
Faith requires at times marching into the waters before they part.
Walter Wink, 1935 – 2012, American Biblical scholar and theologian
The question we need to ask ourselves is whether there is any place we can stand in ourselves where we can look at all that’s happening around us without freaking out, where we can be quiet enough to hear our predicament, and where we can begin to find ways of acting that are at least not contributing to further destabilization.
Ram Dass
The ongoing news about the pandemic activates the anxious side of our brain and leaves us feeling shaky, imagining worst-case scenarios for the future. These words from Kabir remind us that much of the time we are not grounded in where we actually are.
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, 15th-century Indian mystic poet
This shell is not of my own making
Borrowing it from heaven and earth
I live out each and every day
Eichi Enomoto, 1903 – 1998, Hermit crab
One’s life is a combination of what one borrows and what one is gifted with. Without borrowing all the strength from heaven and earth, one cannot truly live, even for a minute
Shunda Aoyama, Zen Seeds