Ryokan realises that happiness is related to not forcing life, but letting it unfold. The buds in Spring come all by themselves.
Once in a while I just let time move on
Leaning against a solitary pine
Standing without speaking, as does the whole Universe
Ah, who can share this solitude with me?
Ryokan, 1758 – 1831, Soto Zen Buddhist monk
We have to cultivate contentment with what we have.
We really don’t need much. When you know this, the mind settles down.
Cultivate generosity. Delight in giving.
Learn to live lightly.
In this way, we can begin to transform what is negative into what is positive. This is how we start to grow up.
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, No Excuses
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
as the uncertain harvest; keep us here
all simply in the springing of the year.
Robert Frost
Happy Saint Patrick’s Day
Estragon: He could dance first and think afterwards….
Vladimir: Would that be possible?
Pozzo: By all means…. It’s the natural order.
Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot
The greatest peril of misplaced worry
is that in keeping us constantly tensed against an imagined catastrophe,
it prevents us from fully living.
Seneca
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray and gather my thoughts to you. I cannot do it alone.
In me it is dark, but with you there is light.
I am lonely, but you do not desert me.
My courage fails me, but with you there is help.
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience.
I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Lutheran pastor imprisoned and executed by Nazis.
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