Tag: Life

Good news

Karl Duffy2 Comments

File:Dandelion and Ocean.jpg

The good news they do not print.
The good news  we do print.
We have a special edition every moment,
and we need you to read it.
The good news is that you are alive,
that the linden tree is still there,
standing firm in the harsh winter.
The good news is that you have wonderful eyes
to touch the blue sky.
The good news is that your child is there before you,
and your arms are available: hugging is possible.

They only print what is wrong.
Look at each of our special editions.
We always offer the things that are not wrong.
We want you to benefit from them
and help protect them.
The dandelion is there by the sidewalk,
smiling its wondrous smile, singing the song of eternity.
Listen! You have ears that can hear it.
Bow your head. Listen to it.
Leave behind the world of sorrow, of preoccupation,
and get free.

The latest good news
is that you can do it

Thich Nhat Hanh

photo Paul Davidson

Running just to stand still

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Busy.jpg

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.

If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!

The Red Queen, in Through the Looking Glass

photo trishna datta

Our restless heart

Karl Duffy1 Comment

tree

I love you, gentlest of Ways,
who ripened us as we wrestled with you.

you, the great homesickness we could never shake off,
you, the forest that always surrounded us,

you, the song we sang in every silence,
you dark net threading through us,

on the day you made us you created yourself,
and we grew sturdy in your sunlight…

let your hand rest on the rim of heaven now and mutely bear the darkness we bring over you.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Book of Hours,  translation anita barrows and joanna macy

The many faces

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A man came up to Jesus and complained about the hiddenness of God. ‘Rabbi, he said, ‘I am an old man. During my whole life, I have always kept the commandments. Every night of my life, I have not retired to my bed without first saying my prayers. But … I look at stars and sometimes the mountains – and wait, wait for God to come so that I might see him. I have waited for years and years, but in vain. Why? Why? Mine is a great grievance, Rabbi! Why doesn’t God show himself?’

Jesus smiled and responded gently: ‘Once upon a time there was a marble throne at the eastern gate of a great city. On this throne sat 3,000 kings. All of them called upon
God to appear so that they might see him, but all went to their graves with their wishes unfulfilled. ‘Then, when the kings had died, a pauper, barefooted and hungry, came and sat upon that throne. “God,” he whispered, “the eyes of a human being cannot look directly at the sun, for they would be blinded. How then can they look directly at you? Have pity, Lord, temper your strength, and turn down your splendour so that I, who am poor and afflicted, may see you!”

‘Then – listen, old man – God became a piece of bread, a cup of cool water, a warm tunic, a hut and, in front of the hut, a woman nursing an infant.’ ‘Thank you, Lord,’ he whispered. ‘You humbled yourself for my sake. You became the bread, water, a warm tunic, and a wife and a child in order that I might see you. And I did see you. I bow down and worship your beloved many-faced face.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Miracle is all around us

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Noticing the extraordinary in the ordinary

Faith does not spring out of nothing.
It comes with the discovery of the holy dimension of our existence.
Suddenly we become aware that our lips touch the veil
That hangs before the Holy of Holies.
Our faith is lit up for a time with the light from behind the veil.
Faith opens our hearts for the entrance of the holy.
This is how close we are to the holy.
When we open ourselves up to the possibility
That God can be there in any moment,
Miracle is all around us.

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Suddenly we become Aware

Beyond good and bad

Karl Duffy1 Comment

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Our minds are continually splitting our experiences into “good” and “bad”, and coming to quick conclusions which can close down our openness to what is happening.

An extract from the visit of a small boy named Sin Hae to the temple of Hui Neng, the sixth and last Patriarch of Chan Buddhism, 638–713

Sin Hae stood up and bowed, saying, “Teach me.”

Hui Neng said, “You should not think of good and of bad; cut all thinking and all speech. Right now, what is it that teaches you?”

Sin Hae bowed, saying, “I don’t know.”

The Zen Master said, “Keep this ‘don’t know’ mind at all times, and you will understand what teaches you.”