We have a tendency to think in terms of doing and not in terms of being. We think that when we are not doing anything we are wasting our time.
But that is not true. Our time is first of all for us to be.
‘To be what’? To be alive, to be peaceful, to be joyful, to be loving.
And that is what the world needs most
Thich Nhat Hanh
A person’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment.
If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue.
Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Samurai, later Buddhist priest, 1659 – 1719, Hagakure
Our problems arise when we subordinate this moment to something else, our self-centered thoughts, not just his moment, but what I want.
We bring to the moment our personal priorities, all day long
And so our troubles begin
Charlotte Joko Beck
I had a similar encounter yesterday with swallows in Emo Park
There are days when I am convinced that Heaven starts already, now, in this ordinary life, just as it is, in all its incompleteness, yet, this is where Heaven starts.
See within yourself, if you can find it.
I walked through the field in front of the house, lots of swallows flying, everywhere! Some very near me. It was magical.
We are already one, yet we know it not.
Thomas Merton
In sharp contrast to all this [current] self-seeking exceptionality, God works through the ordinary. Meister Eckhart gives us a word here:
“If you are doing anything special, you are not seeking God“
Maggie Ross, Silence, A User’s Guide
Enjoying life is not difficult in the exciting moments. However, the key is the ordinary moments….
I like to sit on a verandah overlooking the valley, counting the Pleiades coming up in the cold air, the Crow, the Big Bear turning around the pole as the night goes on.
And that’s what meditation is like really, doing nothing, looking at nothing in particular, relishing the plainness, the life in between.
John Tarrant, Bring me the Rhinoceros
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