Yesterday’s clarity is today’s stupidity
The universe has dark and light,
Entrust oneself to change.
Ikkyu, 1394 -1481, Japanese Zen Buddhist priest
Tag: balance
Knowing in a new way
Wisdom is not the gathering of more facts and information, as if that would eventually coalesce into truth.
Wisdom is precisely a different way of seeing and knowing the “ten thousand things” in a new way.
I suggest that wisdom is precisely the freedom to be truly present to what is right in front of you. Presence is wisdom! People who are fully present know how to see fully, rightly, and truthfully. Presence is the one thing necessary for wisdom, and in many ways, it is the hardest thing of all. Just try to keep 1) your heart space open, 2) your mind without division or resistance, and 3) your body not somewhere else — and all at the same time!
Most religions just decided it was easier to believe doctrines and obey often-arbitrary laws than the truly converting work of being present. Those who can be present will know what they need to know, and in a wisdom way.
Richard Rohr, The Naked Now, Learning to See as the Mystics See
The tone and quality of your life
When you take the time to draw on your listening-imagination, you will begin to hear this gentle voice at the heart of your life. It is deeper and surer than all the other voices of disappointment, unease, self-criticism and bleakness. All holiness is about learning to hear the voice of your own soul. To enter into the gentleness of your own soul changes the tone and quality of your life. Your life is no longer consumed by hunger for the next event, experience or achievement. You learn to come down from the treadmill and walk on the earth. You no longer squander yourself on things and situations that deplete your essence. You know now that your true source is not outside you. Your soul is your true source and a new energy and passion awakens in you.
John O’Donoghue, Divine Beauty: The Invisible Embrace
Holding life lightly
One should say before sleeping,
“I have lived many lives. I have been a slave and a prince. Many a beloved had sat upon my knees and I have sat upon the knees of many a beloved.
Everything that has been shall be again.”
W.B. Yeats
How we learn
We learn, grow and become compassionate and generous
as much through exile as homecoming,
as much through loss as gain,
as much through giving things away as in receiving what we believe to be our due.
David Whyte
Sunday Quote: Underneath the chatter
The simplest sentences contain the most challenging teachings…
Activate the mind without dwelling on anything
The Diamond Sutra
