Tag: Joy

Something to practice with today

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snowdrop
What in this moment
Is lacking?

Rinzai.

Being gentle today

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compassion55

If your compassion does not include yourself,

it is incomplete.

Jack Kornfield

The mist, the wind and the rain.

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File:Mist on Blessington Lake - geograph.org.uk - 1615577.jpg

How would it be to allow for knowing

and not knowing: allowing room

for the mystery of creating

to be able to wonder softly

without needing to understand everything

to trust in the process

to trust in love

to trust in the mystery and wonder

of the universe

that beats softly wildly

true

all round about us,

that is hidden in the mists

in the clouds and the rain

in the wind blowing and the rain lashing down on your window,

reminding you poetically

prosaically

that this is where you are,

on the island, at the edge,

in a place of finding  and refinding,

and remembering

to remember

the feel of the mist, wind and rain.

John O’ Donohue

photo of mist on Blessington Lake, Co Wicklow by irishflyfisher

Focusing on what matters

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IMG_1551

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect? Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,
 
which is mostly standing still and learning to be astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium. The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,
 
which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

from Mary Oliver,  Messenger

Attaching happiness to experiences

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Discarded: Christmas trees are often left in the street once the holiday season is over

When the underlying causes that produced and perpetuated an experience of happiness change, most people end up blaming either external conditions or themselves. However, because it reflects a loss of confidence in oneself, or in the things we’re taught to believe should bring us happiness, blame only makes the search for happiness more difficult.

Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche.

Stories at Christmas

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Happy Christmas from Lidl Ireland - Lidl Christmas Ad 2013

Christmas is a time which amplifies our tendency to generate a lot of stories about ourselves and how our lives are going. We are surrounded by many images – happy families, perfect relationships, cheerful celebrations – and if our personal situation does not match them,  we can be tempted to feel that something is wrong. The key to keeping the mind relaxed at times like this is to be aware of the feelings provoked, and see them as mental energies to be worked with. In this way we can observe them as stories and not take them  as the truth about our life:

Our life is becoming more and more inundated with TV shows, movies, videos, magazines and newspaper articles that seem to show and tell us what life is like. And then the inevitable comparisons arise: “My life isn’t like that” or “I wish it were” or “It is exactly like that”. The moment we notice sad and painful feelings arising, from thoughts like “I’m unloved; I feel separate and isolated” can we immediately stop, look and listen instead of  going on weaving fancy narratives about ourselves? Can we stop and ask, “Where is this feeling coming from? ” Right now. Asking right this moment. Becoming more transparent to the thoughts and images that evoke these feelings and then deepen, embellish and propagate them. Becoming aware, let us taste directly how stories run our lives.

Toni Parker, The Silent Question.