Often what keeps us from joy
is the menacing assumption
that life is happening other than where we are
Mark Nepo
photo of Bantry from outside the town by pam Brophy
Tag: Ireland
Sunday Quote: Life passing us by
Nobody sees a flower really: it is so small
We haven’t time, and to see takes time
Georgia O’Keefe, American painter
photo abertran
Blown by the wind
A big storm with gale force winds hit Ireland overnight, causing high waves and uprooting trees, disrupting schedules and causing difficulties for normal activities. Although unusual, such an event is a useful metaphor for how our minds are at times, as we are subject to moods or get caught up in – and blown along by – the swirling events of a day. Life can create a succession of different storms, events and emotions that can unseat or destabilize us. What we are trying to do in meditation is to sit and tame this mind, cultivating a still center which does not get hooked by the winds of mood and of events:
The stillpoint, the centeredness – that’s awareness. When I cannot notice it and go out into the turning world, I become a person and get caught in my habits, my loves and hates, my likes and dislikes. But if I am centered at this point, it’s like the island you cannot go beyond, or the stillpoint of the turning world, the eye of the storm. And then the world revolves around it. The mood you are in is not the stillness. The mood comes and goes. It changes, revolves; it’s happy, sad, elated, depressed, inspired, bored, loving, hateful, and on and on like this….It’s so easy to say “I’m in a bad mood” or “I’m in a good mood” Our langauge is like that, so we become the mood – “I feel happy today, everything’s fine” or “Today is one of my bad days”. That’s why I encourage this investigation of thought, so that you are not creating yourself, endlessly reinforcing the sense of self through your proliferating thoughts.
Ajahn Sumedho, The Sound of Silence
photo mcmimages1965
Once we notice…
The aspects of things that are most important for us
are hidden because of their simplicity and familiarity.
And this means: we fail to be struck by what, once seen,
is most striking and most powerful.
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations
photo dave parker
Our own path
We are not here to fit in, be well-balanced, or provide exempla for others. We are here to be eccentric, different, perhaps strange, perhaps merely to add our small piece, our little clunky, chunky selves, to the great mosaic of being. As the gods intended, we are here to become more and more ourselves.
James Hollis, What Matters Most
photo of the top of Skellig Michael by mike shields.
A new year: Everything is a gift
Life offers its wisdom generously.
Everything teaches
Not everyone learns
Rachel Naomi Remen
photo Woodstown beach Co.Waterford by tony quilty
Mindfulbalance 