Suffering sometimes arises when we seek outside ourselves – in others or in achievements – what has to be found within:
I have nothing to defend, for all is of equal value to me.
I cannot lose anything in this
place of abundance
I have found.
Catherine of Siena, Catholic Saint and mystic, 1347 – 1380
There was a very clear super moon last night.
In Chinese philosophy, the “10, 000 things” is a shorthand way of talking about all the experiences – good and bad – which arise and pass away in our day.
This poem reminds us not to give too much substance to all the things which arise today:
Sitting alone in peace before these cliffs
the full moon is heaven’s beacon
the ten thousand things are all reflections
the moon originally has no light
Han-shan, 9th Century legendary Chinese figure.
Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.
Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.
Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.
John O Donohue, A Blessing for One who is Exhausted
I came to the very edge
where nothing at all needs saying …
Pablo Neruda, It is Born
photo calflier001
The Buddhists define spirituality as shamatha, or “tranquil abiding.” We are drawn to a spiritual path out of a desire for tranquil abiding. Just saying the words feels wonderful, like an antidote to the fear, unhappiness, and anxiety with which we often approach life. Fear of what? Fear of our basic human condition. If we stop long enough to take a quiet look at our situation, we’ll hear the tick-tick-ticking of time’s impersonal progress. For each of us, time’s march breeds a different fear: for some it is the terror of death; for others it is the worry of a life unlived; for some it signifies the loss of what we hold dear and familiar. These are not thoughts with which we usually enjoy lingering. Spirituality invites us to linger. It gives us a way of standing naked in the truth of the human condition; meeting it head-on with curiosity and openness. This is serious work, but the mysterious outcome of the work is a lightness of heart — what we call happiness.
Elizabeth Lesser, The Seekers Guide: Making your life a Spiritual Adventure
photo of Glendalough in autumn by J.-H. Janßen
If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall still be dimly aware of the present when the good things that I have been expecting come to pass. For I shall have formed a habit of looking behind and ahead, making it difficult for me to attend to the here and now. If, then, my awareness of the past and future makes me less aware of the present, I must begin to wonder whether I am actually living in the real world.
Alan Watts
photo Shenandoah national park
