The Master gives himself up
to whatever the moment brings.
He knows that he is going to die,
and he has nothing left to hold on to;
No illusions in his mind,
no resistances in his body.
He doesn’t think about his actions;
they flow from the core of his being.
He holds nothing back from life;
therefore he is ready for death,
as a man is ready for sleep
after a good day’s work.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
At a certain moment in [Nietzsche’s] life, the idea came to him of what he called ‘the love of your fate.’ Whatever your fate is, whatever the hell happens, you say, ‘This is what I need.’ It may look like a wreck, but go at it as though it were an opportunity, a challenge. If you bring love to that moment — not discouragement — you will find the strength is there. This is when the spontaneity of your own nature will have a chance to flow.
Then, when looking back at your life, you will see that the moments which seemed to be great failures followed by wreckage were the incidents that shaped the life you have now. You’ll see that this is really true. Nothing can happen to you that is not positive. Even though it looks and feels at the moment like a negative crisis, it is not. The crisis throws you back, and when you are required to exhibit strength, it comes.
Joseph Campbell
A little reminder to stay firm and to trust, even if it seems tough.
Difficulties are just things to overcome,
after all.
Ernest Shackleton, polar explorer, born Kilkea Co Kildare 1874
photo : Krisaemilia
May your longing inhabit its deepest dreams
within the shelter of the Great Belonging
John O Donohue, Eternal Echoes
photo Mullaghreelan Wood near Kilkea, Co Kildare
We live a lot in our heads, our worries and fears. Meditation involves settling back into the support offered by the breath-in-the-body and getting a feel for the right balance there. This allows us to stay in touch with where we are, which balances the thinking mind’s preoccupation with who we are, with doing and with how we appear.
Living calls for the art of the wrestler, not the dancer
Staying on your feet is all;
there is no need for pretty steps
Marcus Aurelius
Even in the midst of great pain, Lord,
I praise you for that which is.
I will not refuse this grief
or close myself to this anguish.
Let shallow men pray for ease:
“Comfort us; shield us from sorrow.”
I pray for whatever you send me,
and I ask to receive it as your gift.
You have put a joy in my heart
greater than all the world’s riches.
I lie down trusting the darkness,
for I know that even now you are here.
Psalm 4, from Stephen Mitchell, A Book of Psalms: Selected and Adapted from the Hebrew.
