Tag: impermanence

Clinging and pushing away

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There’s an exercise that can help us reflect on the knee-jerk tendency to cling to what makes us feel good and push away what makes us feel bad:  

Sit quietly for a few minutes and become mindful of your breath as it goes in and out. Then contemplate what you do when you’re unhappy or dissatisfied and want to feel better. Even make a list if you want to. Then ask yourself: Does it work? Has it ever worked? Does it soothe the pain? Does it escalate the pain? If you’re really honest, you’ll come up with some pretty interesting observations.

Pema Chödrön, Living Beautifully: with Uncertainty and Change

Where to look

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Without stepping out the door, one can know the world.

Without looking out of the window
One can see the way of heaven.
The further one goes
The less one knows.
Therefore:

The wise person knows without having to stir,
perceives without having to see,
Accomplishes without having to act.

Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching,  chapter 47

 

Sunday Quote: Remember

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Every Moment is a Moment of Practice

Sylvia Boorstein

Always new

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Not a single drop of water passes over the same rock twice, and the murmur of water rushing over a rock is constantly changing. Sameness is but an illusion of the human ears, eyes, mind. Water that has once flowed along a riverbed can never retrace its course. Human life is no different. It is only our mundane eyes and minds that we see yesterday as being the same as today.

Enlightened eyes and minds should recognize that each moment has a form different from that of any other moment

Shundo Aoyama, Zen Seeds

It’s all already here

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Not till your thoughts cease all 
their branching here and there, 
Not till you abandon all thoughts 
of seeking for something,
Not till your mind is motionless 
as wood or stone, will you be 
on the right road to the Gate.

Huang Po, died 850, influential Chinese Chan master

Knowing when to let go

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Don’t push the river,

it flows by itself.

Chinese Proverb