Tag: Life

Like a little fish

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

There is a Hindu story about a little fish who went to the Queen of fishes to ask a question. She asked “I have heard of the Great Ocean; mighty and powerful, sustaining all who dwell therein, universally present, yet deep and fathomless. Where is this Great Ocean, and how do I find it?” The Queen replied, “The Great Ocean is everywhere, all around you, within and without. It is sustaining you even now. You exist within it and because of it, and need only accept yourself as you are to know it fully.”

We, like the little fish, exist within enlightenment all the time, unaware of its workings.

There is only one thing to do when we realize we cannot swallow the sea; relax, let go, and simply be one with it. How enjoyable that is! Our relationship to it changes, and it becomes much more personal.

Kyogen Carlson, 1982-2014, Zen Roots

Non-doing

Karl Duffy2 Comments

The sage Chuang-Tzu was walking with a disciple on a hilltop. They see a crooked, ancient tree without a single straight branch. The disciple says the tree is useless, nothing from it can be used and Chuang-Tzu replies, “That’s the reason it’s ancient. Everyone seem to know how useful it is to be useful. No one seems to know how useful it is to be useless”

Joseph Goldstein, The Practice of Loving Kindness for all

Abundance and inner security

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

A Zen master would call the True Self “the face we had before we were born.”… It is who you are before having done anything right or anything wrong, who you are before having thought about who you are. Thinking creates the false self, the ego self, the insecure self. The God-given contemplative mind, on the other hand, recognizes the God Self, the Christ Self, the True Self of abundance and deep inner security. We start with mere seeing; we end up with recognizing. 

Richard Rohr

Content

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The one who knows that enough is enough

will always have enough.

Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 46

Creating drama

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We do not need to save ourselves from the world

only from ourselves and the stories we create.

May all beings be happy.

Michael Kewley, Former Buddhist monk, currently teaching courses on Awareness and meditation.

Adult questions

Karl Duffy1 Comment

A Zen saying helps us – “This being the case, how shall I proceed?”

That is so much more an adult question than “This being the case, who is at fault?” or “why is this happening to me?”

David Richo, The Five Things we Cannot Change