Tag: heart

Warm sunlight

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Incredibly warm, sunny weather here this last week. A world bathed in warmth and life and love.

Look at the sunlight.…

You see it is near, yet if you follow it ….you can’t catch it in your hands. Then you say it’s far away and yet you see it right before your eyes. Follow it and you see that it escapes you; Run away from it and it follows you close. You can neither hold onto it, nor be finished with it.

From this you come to see what is the true nature of all things

and then understand: There is no need to be sad or worry about things.

Huang Po, died 850, Zen Buddhist master

Cherish being alive

Karl Duffy9 Comments

Got news yesterday of the sudden death of an old friend, who I had not seen in over 18 months due to pandemic restrictions. It made me think of the choices we have as to where we invest our energy and our thoughts. Life can pass us by, and we waste a lot of it rehashing our familiar litany of fears, tired old stories and self-doubts.

In Zen temples there is a small wooden board called a “han” that is struck with a mallet to signal that it is time for some part of the daily routine. It might have the words “Shoji jidai” written on it in ink. Have you ever seen this? The words mean “life is full of fortune and misfortune, but cherish being alive, every single day. Life will pass you by“

Come now, open your eyes.

What kind of day should we make today?

Shunmyo Masumo, Zen: The Art of Simple Living

Accepting the grace

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The place where you are right now
God circled on a map for you.

Our Beloved has bowed there knowing
you were coming.

I could tell you a priceless secret about
your real worth dear pilgrim.
Any unkindness to yourself,
any confusion about others,
will keep one
from accepting the grace, the love!

Hafiz, Persian Sufi poet

Sunday quote: Hold things lightly

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No matter how much the spring wind loves the peach blossoms,

they still fall.

Dogen Zenji, 1200-1253

Home as a place of rest

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If you can accept your body, then you have a chance to see your body as your home. You can rest in your body, settle in, relax, and feel joy and ease. If you don’t accept your body and your mind, you can’t be at home with yourself. You have to accept yourself as you are. This is a very important practice. As you practice building a home in yourself, you become more and more beautiful.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Not putting labels

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By teaching “Do not judge” (Matthew 7:1), the great teachers are saying that you cannot start seeing or understanding anything if you start with “no.” You have to start with a “yes” of basic acceptance, which means not too quickly labeling, analyzing, or categorizing things as in or out, good or bad, up or down. You have to leave the field open, a field in which God and grace can move. Ego leads with “no” whereas soul leads with “yes.”

The ego seems to strengthen itself by constriction, by being against things; and it feels loss or fear when it opens up. “No” always comes easier than “yes,” and a deep, conscious “yes” is the work of freedom and grace. So the soul lives by expansion instead of constriction.

Richard Rohr