Tag: Life

Our natural beauty

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Meditation is getting into the natural situation, the organic natural situation of what we are, directly, thoroughly, properly. In order to do this, we cannot just rent a helicopter and fly to the heart of the matter without any inconvenience. So what shall we do? The obvious thing to do is walk, just to walk on our own feet, just walk. We have to get into the countryside of this intimate natural beauty and walk. That is exactly what the first step of meditation is, going into our natural psychological situation without trying to find some fancy touristic vehicle. It is a very pleasant thing, to begin with, to just walk….Meditation is another dimension of natural beauty. People talk about appreciating natural beauty — climbing mountains, seeing giraffes and tigers in Africa, and all sorts of things. But nobody seems to appreciate this kind of natural beauty of ourselves. This is actually far more beautiful than flora and fauna, far more fantastic, far more painful and colorful and delightful.

Ghogyam Trungpa, Glimpses of Abhidharma

Waking up

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When we are not dwelling in the present moment and our mind is wandering around, we are not aware of what is happening in out body and in our mind. We are like sleep walkers. Waking up is another way of saying “enlightenment” or “awakening”. Waking up is the reminder for us to be awake in everything we do during the day, not just in the morning while we get up. It is awakening in each moment, while we are drinking tea, brushing our teeth, going for a walk. Waking up should be the essence of each moment

Thich Nhat Hahn

Sunshine after a cloudy weekend: The parts of a life

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Perhaps there is more understanding and beauty in life when the glaring sunlight is softened by the patterns of shadows. Perhaps there is more depth in a relationship that has weathered some storms. Experience that never disappoints or saddens or stirs up feeling is a bland experience with little challenge or variation of color. Perhaps it’s when we experience confidence and faith and hope that we see materialize before our eyes this builds up within us a feeling of inner strength, courage, and security. We are all personalities that grow and develop as a result of our experiences, relationships, thoughts, and emotions. We are the sum total of all the parts that go into the making of a life.

Virginia Axline, Dibs, In Search of Self

Sunday Quote: Time

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People sacrifice the present for the future.

But life is available only in the present.

Thich Nhat Hahn

Reflecting on time as the clocks “go back” 1

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I have been driven by that sense of push my whole life, without even realizing it. But if life is indeed beginningless, this means that my past has, in fact, been infinite. The future will be too. So if there is no big rush to get somewhere. I am mistaken in my compulsion. I can take my time, and take more care, to make sure to go where I want to go. What a thrill! A bit of release, a taste of freedom, no more involuntary pressure — so this is beginningless.

Robert Thurman, Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well

How to be steady underneath the waves of life

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To be mindful means that we notice the sound or the smell come into consciousness, and then, instead of pushing the sense impression away or holding on to it, we’re aware of how the mind reacts. We stay centred and notice that the impression and the feeling that arises comes, and then goes. We can actually watch and feel the mind’s inclination to lunge out towards something that’s pleasant, whereas before it would simply lunge out, grasp and then proliferate about it. With mindfulness we can notice the movement of the mind arise and then, when we don’t engage with it, we see it falling away, ceasing. We see that it comes and goes in a wave pattern, and we begin to experience a steadiness underneath the waves. So in this respect mindfulness has two qualities. Firstly, it is dispassionate; it has no particular ambition, it’s neither rejecting or ashamed of anything, nor is it fascinated by anything. Secondly, it notices that things arise and cease.

Ajahn Sucitto, Mindfulness and Clear Comprehension