Zen pretty much comes down to three things –
Everything changes,
Everything is connected,
Pay attention.
Jane Hirshfield
photo laima Gūtmane (simka…
Tag: impermanence
Necessary dying
There’s a necessary dying…Be ground.
Be crumbled so wildflowers will come up where you are.
You’ve been stony too many years. Try something different.
Surrender.
Rumi
The Significance of night
The winter solstice. The shortest, darkest, day can still be full of things to look forward to:
...this is the slowed down season, held fast by darkness
and if no one comes to keep you company
then keep watch over your own solitude.
In that stillness, you will learn
with your whole body
the significance of cold
and the night,
which is otherwise always eluding you.
Patricia Fargnoli, Winter Grace
photo slava
Waiting
In the Islamic tradition, during Ramadam, there is a special night called the Night of Power, when angels are said to descend to earth, bringing peace. It is not known which night it is exactly, so the only attitude to have is one of waiting and watching. This is true for Advent also, but it even applies not just to special seasons but to the mystery in every moment:
God,
just like the Night of Power,
is hidden amidst the other nights
So that the soul
will go on seeking every night.
Oh young one,
not every night is the Night of Power
And yet,
not every night
is bereft of the Night of Power
Rumi
photo CC-BY
Eyes fixed on the present
We don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
Howard Zinn, US Historian, playwright, and social activist
photo gordon hatton
Limits and choices
To live wisely, we must recognize that there are two fundamental truths of a human life. The first is that we have a limited and undefined amount of time — it may be 100 years, it may be 30. The second is that in that limited and undefined amount of time we have an almost unlimited number of choices of how to use our time — the things we choose to focus on and put our energy into — and these choices will ultimately define our lives.
When we are born there is no owner’s manual provided, and the clock begins ticking the moment we arrive. We do not like the words “die” and “death.” Many human activities are designed to shield us from the truth about life; that it is limited, that at least here in this place, we do not have forever. Still, it is the fact that we die and that our time is limited that makes discovering the secrets to life important. If we lived forever, there would be little urgency to discover the true paths to happiness and purpose since given the luxury of eternity we would surely stumble on them sooner or later. This is a luxury we do not have.
John Izzo, The Five Secrets you must Discover before Your Die
photo AuntTT83
