Heaven and Earth give themselves.
Air, water, plants, animals, and humans give themselves to each other.
It is in this giving-themselves-to-each-other that we actually live.
Whether you appreciate it or not, it is true.
Kodo Sawaki, 1880 – 1965, Japanese Sōtō Zen teacher
A beautiful idea, similar to the Eastern understanding of natural goodness, or original mind:
Our hands full or not:
The same abundance.
Our eyes open or shut:
The same light.
Yves Jean Bonnefoy, French poet and art historian, 1923 – 2016
with, as before, thanks to david kanigan, Live and Learn blog
photo carrotmadman6
Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it,
listen for what it intends to do with you
Parker Palmer
photo patrick doheny
Some reflections from Brother Roger of Taize who I once met when I spent a silent retreat there. He was a good and kindly man, and outlines here an approach which can shape our whole attitude to this day and to life:
Are there realities which make life beautiful
and of which it can be said that they bring a kind of fulfillment, an inner joy?
Yes, there are. And one of these realities bears the name of trust.
Do we realize that what is best in each of us is built up through a simple trusting?
This is something even a child can do.
Br Roger of Taize
photo nicor
Some reflections on love, for the day that is in it…
The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved.
It simply wants to be witnessed — to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is.
When we make that kind of deep bow to the soul of a suffering person, our respect reinforces the soul’s healing resources, the only resources that can help the sufferer make it through.
Parker Palmer, The Gift of Presence, The Perils of Advice
There is no way into presence except through a love exchange.
Rumi
photo Ian McKenzie
If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it;
blame yourself,
tell yourself that you are not poet enough to call forth its riches;
for to the creator there is no poverty
Rainer Maria Rilke
Mindfulbalance 