Children, old people, vagabonds laugh easily and heartily:
they have nothing to lose and hope for little.
In renunciation lies a delicious taste of simplicity and deep peace.
Matthieu Ricard
photo kyle flood
Tag: Life
Through the mist
It might be liberating to think of human life as informed by losses and disappearances just as much as by gifted appearances, allowing a more present participation and witness to the difficulty of living. What is real can never be fully taken away; its essence always remains. It might set us a little freer to believe that there is no path in life – in the low valley… or abroad in the mountain night – that does not lead to some form of heartbreak when the outer narrative disappears and then reappears in a different form. If we are sincere, every … relationship will break our hearts in order to enlarge our understanding of our self and that strange other with whom we have promised ourselves to the future. We learn, grow and become compassionate and generous as much through exile as homecoming; as much through loss as gain, as much through giving things away as in receiving what we believe to be our due.
David Whyte, The Poetic Narrative Of Our Times
photo lis burke
Relating to all
One of the most toxic new-age ideas is that we should “keep a positive attitude.” What a crazy, crazy idea that is. It is much healthier, much more healing, to allow yourself to feel whatever is coming up in you, and allow yourself to work with that anxiety, depression, grief. Because, underneath that, if you allow those feelings to come up and express themselves, then you can find the truly positive way of living in relationship to those feelings. That’s such an important thing…..It’s not about some “spiritual experience” of being high all the time. Not at all. It is about living with the ongoing stresses and strains and difficulties – and joys – of life, but doing so in a way that we feel whole. Living in relationship with the struggles of life is what makes us human.
Michael Lerner, The Difference between Healing and Curing
photo andrea westmorland
Life as it is
It would be great if life proceeded from one moment of perfect happiness to the next, but for most of us, this is not the case. So, just as Dante did, we must proceed by another path, the path through our personal hell, where we encounter moments of pain and feelings of loss and confusion. Given that this is so, you can either live in denial of the truth of your experience or obsess on your pains and disappointments. Or you can consciously accept, even embrace life not working out and trust that in doing so you will discover meaning in your life.
If you choose to consciously embrace pain and loss as your teachers, life itself is not disappointing; it is a series of moments to practice being with life as it is.
Philipp Moffitt, Living with Disappointment
Darkness and light
Today is the Christian feast of Candlemas, which traditionally involved the blessing of candles for use in the home. It was a reminder that light will return, sustaining people around this midway point of winter, giving encouragement when the cold and darkness seemed to be never-ending. It helped people to realise that darkness and not-knowing are natural parts of the cycle of life and death, just as are periods of cold and lack of growth. Stepping into unknown territory is necessary from time to time.
Life is a good teacher and a good friend. Things are always in transition if we could only realize it. Nothing ever sums itself up in the way that we would like to dream about. The spiritual journey involves going beyond hope and fear, stepping into unknown territory, continually moving forward. The most important aspect of being on the spiritual path may be to just keep moving. Usually, when we reach our limit, we freeze in terror. Our bodies freeze and so do our minds. Rather than indulge or reject our experience, we can somehow let the energy of the emotion, the quality of what we’re feeling pierce us to the heart. This is a noble way to live. It’s the path of compassion – the path of cultivating human bravery and kindheartedness.
Pema Chodron.
Sunday Quote: Nowhere to go
We have what we seek
it is there all the time
and if we give it time,
it will make itself known to us.
Thomas Merton
photo the mightyquill
