All wisdom traditions, religious and secular, speak of the ability to maintain a still place within, no matter how busy we are. The word mindfulness traces its origin to the pali word “to remember”
The true saint goes in and out amongst the people
and eats and sleeps with them
and buys and sells in the market
and marries and takes part in social intercourse,
and never forgets God for a single moment.
Abu Sa’id ibn Abi l-Tkayr, Sufi Poet, 967 – 1049
Feeling real is more than existing; it is finding a way to exist as oneself
… and to have a self into which to retreat for relaxation.
Donald Winnicott, English paediatrician and psychoanalyst
In the East the moon is a symbol of Enlightenment, in the West of the Unconscious. Times of difficulty can be times of growth
Although the wind
blows terribly here,
the moonlight also leaks
between the roof planks
of this ruined house.
Izumi Shikibu, Japanese poet, 974-1034, one of the thirty-six female immortals of poetry.
A stormy morning here with high winds predicted for the day. Turbulent news reports also these days, full of dire predictions and evidence that we live in an age of division and suspicion.
Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands and climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen, the terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.
Hafiz, from The Gift: Poems by Hafiz by Daniel Ladinsky.
A Japanese Zen story about responding to whatever happens in the present moment with acceptance, or about observing troubling emotions with kindness. Like all of these stories it functions on a symbolic level, challenging us to open up to new ways of living when faced with surprises and disruptive situations:
The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbours in the village as one who lived a pure life. Then a beautiful girl in the village became pregnant. Her angry parents demanded to know who was the father. At first resistant to confess, the anxious girl finally pointed to Hakuin, whom everyone revered for his pure life. When the outraged parents confronted Hakuin with their daughter’s accusation, he simply replied “Is that so”
When the child was born, the parents brought it to the Hakuin, who now was viewed as a outcast by the whole village. They demanded that he take care of the child. It was now his responsibility. He said simply “I see” and calmly accepted the child.
For many months he took very good care of the child until the girl could no longer withstand the lie she had told. She confessed that the real father was a young man in the village whom she had tried to protect. The parents immediately went to Hakuin to see if he would return the baby. With profuse apologies they explained what had happened. “Is that so” Hakuin said as he handed them the child.
Hakuin Ekaku, 1686 – 1769, was one of the most influential figures in the history of Zen.
The Japanese, Sōdesu ka, translated normally as “Is that so” can also be rendered as “I see”
Still in China. This time an even earlier thinker. We could save ourselves a lot of hassle if we truly lived this:
We cling to our own point of view, as if everything depended on it.
Yet our views have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
Chuang Tzu, Chinese Philosopher, 4th century
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