Tag: impermanence

True freedom is not about controlling the world around you; it’s about releasing your reactions to it.

When you stop fighting this moment, you realize it was never your enemy.

Michael Singer, Living Untethered

I wish to draw attention to the following problem:

the idea of happiness presupposes that at present we are unhappy.

Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, Sōtō Zen monk, 1812 – 1998

In an age of speed, I began to think, nothing could be more invigorating than going slow.

In an age of distraction, nothing could feel more luxurious than paying attention.

And in an age of constant movement, nothing is more urgent than sitting still.

Pico Iyer, The Art of Stillness

Just for today claim a window of time – even ten minutes is enough to begin – and rest into an experience of stillness.

Connect gently with your breath, breathing in the life-sustaining breath of the spirit, breathing out and releasing whatever distracts us from this moment.  As thoughts or anxieties arise, gently release them and return to this moment. The invitation is toward both an outer and inner silence.  Notice the way silence nourishes you and consider ways to give yourself this gift each day.

Christine Valters Paintner,  Benedictine oblate, spiritual director, and author, The Soul’s Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred

Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence.

Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of non-forgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.

Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment

The earth has been broken open a thousand times to feed us.

What if our pain is also a seed?

Mark Nepo, Inside the Miracle