Tag: balance

Actually living

Karl Duffy3 Comments

File:Autumn Berries (22337433066).jpg

If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall still be dimly aware of the present when the good things that I have been expecting come to pass. For I shall have formed a habit of looking behind and ahead, making it difficult for me to attend to the here and now. If, then, my awareness of the past and future makes me less aware of the present, I must begin to wonder whether I am actually living in the real world.

Alan Watts

photo Shenandoah national park

The Comparing Mind

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:The grass is always greener - geograph.org.uk - 783326.jpg

Our tendency to compare nearly always robs us of joy

and stops us living fully the life that we actually have.

What you do not have you find everywhere

W.S. Merwin, American Poet, born 1927, Provision

photo evelyn simak

When we feel fear

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Whos that disturbing my sleep? (3330675747).jpg

If you find yourself doubting or hesitating today…

The next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. When I was first married, my husband said I was one of the bravest people he knew. When I asked him why, he said because I was a complete coward but went ahead and did things anyhow.

Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart

photo dwight sipler

Stop pushing

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:African Elephant walking.JPG

In one of his insightful talks Zen master Shunryu Suzuki said that in your practice you should walk like an elephant. “If you can walk slowly, without any idea of gain, then you are already a good Zen student.” There’s a mantra for your religion: Walk like an elephant. It means to move at a comfortable pace. No rushing toward a goal. No push to make it all meaningful.

Thomas Moore, A Religion of One’s Own: A Guide to Creating a Personal Spirituality in a Secular World

photo charlesjsharp

with thanks to the always inspiring and nourishing blog https://davidkanigan.com/

Start again: A gentle way in a harsh world

Karl Duffy2 Comments

File:Mount Baldy Zen Center Meditation Path.jpg

Be patient with everyone, but above all, with yourself.

I mean, do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.

I am glad you make a fresh beginning daily.

There is no better means of attainment to the spiritual life than by continually beginning again…

How are we to be patient in dealing with our neighbor’s faults if we are impatient in dealing with our own.

All profitable correction comes from a calm and peaceful mind.

from the ever gentle Saint Francis de Sales,

photo LinSu Hill

Trust

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:Soft shades of autumn - geograph.org.uk - 1585929.jpg

Sometimes it is hard to see what what is really going on in our lives or where they are leading to. Underneath, something is happening. We just have to be patient for it to emerge.

If you break open the cherry tree

Where are the flowers?

But in the Springtime

see how they bloom!

Ikkyu, 1394 – 1481 Japanese Zen monk and poet