Tag: Be fully present

Miracle is all around us

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Noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary

Faith does not spring out of nothing.
It comes with the discovery of the holy dimension of our existence.
Suddenly we become aware that our lips touch the veil
That hangs before the Holy of Holies.
Our faith is lit up for a time with the light from behind the veil.
Faith opens our hearts for the entrance of the holy.
This is how close we are to the holy.
When we open ourselves up to the possibility
That God can be there in any moment,
Miracle is all around us.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Suddenly we become Aware

Beyond good and bad

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Our minds are continually splitting our experiences into “good” and “bad”, and coming to quick conclusions which can close down our openness to what is happening.

An extract from the visit of a small boy named Sin Hae to the temple of Hui Neng, the sixth and last Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, 638–713

Sin Hae stood up and bowed, saying, “Teach me.”

Hui Neng said, “You should not think of good and of bad; cut all thinking and all speech. Right now, what is it that teaches you?”

Sin Hae bowed, saying, “I don’t know.”

The Zen Master said, “Keep this ‘don’t know’ mind at all times, and you will understand what teaches you.”

The door

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door 14

Consciously or unconsciously, we avoid facing things as they are in themselves

and so we want God to open a door for us which is beyond…

(but) to find life’s purpose we must go through the door of ourselves

Jiddu Krisnamurti

Slowly

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chinese mountains

Smile,

breathe,

and go slowly. 

Thich Nhat Hanh

O snail

climb Mount Fuji

but slowly slowly

Kobayashi Issa, 1763 –  1828, Japanese Buddhist priest and poet

Each moment is complete in itself

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MilkThistle

Nothing we see or hear is perfect.

But right there in the imperfection

is perfect reality

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi

An opportunity

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Whether we are on the busy streets of New York or in the solitude of a mountain cave in Nepal, our happiness and contentment are completely in our own hands. Sitting meditation enables us to rest our mind in a present and cheerful way. When we sit, we make a direct relationship to the source of happiness. At the base of that experience is a quality of happiness, which is not a sense of giddiness, but of relaxation. Wherever we are, life is going to be coming at us. But if we use our lives as an opportunity to develop and enhance our mind, we will always be able to acknowledge that we are in a precious situation.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche

photo of Grafton st Dublin by Oliver Dixon