Tag: inspiration

Sunday Quote: A still mind, not fixing….

Karl Duffy1 Comment

 

God, rest in my heart,

Fortify me

Take away my hunger for answers.

Mary Oliver

Knowing you have enough

Karl Duffy6 Comments

The Irish phrase Go leor can be translated in different ways in English, including the words “enough” and “plenty”. Today’s world is good at promoting and accumulating plenty. The message that we get in so many ways is that if you get more you will get happier. However, for a lot of people, this sense of “more” just seems to increase and expand – more expectations in work, more information coming at us, more decisions to make, more demands on our time. And this emphasis on plenty sometimes distracts us from where our real focus should be – on coming to see when we have enough. Thus we can find that we are less skilled at knowing when to let go and be satisfied with what we have, or how much we do.  Reflecting on replacing the word “plenty” with “enough”  can help us here. Deciding what is enough – and learning to be content with that –  is one of the most important pieces of work that we can do.

There is no greater offence than harbouring desires.

There is no greater disaster than discontent.

There is no greater misfortune than wanting more. 

Hence, if you are content you will always have enough.

Lao Tsu

Empty time

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Two reasons for posting this poem by John O’ Donohue today.

Firstly, I love the line “the joy that dwells far within slow time” as a way of expressing where we get when we meditate.

Secondly, as a prayer for “One who is Exhausted”,  it captures well what happens to many of us at different times in our lives, when we find ourselves “marooned on unsure ground”. The familiar markers are nowhere to be seen, and we feel lost. Rather than panicking at this, or see it as something wrong, the poet encourages us to trust that our soul needs this empty time to recover itself. We learn from the rain – not the heavy thunderstorms of last evening but the soft rain which O’Donohue was familiar with in the West of Ireland and which fell here this morning –  to take things gently, change rhythm and to wait.

The tide you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.

You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.

At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.

Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.

Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.

John O’Donohue, A Blessing for One who is Exhausted.

Sunday quote: Explore

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

 

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed at the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. 

So sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. 

Explore, Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain


Meditation creates space to move forward

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

There is a lot of material for reflection in this passage. Meditation allows us rest with our deep, inner, basic goodness, creating some relief from incessant critical thoughts. This allows us look forward with confidence and courage.

The reason we maintain a regular meditation practice is to open our eyes and have forward vision. Once we have confidence in the basic nature of things, we are more immediate in our life….Being hesitant – standing still or looking backward instead of forward – creates an immediate ripple effect. Life buckles behinds us and builds up pressure, blasting us forward. We are then coerced into dealing with issues at an accelerated rate, beyond what is comfortable or convenient. Such hesitation, which is a form of cowardice, stems from doubt in relation to our basic goodness.

Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Sunny Side Up

The difficulty of getting a real day of rest

Karl Duffy1 Comment

And so we are, daily, becoming more enslaved to and more compulsive in our use of mobile phones and the Internet. For many of us it is now existentially impossible to take off a day, let alone several weeks, and be on a genuine holiday. Rather, the pressure is on us to constantly check for texts, e-mails, phone messages and the like. The expectation from our families, friends, and colleagues is precisely that we are checking these regularly. The sin du jour is to be, at any time, unavailable, unreachable or non-communicative.

Ron Rolheiser