A thought prompted by the traditional fires lit on this important Celtic feast day of Samhain which marks the start of winter or the “darker half” of the year and which have transferred over into the celebration of Halloween.
When you do something,
you should burn yourself completely,
like a good bonfire,
leaving no trace of yourself.
Shunryu Suzuki
photo janne karaste
Beyond words,
in the silencing of thought,
we are already there
Alan Watts
photo monastery walk, mount mellerey October 11
Some thoughts from St Francis de Sales, who lived in the beautiful French town of Annecy, on the soft approach we should take toward challenges and towards ourselves:
When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,
do not try to break them,
but bend them with gentleness and time
St Francis de Sales
photo of tree in County Clare by Maureen
The deepest words of the wise…teach us…
the same as the whistle of the wind when it blows
or the sound of the water when it is flowing
Antonio Marchado
photo of the Allondon river near Crozet, France.
A brief moment of reflection and gratitude. The blog started its sixth year this week. We recently passed 300,000 visits and over 1500 people who follow each day. As I have said before, I try to keep it simple – looking for words or ideas that help mindfulness meditation practice without me getting in the way too much, and hoping that they touch one or two readers in the same way as they help me. Thank you all so much for visiting. As Autumn deepens, we reflect and move on:
Here in Ireland the Gaelic word for October is Deireadh Fomhair, which means the “last harvesting” of what was planted earlier in the year. The weather system has changed these past few days, the leaves have started to fall in earnest, and it is clearer to see how Autumn signals a change in energy, a winding-down, as all of nature – and that includes us – prepares for the different tempo and darker days of winter. So we can use it as a season to find our balance between our past and our future, as our focus naturally turns more inward. We can use it as a time to look back on the work we have done this year, the way we have expended our energy. We can use it to take stock of what we are investing in and harvesting in our lives. Or we can use it to wind down and create space, recognizing the unwise busyness that only creates more anxiety in our minds, keeping us running a lot, but sometimes just making us feel more empty.
Western laziness consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity,
so that there is no time at all to confront the real issues.
Sogyal Rinpoche
photo Jeff Borden
Gorgeous, amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention: mangoes, grandnieces, Bach, ponds. This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible. If you say, “Well, that’s pretty much what I thought I’d see,” you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here. […] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.
Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers
Early morning on the River Barrow at Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow
Mindfulbalance 