Tag: Mindfulness

Resting on our own ground

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

No one else can ever provide the connection that finally puts the soul at ease. We find that connection when the window of the heart opens, allowing us to bask in the warmth and openness that is our deepest nature. When we look to others for this ground, we wind up trying to control and manipulate them into being there for us in a way that allows us to settle into ourselves. yet this very focus on trying to get something from them prevents us from resting in our own ground, leaving us outwardly dependent and inwardly disconnected.

John Welwood

We are not our thoughts

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We are not our thoughts. Thoughts come and thoughts go.

Unaccompanied thoughts pass quickly.

Thoughts that are thought about become desires.

Desires that are thought about become passions.

Margaret Mary Funk, Thoughts Matter

Caring requires that we reach out

Karl Duffy5 Comments

That it hurts to care is borne out in its etymology,  for “care” derives from the Indo-European word meaning “to cry out” as in a lament. Caring is not passive but an assertion that no matter how strained and messy our relationships can be, it is worth something to be present, with others, doing our small part.

Katherine Norris, Acedia

Obstacles

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When challenges or obstacles arise for us, we don’t have to get so intimidated; we can say, “Yes, it’s an obstacle, but it is not intrinsically bad; it’s not going to destroy me.” To create a relationship with the obstacle, learn about it, and finally overcome it is going to be a helpful thing to do. It gives us a chance to cultivate wisdom and skillful means. It gives us confidence. We cannot eliminate all of the challenges or obstacles in life— our own or anyone else’s. We can only learn to rise to the occasion and face them

Dzigar Kongtrul, Light Comes through


Courage does not mean lack of fear

Karl Duffy2 Comments

The next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. When I was first married, my husband said I was one of the bravest people he knew. When I asked him why, he said because I was a complete coward but went ahead and did things anyhow.

Pema Chodron

What we need to remember when afraid …

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What lies behind us and what lies before us

are tiny matters compared to what lies within us

Ralph Waldo Emerson