Become at ease with the state of “not knowing.” This takes you beyond mind because the mind is always trying to conclude and interpret. It is afraid of not knowing. So, when you can be at ease with not knowing, you have already gone beyond the mind. A deeper knowing that is non-conceptual then arises out of that state.
Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks
On those Mondays, when the day or the week ahead feels challenging, I like the Japanese phrase “Ikki no mei” (喜の明) — roughly translated as “one small reason to keep going.” It helps me focus on a single, simple moment or action: a cup of coffee, or offering a smile or kind greeting to a colleague — these “micro-meanings” become small anchors that guide me through the day.
Donne-nous aujourd’hui notre pain de ce jour
[French translation of the Our Father: Give us this day our bread for this day]
Knowing this, a wise person lives
the present moment, unshaken, unmoved.
Bhaddekaratta Sutta (MN 131)
It doesn’t get any simpler than this. Most of our stress arises when we live in abstraction – caught in memory, anticipation, worry, or self-story.
If you can taste the water you are drinking,
you are alright.
from the great Shunryu Suzuki roshi
Today, give yourself permission to be supported by something larger than personal strength. Suffering decreases when phenomena are allowed to move through rather than be contained.
Your body is holding all of this.
Give it to a bigger body.
Give it to the sky.
Jaiya John, author, poet, speaker
On this path, no effort is ever lost, nor can any harm come.
Even a little progress on this path is complete freedom from fear
Bhagavad Gita 2.40
Commentary by Gandhi: Even a little effort at selfless service saves one from the fear of being meaningless or useless.
Be alert. Are some of the thoughts that go through your mind the internalized voice of your father or mother, saying perhaps something like, “You are not good enough. You will never amount to anything,” or some other judgment or mental position? If there is awareness within you, you will be able to recognize that voice in your head for what it is: an old thought, conditioned by the past. If there is awareness within you, you no longer need to believe in every thought you think. It’s an old thought, no more. Awareness means Presence, and only Presence can dissolve the unconscious past in you.
Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
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