The things we really need come to us only as gifts, and in order to receive them as gifts, we have to be open. In order to be open we have to renounce ourselves, in a sense we have to die to our image of ourselves, our autonomy, our fixation upon our self-willed destiny. We have to be able to relax the psychic and spiritual cramp which knots us in the painful, vulnerable, helpless “I” that is all we know of ourselves.
Thomas Merton, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
The whole of life lies in the verb “seeing”
Teilhard de Chardin, Jesuit theologian and palaeontologist
Everything that slows us down
and forces patience,
everything that sets us back
into the slow circles of nature,
is a help.
Gardening is an instrument of grace.
May Sarton
photo m tullottes
Mindfulness meditation is a wonderful tool for making each day, each moment of our life count. Paradoxically this is achieved by not doing more, but by doing less. We may feel that we need to do the things have to be done faster so that we have time for doing more things. Mindfulness practice goes the other way. I may need to go to the store to get a carton of milk. The way to make the experience more satisfying is not doing it as fast as possible while thinking of other things, but to enjoy the walk to the store by paying attention. This way, we make every moment count. We are not sacrificing the means for the goal. Otherwise, our day becomes a series of dry chores.
Joseph Emet, Buddha’s Book of Sleep
When the heart is released from clinging,
then consciousness does not land anywhere.
That state, I tell you, is without sorrow, affliction or despair.
The Buddha, Samyutta Nikaya 12.64
photo alex valavanis
A nice reminder from Charlotte Joko Beck that we do not have to look far for things to practice with. Might be pleased to have a mosquito considering the cold rain showers we are having in Ireland.
Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need
at every moment.
This includes every mosquito,
every misfortune,
every red light,
every traffic jam,
every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),
every illness, every loss,
every moment of joy or depression,
every addiction,
every piece of garbage,
every breath.
Every moment is the guru.
Charlotte Joko Beck
photo abenteurer morane
