A post from an Irish author, to mark St Patrick’s Day
I would love to live like a river flows,
carried by the surprise of its own unfolding
John O’Donohue
photo of Kells Bridge over the Kings River by Mike Searle
Tag: impermanence
Watching it pass by
Through mindfulness practice you began to experience how conditioned the world is and how these conditions constantly change. To free ourselves, we need to quieten the mind through some mindfulness in meditation. Then, instead of identifying with the changing conditions, we learn to release them and turn toward consciousness itself, to rest in the knowing. Ajahn Chah called this pure awareness, “the original mind,” and resting in “the one who knows.” We can be in the midst of an experience, being upset or angry or caught by some problem, and then step back from it and rest in pure awareness. We let go.
Jack Kornfield, This Fantastic, Unfolding Experiment
Storms of life
And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.
Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
photo huhu uet
A kind of frontier
It is possible to attain a state where we are free from suffering. We free ourselves from suffering by being fully in the conversation, rather than something static, having a conversation at every turn. As an individual, I must learn to live at a kind of frontier between what I think is me and what I think is not me, so that my identify is more of a meeting place; an edge between past and present rather than an island around which the events of life swirl and move on…Even grief and loss, if felt in a timeless way, can be free from disconnection or suffering.
David Whyte, The Three Marriages
photo svickova
Letting ourselves fall
As human beings we share a tendency to scramble for certainty whenever we realize that everything around us is in flux. In difficult times the stress of trying to find solid ground — something predictable to stand on — seems to intensify. But in truth, the very nature of our existence is forever in flux. Everything keeps changing, whether we’re aware of it or not.
Pema Chodron, The Fundamental Ambiguity of Being Human
photo USASOC news service
Trust
When we cannot see the whole picture, or do not understand what is unfolding, acceptance and trust are the best ways to proceed. Keeping the heart open and not closing down allows for growth and insight. We like to think that success in life depends on it unfolding in a clear way, when in reality, the capacity to live with what we don’t know is of greater importance. Can we live with a question without immediately trying to find the answer?
Seeing into darkness is clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your own light
and return to the source of light.
This is called practicing eternity.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching 52
photo : ceridwen
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