Tag: balance

Windy weather

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:Djerba-close hauled-sky walker.jpg

It has been very windy the past few days,  here in Ireland and across the water in England causing coastal surges and flooding.  The wind blowing through is another commonly used metaphor for thoughts –  how to let them pass without believing their content – and for the stillness of a mind that can hold all things in awareness:

One windy day two monks were arguing about a flapping banner. The first said, “I say the banner is moving, not the wind.” The second said, “I say the wind is moving, not the banner.” A third monk passed by and said, “The wind is not moving. The banner is not moving. Your minds are moving.”

Raymond Kurzweil, The Singularity is Near

photo henning leweke

Passing by

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:Man looking out the window of a Portuguese train type 3400.jpg

The towns and the countryside that the traveler sees through a train window does not slow down the train, nor does the train affect them. Neither disturbs the other. This is how to should see the thoughts that pass through your mind when you meditate.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche

photo miguel pires da rosa

Your natural mind

Karl Duffy6 Comments

lake-2

If you don’t try to stop whatever is going on in your mind, but merely observe it, eventually you’ll begin to feel a tremendous sense of relaxation, a vast sense of openness within your mind – which is in fact your natural mind, the naturally unperturbed background against which various thoughts come and go.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

A New Years intention: Friendliness towards ourselves…

Karl Duffy6 Comments

cookie monster

There is a  classic text which tells of a sitar or lute player who gets discouraged in his meditation practice and asks the Buddha for advice.  “What happens when you tune your instrument too tightly?” the Buddha asked, to which the musician answered “The strings break,”.  “And what happens when you string it too loosely?”, the Buddha continued, “When it’s too loose, no sound comes out,” the musician answered,   “the best tune comes from a string that is not too tight and not too loose.” “That,” said the Buddha, “is how to practice: not too tight and not too loose.”

  That should be our resolution for meditation for this year – not too loose but also not too tight. Too loose means that we do not make it a priority and do not structure it into our schedule; however too tight means that we are harsh with ourselves when we fail or it becomes another thing to feel bad about. The Cookie Monster does not have it completely right – we do not wish to nourish our familiar patterns of avoidance by running away from difficult moments, but wish to look at everything that arises in our every moment. However, he makes us smile and take things – and ourselves –  a bit lighter and in that he is a good teacher.

…and of wanting to be someone else

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Staring At The Sun.jpg

You spend so much of your time
expecting to become someone else
always someone who will be different
someone to whom a moment
whatever moment it may be
at last has come
and who has been met and transformed
into no longer being you
and so has forgotten you

meanwhile in your life you hardly notice
the world around you, lights changing
sirens dying along the buildings
your eyes intent on a sight you do not see yet
not yet there
as long as you
are only yourself

with whom as you recall you were
never happy
to be left alone for long

William Stanley Merwin,   American poet, To Waiting

Not running after special…

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:Small flowers (5371688781).jpg

Experiencing,

rather than trying to have special experiences,

is where real freedom lies

Ezra Bayda, At Home in the Muddy Water

photo berit