But maybe that’s the way it should be.
Maybe working on the little things as dutifully and honestly as we can is how we stay sane when the world is falling apart
Haruki Murakami, Samsa in Love
The little things
Tag: Joy
The five remembrances
Reminders to live fully, with joy and a deep appreciation of this precious human life.
The Buddha recommends that we recite the “Five Remembrances” every day:
1. I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
2. I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health.
3. I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
4. All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. There is no way to escape being separated from them.
5. My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand.
Thich Nhat Hahn
A daily practice
There is dying in the sense of letting this body go, letting go of feelings, emotions, these things we call our identity, and practicing to let those go.
The trouble is, we don’t let ourselves die day by day. Instead, we carry ideas about each other and ourselves. Sometimes it’s good, but sometimes it’s detrimental to our growth. We brand ourselves and imprison ourselves to an idea.
Letting go is a practice not only when you reach 90. It’s one of the highest practices. This can move you toward equanimity, a state of freedom, a form of peace.
Waking up each day as a rebirth, now that is a practice.
Brother Phap Dung, Plum Village senior disciple, Thich Nhat Hanh’s final mindfulness lesson: how to die peacefully
A larger brightness
On the Feast of All Saints
Strangely, all of life’s problems, dilemmas, and difficulties are not resolved not by negativity, attack, criticism, force, or logical resolution, but always by falling into a larger “brightness” – by falling into the good, the true, and the beautiful – by falling into God.
Richard Rohr, Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life
Sunday Quote: Wholehearted
The eve of the feast of Samhain, marking the end of the harvest season. It was the most important of the four Celtic Festivals, the start of winter and the darker part of the year. Bonfires were lit as a reminder of the victory of light over the increasing dark days.
When you do something,
you should burn yourself completely,
like a good bonfire,
leaving no trace of yourself.
Shunryu Suzuki
Transfiguration
Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration.
You don’t have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see.
Only, who could have the courage to see it.
Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
