To listen is to lean in softly
With a willingness to be changed
By what we hear
Mark Nepo
photo brmuchin at en.wikipedia
Tag: heart
Touch
Being aware of subtle emotional qualities you may be embodying at various times of the day. Pay particular attention to your hands. See if you don’t become more mindful by becoming more “bodyful.” Everything from opening a door to making love involves touch. It is possible to open a door so mindlessly that your hand doesn’t know what your body is doing and you hit yourself in the head with it. Imagine the challenge of touching another person without automaticity, with no gaining idea, just presence and caring.
Jon Kabat Zinn, Wherever you go, There you are
photo agustin ruiz
Not knowing but loving
The lesson of spiritual life is not about gaining knowledge,
but about how we love.
Are we able to love what is given to us,
love in the midst of all things,
love ourselves and others?
Jack Kornfield, After the Ecstasy, the Laundry
A Generous spirit
When we are stressed we have a tendency to close in on ourselves, to measure our time, fixate on our problems and not notice a lot that is happening around us. We think that this is the best way to protect our energy and our heart. Paradoxically, however, it seems that another strategy is more helpful, going against the voice within us and turning outwards, noticing small details in the day and reaching out to others. An East African proverb reminds us You can share even if you have a little. It may be just noticing how good the coffee tastes, a smile, a friendly phone call, a helping hand, making someone welcome. This quotation from Cormac McCarthy reminds us to create little moments of generosity, of connection, of celebration, even when our life seems barren. There will be innumerable little moments in a day to be kind, even if our hearts do not feel like it.
When you’ve got nothing else, construct ceremonies out of the air and breathe upon them.
Cormac McCarthy, The Road
A generous heart is never lonesome. A generous heart has luck. The lonesomeness of contemporary life is partly due to the failure of generosity. Increasingly we complete with each other for goods, for image, and for status.
John O’Donoghue, Eternal Echoes
Sunday Quote: Staying close to our roots
At any moment you have a choice
that either leads you closer to your spirit
or further away from it
Thich Nhat Hanh
Fixated
There are actually two reasons why people in general are out of touch with their subjective experiences: They have ‘low definition’ bodies and they are continuously fixated in thought, especially verbal thought. Of course, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with thinking. Indeed complex thought is evolution’s wonderful gift to humankind, giving our species special powers that the others lack. Thought per se is not the problem. The problem is the driven and fixated way in which we think.
Shinzen Young, Bringing the Monastery Home
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