Tag: Be fully present

A solid sense of self

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File:Brown Leghorn rooster in Australia.jpg

Chi Hsing-tzu was training a fighting cock for the king.

After 10 days, the king asked if the bird was ready for combat. “No, Your Majesty,” replied  Chi,” He’s too full of fire, arrogant, always ready to pick a fight. He’s  relying on his own strength.”

Another 10 days passed, and the king asked again, Chi said, “No, Sir, not yet. He still becomes excited when a rival bird appears.”

10 more days. The king asked again. “Not yet,” Chi said. “He still gets an angry glint in his eye, and ruffles up his feathers.”

Another 10 days,  another question.

Chi said, “Now, Sir, he is ready. 

When a rival bird crows, his eyes don’t even flicker. He stands immobile like a block of wood. 
His focus is inside.

Other birds will take one look at him and run.”

Story told by Chuang-tzu (Zhuang Zhou),  Chinese Taoist philosopher, 4th century BC

 

Photo fernando de suosa

Our original mind

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Mind has no colour; it is not long or short;

it does not vanish or appear; it is free from purity and impurity alike; and its duration is eternal.

It is utter stillness.

Such, then, is the form and shape of our original mind,

which is also our original body.

Hui Hai 720 – 814

photo alvesgaspar

Sunday Quote: Springtime: Just paying attention

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Forsythia4506

Nothing you ever understand

will be sweeter, or more binding,

than this deep affinity between your eyes and the world.

Mary Oliver,  Terns

A yes to life

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Aligning with your ‘yes!’ is about feeling nourished on every level – feeling deeply alive. I’m not talking about the shallow, quick-fix kinds of comfort that make us feel good only temporarily. The kind of feeling good that I’m talking about, which comes from aligning with your ‘yes!,’ is about listening for the deeper truth underneath all of that. It’s that knowledge that ‘I’m in the right place, at the right time, doing what I’m here to do.’ You feel grounded and at home in yourself. Your life becomes rooted in a deep ‘yes!’ You feel alive and grateful to be in direct contact with life. You are in touch with how exquisite it is to feel and be with the raw truth of all that is moving through you. This kind of alignment includes difficult emotions, pain, and tension. It can include illness and struggle. It is about being in direct, authentic contact with the wholeness of life. Nothing is denied. It is your truth and you are awake to it.

Deborah Zucker, The Vitality Map

Standing in the face of disappointment

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File:Flickr - Nicholas T - Light 'n' Dark.jpg

Stay with the feeling in the body. Don’t advance into proliferating a story. Don’t retreat into denying the sense of hurt.

Not advancing, not retreating,

Not real, not empty.

There is an ocean of bright clouds.

There is an ocean of dark clouds.

Dogen, 1200 –  1253

photo Nicolas A. Tonelli

Facing the unfelt parts

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File:Bald Eagle Looking Forward (20266064642).jpg

For many of us, when our particular place of insecurity or woundedness is touched, we easily regress into the fullness of trance. At these times there seems to be no choice as to what we feel, think, say or do. Rather, we “go on automatic,” reacting in our most habitual way to defend ourselves, to cover over the rawness of our hurt. Yet, the very behaviors we use to keep us from pain only fuel our suffering. Not only do our escape strategies amplify the feeling that something is wrong with us, they stop us from attending to the very parts of ourselves that most need our attention to heal.

As Carl Jung states in one of his key insights, the unfaced and unfelt parts of our psyche are the source of all neurosis and suffering. The good news is that when we can learn to feel and face the fear and shame we habitually avoid,  with compassion, wisdom, and courage, we can begin to awaken from trance; we can begin to free ourselves to respond to our circumstances in ways that bring genuine peace and happiness.

Tara Brach, Radical Acceptance

photo eric kilby