It is not “human genius”
that makes us human, but an old love,
an old intelligence of the heart
we gather to us from the world,
from the creatures, from the angels
of inspiration, from the dead —
an intelligence merely nonexistent
to those who do not have it, but
to those who have it more dear than life.
Wendell Berry, Some Further Words (extract)
Someone asked me, “Aren’t you worried about the state of the world?” I allowed myself to breathe and then I said, “What is most important is not to allow your anxiety about what happens in the world to fill your heart. If your heart is filled with anxiety, you will get sick, and you will not be able to help.” Yes, there is tremendous suffering all over the world, but knowing this need not paralyze us. If we practice mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful sitting, and working in mindfulness, we can try our best to help.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Returning to our relationship with the present moment, is an attempt to arrive at a total grasp of the universe, and thus keep …anchored in the moving stream of life, which embraces known and unknown.
Any and every moment, from this viewpoint, is therefore good or right, the best for whoever it be, for on how one orients himself to the moment depends the failure or fruitfulness of it.
Make an island of yourself, make yourself your refuge; there is no other refuge.
Make truth your island, make truth your refuge; there is no other refuge.
The Buddha
Here is an amazement – once I was twenty years old and in every motion of my body there was a delicious ease, and in every motion of the green earth there was a hint of paradise, and now I am sixty years old, and it is the same.
Mary Oliver, The West Wind
There are never enough hours to satisfy the minions of wants. So close
your eyes and lean into the Oneness that asks nothing of you.
When the calls stack, answer to no one, though you receive them all.
Just open your beautiful hands, born with nothing in them.
You have never been more
complete than in this incomplete moment.
Mark Nepo, The Myth of Urgency
