The mind never stops looking for identity and this identity always defines itself through attributes: “the beautiful one”, “the smart one”, “the creative one”, “the successful one”… We are always searching for something to be.
Dzigar Kongtrul, Light Comes Through
At the center of his existence man is unknown to himself and must remain so,
for that part of being that calls itself man could be known fully
only if the community of being and its drama in time were finally known as a whole.
Eric Voegelin, American political philosopher, 1901 – 1985
photo bert kaufman
Another way, which is our practice here, is slowly to open ourselves to the wonder of what life is, by meticulous attention to the anatomy of the present moment. Slowly, slowly, we become more sophisticated and knowledgeable…in this approach everything in our life becomes grist for the mill… as this anatomy becomes clear, freedom increases.
Charlotte Joko Beck
Everyone who lived at that time –
not being as wise as you young ones are today –
found it rewarding enough in their simplicity to listen to an oak or even a stone,
so long as it was telling the truth.
Plato, Phaedros
photo of County Wicklow by J H Janssen
As my prayer become more attentive and inward
I had less and less to say.
I finally became completely silent.
I started to listen
– which is even further removed from speaking.
I first thought that praying entailed speaking.
I then learnt that praying is hearing,
not merely being silent.
This is how it is.
To pray does not mean to listen to oneself speaking,
Prayer involves becoming silent,
And being silent,
And waiting until God is heard.
Søren Kierkegaard, 1813 – 1855, Danish Philosopher
photo miguel virkkunen calvalho
In a consumer society there are inevitably two kinds of slaves:
the prisoners of addiction and the prisoners of envy.
Ivan Illich, Tools for Conviviality
photo Karin Beate Nøsterud/norden.org
