Tag: Life

taking the light within

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

The Summer Solstice

Each morning we awaken to the light and the invitation to a new day in the world of time; each night we surrender to the dark to be taken to play in the world of dreams where time is no more. At birth we were awakened and emerged to become visible in the world. At death we will surrender again to the dark to become invisible.

Awakening and surrender: they  frame each day and each life; between them the journey where anything can happen, the beauty and the frailty.

John O’Donohue.

photo of the Grianán of Aileach in County Donegal by Mark McGaughey on Wikipedia

Stop interfering

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Having the capacity to be still

means stop interfering with what’s happening.

Adyashanti

Just live out your life

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Suzuki Roshi once said about questioning our life, our purpose, “It’s like putting a horse on top of a horse and then climbing on and trying to ride. Riding a horse by itself is hard enough. Why add another horse? Then it’s impossible”

We add that extra horse when we constantly question ourselves rather than just live out our lives, and be who we are at every moment.

Natalie Goldberg, Long Quiet Highway.

the ability to bend

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

When filled with qi, the body is like a tree branch filled with sap; it can bend and flow with the breeze, but it does not snap or lose its connection with the root. On the other hand, a stiff, dead branch is easily broken. Thus the adage of Lao Zi, “Concentrate the qi and you will achieve the utmost suppleness…

Suppleness is the essence of life“

Kenneth S. Cohen, The Way of Qigong

Continually expecting

Karl Duffy2 Comments

Our continual mistake is that we do not concentrate upon the present day, the actual hour, of our life; we live in the past or the future;

We are continually expecting the coming of some special hour when our life shall unfold itself in its full significance.

And we do not observe that life is flowing like water through our fingers, sifting like precious grains from a loosely fastened bag.

Alexander Elchaninov, 1881 – 1943, Russian Orthodox priest 

Never satisfied

Karl Duffy1 Comment

According to Buddhism, the root of suffering is neither the feeling of pain nor of sadness nor even of meaninglessness. Rather, the real root of suffering is this never-ending and pointless pursuit of ephemeral feelings, which causes us to be in a constant state of tension, restlessness and dissatisfaction. Due to this pursuit, the mind is never satisfied. Even when experiencing pleasure, it is not content, because it fears this feeling might soon disappear, and craves that this feeling should stay and intensify. People are liberated from suffering not when they experience this or that fleeting pleasure, but rather when they understand the impermanent nature of all their feelings, and stop craving them.

Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind