Wanting more

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So, how can we achieve inner contentment? There are two methods. One method is to obtain everything that we want and desire – all the money, houses, and cars; the perfect mate; and the perfect body. The Dalai Lama has already pointed out the disadvantage of this approach; if our wants and desires remain unchecked, sooner or later we will run up against something that we want but can’t have. The second, and more reliable, method is not to have what we want but rather to want and appreciate what we have.

        The Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living

photo of Black Friday 2013 by powhusku

Always pushing or pulling

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If you wish to see the truth

then hold no opinions for or against anything.

Comparing what you like against what you dislike

is the disease of the mind.

Seng-T’san, Third Zen Patriarch, The Hsin Hsin Ming

photo ketterechts 

A way to see each moment

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Continuing to post some quotes from Thich Nhat Hanh who is very ill in hospital as  a reminder to keep him in your thoughts

Do not just look for what you want to see,
that would be futile.
Do not look for anything,
but allow the insight to have a chance to come by itself.
That insight will help liberate you

Thich Nhat Hanh

photo: passiondutrain

Enemies

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We encounter a lot of “enemies” each day – queues, bad weather, deadlines, meetings that don’t go according to plan, traffic slowing us down when we are in a hurry, people who disagree with us, events we do not like. We instinctively try to avoid,  grumble about them and turn them into enemies, with us quickly feeling like victims.  This quote reminds us that a lot  of our dissatisfaction is self-created, a lot of stress caused by our own minds.

When an enemy arises in your life, even though you may kill it,

another will simply arise,

because all arisings are simply a manifestation of your own state of consciousness

Kalu Rinpoche

photo crepoastoram

Thanks in the middle of the world

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Mostly I just stand in the dark field,

in the middle of the world, breathing

in and out. Life so far doesn’t have any other name

but breath and light, wind and rain.

If there’s a temple, I haven’t found it yet.

Mary Oliver, What is there Beyond Knowing

photo Andy Beecroft

Accepting each moment

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All things, the grass as well as the trees,
are tender and soft while alive
When dead, they are withered and dried.

Therefore the stiff and the rigid are companions of death
The gentle and the kind are the companions of life

Lao Tzu

photo Francisco Javier Epinoza Pérez