Let the mind rest at peace.
The Ten Thousand Things rise and fall, while the self watches their return.
They grow and flourish and then return to the source.
Returning to the source is stillness, which is the way of nature.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
photo eric hill
One of the most popular bits of poetry in Zen.
Simple, and yet it contains all of practice.
I stroll along the stream up to where it ends.
I sit down watching the clouds as they begin to rise.
Wang Wei, Chinese poet ( 699-761)
photo phil catterall
When the heart is released from clinging,
then consciousness does not land anywhere.
That state, I tell you, is without sorrow, affliction or despair.
The Buddha, Samyutta Nikaya 12.64
photo alex valavanis
There is a lot of debris around after the recent storms. Trees broken and uprooted. Most faiths tell us that in its many ways life is the main teacher, and it is by being fully present to what happens in life that we grow, not by moving away from events. This is true even if they are painful. How we do this, each day, is to stay open to each moment, see what it has to say to us, training in this way the heart to stay open:
A rabbi always told his people that if they studied the Torah, it would put the Word of God in their hearts. One of them asked “Why ‘on’ our hearts and not ‘in’ them?” The Rabbi answered “Only God can put his Word within. But reading the sacred text can put it on your hearts, and then when the heart breaks open, the holy words will fall inside”
from Joan Chittister, Aspects of the Heart
photo norbert nagel
Yesterday saw huge winds hit Ireland and England, causing power cuts and fallen trees, and a lot of disruption to travel. This winter has seen a series of storm systems pass over, some more violent than others, each one disrupting routines and delusions of stability. In a similar way, despite our best efforts to stay constant, our moods can go up and down – sometimes as frequently as the weather – and certainly emotions can appear unexpectedly over which we have little control. We have successes that we work for and yet also have things happen that we did not see coming and cannot understand. Life brings its own troubles and there is no need to go looking for them. Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche once repeated an old teaching which said that there is no cure for hot and cold. He meant that in our lives we can have periods of good things and bad, things go well but we have self-doubt, we are confident but find ourselves anxious. And in our minds we have a succession of thoughts and emotions, good intentions and petty thoughts, kindness followed by self-seeking aspirations. He reminded us that this is the human condition and also the normal nature of the human mind. As Pema Chodron says in her commentary on this phrase, There is no cure for the facts of life. If we do not struggle with this fact, relaxing into life as it is, we not only can stop the complaining that goes on in our mind, but also be pleasantly surprised by what each new day blows into our lives.
The way to dissolve our resistance to life is to meet it face to face. When we feel resentment because the room is too hot, we could meet the heat and feel its fieriness and its heaviness. When we feel resentment because the room is too cold, we could meet the cold and feel its iciness and its bite. When we want to complain about the rain, we could feel its wetness instead. When we worry because the wind is shaking our windows, we could meet the wind and hear its sound. Cutting our expectations for a cure is a gift we can give ourselves. There is no cure for hot and cold. They will go on forever.
Pema Chodron
What creates the sense of suffering for me…is the feeling that my mind cannot relax and accommodate the truth of my experience unless it is what I wanted. Perhaps the most painful habit I have is that of delusion, of imagining that somehow I am in charge of how everything turns out. My wishes and my actions have something to do with what happens to me. Ultimately, however I am not in charge. I keep learning this lesson over and over again, both by paying attention in meditation and by paying attention in my life, but when my mind is startled or overwhelmed by stress, I forget
Sylvia Boorstein, in A Year of Living Mindfully
photo ashokajegroo
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