Sunday Quote: Where happiness lies

We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.

Sir Thomas Browne, 1605 – 1682, Religio Medici 15

photo from judesphotography.wordpress.com

An unhelpful way of using the mind

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Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow,

it empties today of its strength

Corrie ten Boom, Clippings from my Notebook

with thanks to Laura Syrat for the photo of cat sleeping in Nice, France.

Let go

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The forest is peaceful, why aren’t you?

You hold on to things,  causing your confusion.

Let nature teach you. Hear the bird’s song then let go.

If you know nature, you’ll know the Way. If you know the Way, you’ll know nature.

Ajahn Chah

photo Phil Champion

Sunday Quote: The basis for wisdom

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Whatever is subject to arising, 

is also subject to passing away

Collection of Middle-length Discourses,  56

photo jm garg

Working with who we are

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Too often, people think that solving the world’s problems is based on conquering the earth,

rather than touching the earth,

touching ground

Chogyam Trungpa

A solid place

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I spent the weekend on retreat with Ajahn Sucitto in the West of Ireland, so the posts for the next day or two will focus on how we can ground ourselves in the face of changing moods or challenging circumstances, prompted by some of his words :

One of the fundamental ways of bringing the mind into the present moment is to focus on how we sense our own body. This bodily sense – that is awareness
of the sensations and energies that manifest in the body – is something immediate that we can contemplate. It gives us ground and balance. It gives us the sense of being where we are. Although this may seem basic and obvious, much of the time we are not grounded in where we really are. Instead we are ‘out there’ in a world of changing circumstance and reactions to that, without having a central reference.

Ajahn Sucitto, Meditation: A Way of Awakening

Do you believe there is some place that will make the soul less thirsty?
In that great absence you will find nothing.

Be strong then, and enter into your own body; There you have a solid place for your feet. Think about it carefully! Don’t go off somewhere else!

Kabir says this: just throw away all thoughts of imaginary things,
And stand firm in that which you are.

Kabir

photo chris phutully