As human beings, not only do we seek resolution, we feel that we deserve resolution.
However, not only do we not deserve resolution, we suffer from resolution.
We deserve something better than resolution: we deserve our birthright, which is prajna,
an open state of mind that can relax with paradox and ambiguity.
Pema Chödrön, Comfortable with Uncertainty
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If life can be sinned against at all,
it is not so much by despairing of it
as by pinning one’s hopes on another life
and sidestepping the unforgiving grandeur of this one
[S’il y a un péché contre la vie, ce n’est peut-être pas tant d’en désespérer que d’espérer une autre vie et de se dérober à l’implacable grandeur de celle-ci.]
Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
Even boredom can teach you who you are and who you are not. You discover that a “bored person” is not who you are. Boredom is simply a conditioned energy movement within you. Neither are you an angry, sad, or fearful person.
Boredom, anger, sadness, or fear are not “yours”, not personal. They are conditions of the human mind. They come and go. Nothing that comes and goes is you.
“I am bored.” Who knows this? “I am angry, sad, afraid.” Who knows this? You are the knowing, not the condition that is known.
Eckhart Tolle
Two Taoist concepts – wu wei “effortless action.” and xin zhai “not feeding the heart-mind.” – to guide us in this New Year
Flow with whatever may happen,
and let your mind be at ease.
Zhuang Zhou, 4th Century BCE, Zhuangzi, chapter 7
We often search for happiness by adding things to our lives: more experiences, more possessions, more achievements. But sometimes happiness is found not by adding, but by subtracting. Subtract the constant pressure, the busyness, the noise. Create space through rest. Happiness is like a shy animal; it will not come out if we are constantly crashing through the forest. Sit quietly, rest, and it may appear on its own.
Joseph Emet, Buddha’s Book of Happiness: Teachings for Achieving Lasting Peace, Joy, and Fearlessness
Hope has holes
in its pockets.
It leaves little
crumb trails
so that we,
when anxious,
can follow it.
Hope’s secret:
it doesn’t know
the destination –
it knows only
that all roads
begin with one
foot in front
of the other.
Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, American poet, Hope’s Secret
Mindfulbalance 