I dream of a quiet man
who explains nothing and defends
nothing, but only knows
where the rarest wildflowers
are blooming, and who goes,
and finds that he is smiling
not by his own will.
Wendell Berry, from Given
Tag: Life
No destination in mind
The mark of a moderate man
is freedom from his own ideas.
Tolerant like the sky,
all-pervading like sunlight,
firm like a mountain,
supple like a tree in the wind,
he has no destination in view
and makes use of anything
life happens to bring his way.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 59, translated Stephen Mitchell
Sunday quote: Eyes of wonder
Everything is ceremony
in the wild garden of childhood
Pablo Neruda
Comparing and complaining
The comparing mind frequently takes us away from the unique form of our own life …
One morning the teacher announced to his disciples that they would walk to the top of the mountain. The disciples were surprised because even those who had been with him for years thought the teacher was oblivious to the mountain which looked serenely down on their town.
By midday it became apparent that the teacher had lost direction. Moreover, no provision had been made for food. The disciples grumbled but he continued walking, sometimes through underbrush and sometimes across crumbling rock.
When they reached the summit in the late afternoon, they found other wanderers there ahead of them who had strolled up a well-worn path.
The disciples complained to the teacher. He only said, “Those others have climbed a different mountain.”
From James Carse, Breakfast at the Victory: The Mysticism of Everyday Life
In the concrete
Money is human happiness in the abstract;
He, then, who is no longer capable of enjoying human happiness in the concrete devotes himself utterly to money.
Schopenhauer
Encompassed
All beings are encompassed within one all-encompassing great energy:
This I understood from the coolness of this morning’s passing breeze
Wu-men Hui-k’ai, 1183 -1260, Chinese Chan Master
Mindfulbalance 