Meditation – Page 741 – Mindfulbalance

Wherever you are

February 25, 2014February 25, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Pushing

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 Karl Duffy3 Comments

There is a quick-fix mentality in Ireland and elsewhere today, which even apply to ways of working on ourselves – like the latest surefire diet, or radio interviews which imply that an instant mindfulness session will cure all ills. At the heart of these is a vision of quick change which encourages us to strive and push to achieve. We think that we need to control everything and impose ourselves upon it. While useful at times, this sometimes can mean that we are never happy with anything, including ourselves. Meditation practice encourages a different way, of letting things come to us instead. We sit in meditation and create space, allowing things unfold in their own time.

To push your self forward to experience and illuminate the millions of things, that is delusion.

When the millions of things come forward and illuminate themselves, that is freedom

Dogen, GenjoKoan

Not waiting for a “better” one

February 24, 2014February 23, 2014 Karl Duffy6 Comments

Balance

February 23, 2014February 18, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

Seek patience
and passion
in equal amounts.

Patience alone
will not build the temple.

Passion alone
will destroy its walls.

Maya Angelou

photo Golden Temple, Kyoto by Ellywa

Sunday Quote: Seeing

February 23, 2014February 22, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

It is heaven itself to take what is given,
to see what is plain

Mary Oliver, Daisies

Our shifting energies

February 22, 2014February 21, 2014 Karl Duffy1 Comment

The source of our unease is the unfulfillable longing for a lasting certainty and security, for something solid to hold on to. Unconsciously we expect that if we could just get the right job, the right partner, the right something, our lives would run smoothly. [Instead,] we are encouraged to get comfortable with, begin to relax with, lean into, whatever the experience may be. We are encouraged to drop the storyline and simply pause, look out, and breathe. Simply be present for a few seconds, a few minutes, a few hours, a whole lifetime, with our own shifting energies and with the unpredictability of life as it unfolds, wholly partaking in all experiences just exactly as they are.

Pema Chodron, Taking the Leap

About this Blog

Mindfulbalance supports the slow, patient practice of mindfulness meditation, as a way to find balance and meaning in life, reduce stress and develop health and wellbeing. It contains reflections to encourage the practice of meditation as well as occasional posts from psychology, spirituality and the wisdom traditions. The daily posts are prompted by Rilke's advice: "Write about what your everyday life offers you, your sorrows and desires, the thoughts that pass through your mind, and your belief in some kind of beauty". Written in County Laois, Ireland