Our appointment with life is in the present moment.
The place of our appointment is right here, in this very place.
Thich Nhat Hanh
Tag: Meditation
The basic Instruction
Do not pursue the past.
Do not usher in the future.
Rest calmly within present awareness,
clear and non-conceptual
Basic meditation guidance in
The Ocean of Definitive Meaning by Karma Wangchûg Dorjé (1556 – 1603)
Getting a balanced life for Christmas
Today the Christian Liturgy starts to sing the O Antiphons – ancient prayers and aspirations, used over the centuries in the days before Christmas. The first of them wishes that we may grow in wisdom at this time of year around the Winter Solstice, when the days are shorter and nature quietens down, and we reflect on the priorities in our lives. In many old traditions, wisdom was a quality in the person which was so desired and special that it was seen as coming down from above. It was greatly treasured – the best gift one could get in these days – because it gives a perspective and purpose to life and led to contentment.
It is good for us to remember these things when the talk is all about gifts, and getting, and happiness. Mindfulness meditation has two aspects – it grounds us first and then leads us into a felt insight into the marks of reality, namely, that it is always changing and that even the importance we give to ourselves is a constructed, fluid one. This wisdom or perspective is worth cultivating, as it tunes us into a deeper happiness, helping us to maintain our personal boundaries and not overstretch ourselves. It helps us to not link busyness or constant doing with our sense of worth, and stops us filling our days with so much activity that we have no space to sense whether we are truly fulfilling our deepest needs. Real contentment comes from within – from getting a balance in our lives and seeing things clearly.
O Wisdom, coming forth from the mouth of the Most High,
reaching from one end to the other,
and softly putting order in all things:
Come and teach us the way of balance.
Focusing on complete
One must bear in mind that there is a considerable difference between perfection and completeness…. The individual may strive after perfection, but must suffer from the opposite of his [or her] intentions for the sake of ….. completeness.
Jung
Be Happy
Today is the Third Sunday of Advent, traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday, or “Be Happy” Sunday. In practical, day-to-day terms, this starts from a mind that stops struggling with reality and one that realizes that it a moment does not have to be perfect for it to be complete. We do not need everything sorted out in our lives for them to be happy.
When we are using this term ‘basic goodness,’
we are talking about our inherent completeness.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
Happiness is accepting and choosing life, not just submitting grudgingly to it. It comes when we choose to be who we are, to be ourselves, at this present moment of our lives; we choose life as it is, with all its joys, pain, and conflicts. Happiness is living and seeking the truth, together with others in community, and assuming responsibility for our lives and the lives of others….We are not just seeking to be what others want us to be or to conform to the expectations of family, friends, or local ways of being. We have chosen to be who we are, with all that is beautiful and broken in us. We do not slip away from life and live in a world of illusions, dreams, or nightmares. We become present to reality and to life so that we are free to live according to our personal conscience, our sacred sanctuary, where love resides within us and we see others as they are in the depth of their being.
Jean Vanier
Sunday Quote: Where wisdom lies
Besides the noble art of getting things done,
there is the noble art of leaving things undone.
The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.
Lin Yutang, Chinese writer, 1895 – 1976
