Tag: Joy

Travelling lightly

Karl Duffy3 Comments

It’s like a dance. And we have to give each being space to dance their dance. Everything is dancing; even the molecules inside the cells are dancing. But we make our lives so heavy. We have these incredibly heavy burdens we carry with us like rocks in a big rucksack. We think that carrying this big heavy rucksack is our security; we think it grounds us. We don’t realize the freedom, the lightness of just dropping it off, letting it go. That doesn’t mean giving up relationships; it doesn’t mean giving up one’s profession, or one’s family,or one’s home. It has nothing to do with that; it’s not an external change. It’s an internal change. It’s a change from holding on tightly to holding very lightly.

Tenzin Palmo, Into the Heart of Life

The light of Summer

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File:Summer Solstice Sunrise over Stonehenge 2005.jpgWe can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark;
the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.

Plato

Demystifying the relationship we have with our mind, our thoughts and emotions, is the essence of the mindfulness practice. It is like switching on the light in a dark room; no matter how long a room has remained in a state of darkness, once we turn on the light, everything is illuminated.

Dzigar Kongtrul, Light Comes Through: Buddhist Teachings on Awakening to Our Natural Intelligence

The basic instructions

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Instructions for living a life:

Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

Mary Oliver, Sometimes

Attentive to all around

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And as with prayer, which is a dipping of oneself toward the light,

there is a consequence of attentiveness to the grass itself,

and the sky itself, and to the floating bird. . . .

I too leave the fret and enclosure of my own life

I too dip myself toward the immeasurable.

Mary Oliver,  Winter Hours

Appreciation, today

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Have you ever noticed how much emphasis some people place on even the smallest amount of difficulty in their lives, and how little time they spend reflecting on moments of happiness? Part of the reason for this is the idea that happiness is somehow rightfully ours, and that everything else is therefore wrong or out of place.

The idea of taking time out to be grateful may sound a little trite to some, but it’s essential if we want to get some more headspace. It’s very difficult to be caught up in lots of distracting thoughts when there is a strong sense of appreciation in your life. And by developing a more heartfelt appreciation of what we have, we also begin to see more clearly what’s missing in the lives of others.

Andy Puddicombe, Ten Tips for Living more Mindfully

The key question

Karl Duffy2 Comments

As I go through all kinds of feelings and experiences in my journey through life — delight, surprise, chagrin, dismay — I hold this question as a guiding light: “What do I really need right now to be happy?” What I come to over and over again is that only qualities as vast and deep as love, connection, and kindness will really make me happy in any sort of enduring way.

Sharon Salzberg