The beginning of the season of Ramadam
What actions are most excellent?
To gladden the heart of a human being, to feed the hungry, to help the afflicted, to lighten the sorrow of the sorrowful, and to remove the wrongs of the injured.
That person is the most beloved, who does most good to God’s creatures
From the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in the Sahih al-Bukhari
Everyone who moves on
walks like Jesus,
on the sea
Antonio Machado, 1875 – 1939, Spanish poet.
We have to be patient with ourselves. Over and over again we think we need to be somewhere else, and we must find the truth right here, right now; we must find our joy here, now. How seductive it is, the thought of tomorrow. We must find our understanding here. We must find it here; it is always here; this is where the grass is green.
John Tarrant Calling on the name of Avalokiteshvara
Things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together and fall apart again. It’s just like that.
The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.
Pema Chodron
As we learn to tap into the interior of our body and inhabit it, we can sense a subtle current of aliveness that runs vertically through the core. It feels like a clear, luminous line of energy that runs upward close to the spine. It seems to well up from the ground like a pure spring and feels as if it radiates high above our head. If you imagine that your body is suspended in midair by a fine line located at the top of your head, you may get a sense of it.
I call it the current of life because it contains an essential aliveness and intelligence. The fewer filters we have – limiting beliefs, emotional reactions, and somatic contractions- the easier it is to sense this core animating luminosity.
Adyashanti
Four Thoughts that Turn the Mind
Gather your attention on the inhale;
drop into the body on the exhale.
Reflect on these phrases:
I am aware of the preciousness of human life.
I am aware that death is inevitable
I am aware that whatever I do has a result.
I am aware that if I focus on self-importance, I will experience suffering.
Then, rest in openness.
Roshi Joan Halifax
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