Whenever we are between here and there,
whenever one thing has ended and we are waiting for the next thing to begin,
whenever we’re tempted to distract ourselves or look for an escape route
we can instead let ourselves be open, curious, tentative, vulnerable
Pema Chodron
The beauty of the world is revealed when we learn how to look
To photograph is to put the head, the eye and the heart on the same line of sight.
Henri Cartier-Bresson 1908 – 2004, French Photographer
Tozan, a famous Zen master, said:
“The blue mountain is the father of the white cloud. The white cloud is the son of the blue mountain. All day long they depend on each other, without being dependent on each other. The white cloud is always the white cloud. The blue mountain is always the blue mountain.”
This is a pure, clear interpretation of life. There may be many things like the white cloud and the blue mountain: man and woman, teacher and disciple. …They are quite independent, but yet dependent. This is how we live, and how we practice.
Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Groundlessness, uncertainty, insecurity, vulnerability — these are words that ordinarily carry a negative connotation. We’re generally wary of these feelings and try to elude them in any way possible.
But groundlessness isn’t something we need to avoid. The same feeling we find so troubling when we open to it can be experienced as a huge relief, as freedom from all restraints. It can be experienced as a mind so unbiased and relaxed that we feel expansive and joyful.
Pema Chodron, Living Beautifully: with Uncertainty and Change
You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.
John O’Donohue, For One Who Is Exhausted, a Blessing
Cefalu, Sicily
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.
Richard Rohr, The Naked Now
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