Tag: Life

Serenity

Karl Duffy5 Comments

IMG_2566

A long weekend here in Ireland,  so a chance to refresh and nourish ourselves, taking a step back to notice compulsive running, outside and inside our minds.  Meditation practice is more about settling back into something that is already present,  rather than a need to “achieve” a goal, even a “good” or “calm” goal. Often this desire to achieve is based on a perfect image of ourselves and just fuels an underlying feeling that we are lacking in a fundamental way, needing to be supported and held up.

Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace.
Watch the turmoil of beings,  but contemplate their return.

Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source.
Returning to the source is serenity.

Lao Tzu

with thanks to dear friend Patrick for the picture from his mountain walks in France

Sunday Quote: Nowhere to go, nothing to say

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

mellerey

Beyond words,

in the silencing of thought,

we are already there

Alan Watts

photo monastery walk, mount mellerey October 11

Waiting

Karl Duffy3 Comments

File:Chihuahua waiting in vehicle IMG 0541.JPG

Life is not somewhere waiting for you, it is happening in you. It is not in the future as a goal to be arrived at, it is here now, this very moment — in your breathing, circulating in your blood, beating in your heart – whatsoever you are is your life, and if you start seeking meaning somewhere else, you will miss it. Man has done that for centuries

Osho

photo Billy Hathorn

Staying open

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:Shy Chital Stags.jpg

For things to reveal themselves to us,

we need to be ready to abandon our views about them

Thich Nhat Hanh

 photo sumeet moghe

Not break but bend

Karl Duffy2 Comments

File:Windswept tree in Clare.jpg

Some thoughts  from St Francis de Sales, who lived in the beautiful French town  of Annecy, on  the soft approach we should take toward challenges and towards ourselves:

When you encounter difficulties and contradictions,

do not try to break them,

but bend them with gentleness and time

St Francis de Sales

photo of tree in County Clare by Maureen

Strong back, Soft front

Karl Duffy2 Comments

File:Little girl among tall trees on boardwalk.jpg

Roshi Joan Halifax developed this practice in relation to her work with the dying, but I think it can apply in any workplace.  In meditation practice we develop our capacity to sit still, settle into, and be held up by, the body, rather than our habitual relating to life from just our thinking mind. The strength of the spine allows us to support ourselves. We can then carry this supported sense into whatever our workday brings, keeping an open, soft, welcome for whatever each moment brings. Whenever something challenging is encountered, we can remind ourself of our inner strength by quietly saying to ourselves, “Strong back”. Rather than retreating into a position of defensiveness or fear, we open to things as they are:

All too often our so-called strength comes from fear not love; instead of having a strong back, many of us have a defended front shielding a weak spine. In other words, we walk around brittle and defensive, trying to conceal our lack of confidence. If we strengthen our backs, metaphorically speaking, and develop a spine that’s flexible but sturdy, then we can risk having a front that’s soft and open, representing choiceless compassion. The place in your body where these two meet – strong back and soft front – is the brave, tender ground in which to root our caring deeply.

Joan Halifax