Tag: impermanence

Releasing that thought

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We have to let go of that black hole of ‘not enough.’ This is because although it feels like a hole, a lack, it’s actually a block….

What is needed then isn’t filling it, but releasing it….

What feels wrong at this time? What shouldn’t be here right now? Whatever it is, accept it. The more you don’t want it, the bigger it gets. How do you want things to be right now? Relinquish it. The more you want it, the farther you push it away. Daily life practice is to keep working against that [voice] which keeps saying, ‘I’m fed up with this. I’ve had enough of this. I don’t want to be in this situation. I can’t stand this another minute’.

Ajahn Sucitto

Perfect your love

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Imperfections are part of the display of life. Joy and sorrow, birth and death are the dance of existence throughout which our awakened consciousness can shine. Yet we long for perfection. The perfect partner, house, job, boss, and spiritual teacher.….

Novelist Florida Scott Maxwell writes, “No matter how old a mother is, she looks at her middle-age children for signs of improvement. ” You are told that if you do enough therapy, work out at the gym, eat an especially healthy diet, watch documentaries on TV, manage your cholesterol, and meditate enough, you will become more perfect. Forget the tyranny of perfection. The point is not to perfect yourself. It is to perfect your love. Let your imperfections be an invitation to care.

Jack Kornfield, The Tyranny of Perfection

When you feel lost

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When we feel lost we sometimes need to take time, to stand still, and let the outside world speak to us, rather than just listening to the voices in our own minds.

No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost.

Stand still.

The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

David Wagoner, Lost [estract]

Without effort

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The principles of all things arise without effort,

Water does not need to think to offer itself as a home for clear moonlight.

Sōgi 1421–1502, Japanese poet

Resting

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Letting ourselves sink. Coming to rest. Resting….Images from nature can be useful in meditation practice.

Suppose someone is holding a pebble and throws it in the air and the pebble begins to fall down into a river. After the pebble touches the surface of the water, it allows itself to sink slowly into the river. It will reach the bed of the river without any effort. Once the pebble is at the bottom of the river, it continues to rest. It allows the water to pass by.

I think the pebble reaches the bed of the river by the shortest path because it allows itself to fall without making any effort. During our sitting meditation we can allow ourselves to rest like a pebble.

Resting is a very important practice; we have to learn the art of resting. You should allow your body and your mind to rest. The problem is that not many of us know how to allow our body and mind to rest. We are always struggling; struggling has become a kind of habit. We cannot resist being active, struggling all the time. It is very important to realize that we have the habit energy of struggling.

Our mind as well as our body needs to rest.… Only if we know how to allow them to rest can our body and our soul heal themselves.

Thich Nhat Hahn, Rest in the River

Moving, not holding on

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Buddhism may be summed up in two phrases: “Let go!” and “Walk on!”

Drop the craving for self, for permanence, for particular circumstances, and go straight ahead with the movement of life

Alan Watts