Tag: Be fully present

Claim the joy

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This is a real discipline. It requires choosing for the light even when there is much darkness to frighten me, choosing for life even when the forces of death are so visible, and choosing for the truth even when I am surrounded with lies.

The reward of choosing joy is joy itself. Living among people with mental disabilities has convinced me of that. There is so much rejection, pain, and woundedness among us, but once you choose to claim the joy hidden in the midst of all suffering, life becomes celebration. Joy never denies the sadness, but transforms it to a fertile soil for more joy.

Henri Nouwen, The Return of the Prodigal Son

Empty your boat

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If you were crossing a river and an empty boat collides with your boat,
even if you were bad-tempered, you would not become very angry.
But if you see a man in the boat, he will shout at him to steer clear, and if the shout was not heard, you will shout again, and yet again, and begin cursing.

Yet if the boat were empty, you would not be shouting, and not be angry.

So, if you can empty your own boat crossing the river of the world,
no one will oppose you, no one will seek to harm you….

Such is the perfect person: their boat is empty.

Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu

Sunday Quote: An older wisdom

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The times are urgent,

Let us slow down

African Saying, quoted by Bayo Akomolafe in A Slower Urgency

with the heart

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truly I know
our part is not knowing,
but looking, and touching, and loving,
which is the way I walked on,
softly,
through the pale-pink morning light.

Mary Oliver, Bone [extract]

A calm mind

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The nearer a person comes to a calm mind

the closer they are to strength

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

not the most important

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What we see is not the most important.
Could dust rise without the invisible
hand of the wind?
Could a fan turn without any current?
Could lungs breathe without breath?
Tell me
What is the shape of Love?
How much does joy weigh
when held in the palm of your hand?
Can you catch the Spirit of Life in a jar?

All things seen depend
upon the Unseen.
All sounds depend upon Silence.
All things felt depend
upon what is not felt.

Adyashanti