On the longest day of the year in the Northern hemisphere….
If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness
then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present
Our life has no end in the way in which our visual field has no limits.
Wittgenstein, Tractatus, 6.431
If there is a single definition of healing it is to enter with mercy an awareness of those pains, mental and physical,
from which we have withdrawn in judgment and dismay.
Stephen Levine
With enlightenment there is no liking and disliking: Such dualities come from ignorant inference. They are like dreams or flowers in the air. Gain and loss, right and wrong: such thoughts must finally be abolished at once. If the mind makes no discriminations, the ten thousand things are as they are, of single essence. To understand the mystery of this One-essence is to be released from everything that holds you back. When all things are seen equally the timeless Self-essence is reached.…To come directly into harmony with this reality, just simply say when any doubts arise, “There are not two.” In this “not two” nothing is separate, nothing is excluded. No matter when or where, enlightenment means entering this truth.
Seng T’san, 6th Century, Third Chinese Zen patriarch.
Once again, thanks to Ellen van Kalmthout for the beautiful photo
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment.
A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment.
If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and
nothing else to pursue.
Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Samurai, 1659 – 1719, Hagakure
photo of our cat Barney doing his meditation practice.
The mind isn’t always a shining light, is it? Even if you don’t act upon them, becoming aware of jealous, moaning, manipulative, greedy or fearful states of mind is uncomfortable. We tend to ignore such moods or bury them under activity or distraction, but as long as they’re not dealt with, we’re divided internally. So what would it take to become whole and peaceful? Isn’t that about relating to how it is right now from a place of compassion and non-identification? Isn’t that the faculty that could be developed to a lasting excellence, which would provide us with a good perspective and attitude?
Ajahn Sucitto, Good Enough
photo Shawn Allen California USA
