Yesterday morning I awoke to snow. Most of the day it rained. Then in the evening I walked in sunshine in the park.
It reminded me of this poem
Flowers everywhere in spring,
The autumn moon clear and full,
Summer winds refreshing,
Winter snow serene.
If the mind is free of useless concerns,
Every moment is the best moment.
Zen master Wumen Huikai 1183–1260
Usually we think that if we have a lot of things, we will be happy.
But actually, when we do not want anything, we are truly happy.
Shunyru Suzuki Roshi, Not Always So
Human beings do not find their essence through fulfillment or eventual arrival,
but by staying close to the way they like to travel,
to the way they hold the conversation between the ground on which they stand and the horizon to which they go.
We are, in effect, always close to the ultimate secret:
that we are more real in our simple wish to find a way than any destination we could reach
David Whyte, Consolations
My motto for this week
Stop giving your precious energy
to things that make you feel bad.
Louise Hay
Ishi no ue ni mo sannen (石の上にも三年) Well known Japanese Proverb
Literal meaning: “Three years on a stone.”
Its wisdom is deceptively simple: patience transforms even the toughest challenges. Sit on a cold stone long enough, and eventually it will grow warm. Similarly, sometimes the breakthrough occurs not through intensity but through continuity.
You know that the flower bends
when the wind wants it to,
and you must become like that –
that is, filled with deep trust
Rilke, Early Journals
