things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years.
Everyone hurries their life on
and suffers from a yearning for the future and a weariness of the present.
But the one who bestows all of their time on their own needs,
who plans out every day as if it were their last,
neither longs for, nor fears, the next day.
Seneca, De Brevitate Vitae [On the Shortness of Life] AD 49
We all have moments of agitation in our thoughts and feelings. We tend to identify with these as us. We are also always grasping after something that we think will finally complete us. The legendary Bodhidharma points here to a fluid way of working with the mind: See it, and the self, as a process, not a solid, unchanging entity.
Huike said to Bodhidharma, “My mind is always restless. Please give it some calm.”
To which Bodhidharma replied, “OK. Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it.”
Huike said, “Although I have tried to find it, I cannot hold it fast”
Bodhidharma then said, “See, there, I have just stilled your mind.”
Case 41 in the Gateless Gate, “Pacifying the Mind”.
Peaceful is the one who is not concerned with having more or less.
Unbound by name and fame
they are free from sorrow from the world
and mostly from themselves
Rumi
If you let yourself be blown to and fro
you lose touch with your roots.
If you let restlessness move you
you lose touch with who you are
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 25
Try to live simply.
A simple lifestyle, freely chosen,
is a source of strength
Quaker Faith and Practice: Advices and Queries, 41
The word for September in the Irish language is Meán Fómhair, which can be translated as “Mid harvest”
Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love?’ These are the real questions.
I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.
Henri Nouwen
Mindfulbalance 