We need to return to the solitude within, to find again the dream that lies at the hearth of the soul. We need to feel the dream with the wonder of a child approaching a threshold of discovery. The false burdens fall away. We come into rhythm with ourselves. If you live the life you love, you will receive shelter and blessings. The divine has such passionate creativity and instinct for the fully inhabited life.
John O’Donoghue
We have been given bad advice about the ego.
We know we need it
but we think we are it.
Mark Epstein, Advice not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
When someone says or does something that I find either obnoxious or unattractive – anything that my ego uses to separate myself from others – I’ll just soften my eyes and fall back into that “something else.” That something else is what does the transforming – it is the grace that makes it work. My only effort is to be aware enough to realize what’s happening. The moment of realizing is actually, in itself, a form of healing. The moment I see that and am willing to fall back into grace, then there’s a possibility for something different to happen within myself. Instead of judging an experience – which makes more separation- I can fall back into letting the universe handle it. This is a gift that’s quite freeing.
Kathleen Dowling Singh, The Grace in Living: Recognize It, Trust It, Abide in It
There are some things that we simply must wait in silence to receive.
We live our questions and wait for the knowing to happen.
Like the tree, we wait for the sap to rise.
Sue Monk Kidd, When The Heart Waits
There are so many things that hold us back from our dreams
Freedom is not given to us by anyone; we have to cultivate it ourselves. It is a daily practice.
By freedom I mean freedom from afflictions, from anger, and from despair.
Thich Nhat Hanh, Be Free Where You Are
Just listen to whatever surrounds you. Sound is a good object of meditation because we generally do not try to control it as much as we do other things. People often have a more difficult time settling into their bodies than they do paying attention to the sounds that appear naturally. Just listen and try to let whatever sounds are around you pass through you.
The fundamental purpose of meditation is not to create a comfortable hiding place for oneself; it is to acquaint the mind, one a moment-to-moment basis, with impermanence….When the mind is settled, the underlying ephemeral nature of things can be more clearly perceived. Resistance diminishes, the flight to past and future recedes, and the sense that it might be possible to respond consciously rather than react blindly to events begins to emerge.
Mark Epstein, Advice not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
