Tag: Joy

To work with fear – notice, don’t analyse, don’t run

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When we notice that the conditions of the mind and the body are just the way conditions are, it’s a simple recognition. It’s not an analysis and it is not anything special. It’s just a bare recognition, a direct knowing of whatever passes away. Knowing in this way demands a certain amount of patience; otherwise as soon as any fear, anger or unpleasantness arises, we will run away from it. So meditation is also the ability to endure, and bear with, the unpleasant. We don’t seek it out; we are not ascetics, looking for painful things to endure so that we can prove ourselves. We are simply recognizing the way it is right now. Meditation is established on that which is ordinary, not on that which is extraordinary.

Ajahn Sumedho, The Mind and the Way.

Sunday Quote: Courage

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Life shrinks or expands

in proportion to one’s courage.

Anais Nin

Sunday Quote: Content with life as it is

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If you have a garden and a library,

you have everything you need.

Cicero

Staying present with the physical experience

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If you remember nothing else, always remember this: we don’t have to feel any particular way. We don’t have to have special experiences, nor do we have to be any particular way. With whatever arises, whether it’s pleasing or not, try to remember that all we can do is experience and work with whatever our life is right now. No matter what life is and no matter how we feel about it, all that matters in practice is whether we can honestly acknowledge what is going on, and then stay present with the physical experience of that moment.

Ezra Bayda.

If we stopped moving…

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If we were not so single-minded
about keeping our lives moving,
and for once could do nothing,
perhaps a huge silence
might interrupt this sadness
of never understanding ourselves
and of threatening ourselves with death.

Perhaps the earth can teach us
as when everything seems dead
and later proves to be alive.

Paolo Neruda, Keeping Quiet


Freshness

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We had such welcome rain last night. We are already on water restrictions here. Ok, maybe not good for the planned barbecue, but great for the plants and the garden, and especially for the farmers.  There is a freshness that only comes after a storm, as well as growth that only comes with the rain. The law is universal, not just for Nature but also for our inner life.  There are times we need to shelter a while but in the morning after we  find everything fresher and more alive.

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.

John Muir