The holiest of all holidays are those
Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart
When the full river of feeling overflows
Longfellow, Holidays
Tag: Joy
Sunday Quote: Giving
Love is an activity, not a passive affect; it is a “standing in,” not a “falling for.”
In the most general way, the active character of love can be described by stating that love is primarily giving, not receiving.
Erich Fromm
Taking our thoughts very seriously
These trains of thought and states of mind are constantly changing, like the shapes of clouds in the wind, but we attach great importance to them. An old man watching children at play knows very well that their games are of little consequence. He feels neither elated nor upset at what happens in their game, while the children take it all very seriously. We are just exactly them.
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
The colour of our inner movie
Thoughts can be our best friends and our worst enemies. When they make us feel that the entire world is against us, every perception, every encounter, and the world’s very existence become sources of torment. It is our thoughts themselves that rise up as enemies. They stampede through our mind in droves, each one creating its own little drama of ever-increasing confusion. Nothing is right outside because nothing is right inside. When we get a close look at the tenor of our everyday thoughts, we realize the extent to which they color the inner film that we project onto the world….. According to Andrew Solomon, “In depression, all that is happening in the present is the anticipation of pain in the future, and the present qua present no longer exists at all.” The inability to manage our thoughts proves to be the principal cause of suffering. Learning to tone down the ceaseless racket of disturbing thoughts is a decisive stage on the road to inner peace.
Matthieu Ricard, Happiness
Having what we need
There is a lot of emphasis placed around Christmas on getting things which are always linked to greater happiness or contentment. Gift-giving is nice, and can be a way of showing our love and appreciation for others. However, advertising is based on the presupposition that there is something out there, that I do not have now, that would make me happier if and when I get it. When repeated over and over again this message can distract us from working with the real source of happiness.
Right now, at this moment, we have a mind,
which is all the basic equipment we need
to achieve complete happiness.
The Dalai Lama
Seeing how precious things are
Joy has to do with seeing how big, how completely unobstructed, and how precious things are. Resenting what happens to you and complaining about your life are like refusing to smell the wild roses when you go for a morning walk, or like being so blind you don’t see a huge black raven when it lands in the tree you’re sitting under. We can get so caught up in our own personal pain or worries that we don’t notice that the wind has come up or that somebody has put flowers on the dining room table or that when we walked out in the morning, the flags weren’t up, and that when we came back, they were flying. Resentment, bitterness, and holding a grudge prevent us from seeing and hearing and tasting and delighting.
Pema Chodron, The Wisdom of No Escape
Mindfulbalance 