Wake up my heart! The world is passing by;
Life froths and flows by, free for the asking.
Don’t sleep in your body, oblivious,
As the caravan of life goes by your house.
Rumi
Tag: Life
Conscious living
The real goal of a therapy is not a “cure”, for the human condition is not a disease. Yes, real, resistant problems of daily life can and must be addressed and the resources of consciousness brought fully to bear on their resolution. But the real gift of a therapy, or of any truly considered life, is that one achieves a deepened conversation around the meaning of one’s journey – a conversation without which one lives a received life, not one’s own, a superficial life, or a life in service to complexes or ideologies.
James Hollis, What Matter most: Living a more considered Life
photo alexei kuprianov
The key to balance
More wisdom, this time from the Taoism tradition, on keeping our sense of self fluid:
Can you call your mind back from its wandering
and keep to its original oneness?
Can you concentrate the energy of life
and keep it supple like a newborn child?
Can you deal with the most vital matters
by letting events take their course?
Can you step back from your own mind
and in this way understand all things?
Giving birth and nourishing,
having without possessing,
acting with no expectations,
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 10
photo amolnaik3k
Happiness and not judging anything
Some of the early Christian Desert Fathers saying are almost Zen-like in their simplicity. In this example we find echoes of yesterdays post. It contains an instruction on what leads to us being content – finding rest from our inner agitations: Turn the mind away from judgments, either about ourselves or others, keep the self fluid and in this way stop sticking labels on what is happening. Good advice for today.
Abba Poeman said to Abba Joseph, “Tell me how to become a monk”
He said, “If you want to find rest here below…in all circumstances say ‘who am I’ and do not judge anyone”
Why we get no rest
The mind never stops looking for identity and this identity always defines itself through attributes: “the beautiful one”, “the smart one”, “the creative one”, “the successful one”… We are always searching for something to be.
Dzigar Kongtrul, Light Comes Through
Sunday Quote: Deep within
Keep your feet on the top of the mountain
and sound deep to that
of God in everyone
George Fox, 1624 – 1691, founder of the Society of Friends (Quakers)
With thanks to Cilla at http://www.weaversjournal.wordpress.com for the thought
photo wyldnthewoods
