Tag: Mindfulness

Learning to let go

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The teaching on impermanence (anicca) is not a morbid fixation on decay but a clear-eyed recognition of the way things are. Everything that arises passes away – this is the nature of all conditioned phenomena. The body, feelings, perceptions, mental formations, and consciousness are all in a state of continual flux.

When we resist this truth, we suffer. We grasp at relationships, possessions, even our own identities, as if they could be permanent. But the tighter we cling, the more pain we feel when they inevitably change.

The path to liberation lies in fully realizing anicca – not just as an idea, but as a direct experience. Through meditation, we watch the breath come and go, sensations shift, thoughts dissolve. Over time, the heart learns to let go. We see that because all things are impermanent, nothing is worth clinging to.

This is why the Buddha said: ‘All conditioned things are impermanent—when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.’ (Dhammapada 277)

Ajahn Amaro, The Island

Pure being

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There seems to be two kinds of searchers: those who seek to make their ego something other than it is, i.e. holy, happy, unselfish . . .

and those who understand
that all such attempts are just gesticulation and playacting, that there is only one thing that can be done,

which is to dis-identify themselves with the ego, by realising its unreality, and by becoming aware of their eternal identity with pure Being.

Wei Wu Wei, [Terence James Stannus Gray] 1895 -1986, writer on Taoism

a different kind of energy

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The moment you have the idea of becoming something, there is striving, there is effort, there is conflict.

But if you can simply observe what is without trying to change it, then there is a totally different kind of energy

– not the energy of resistance, but the energy of understanding.

Jiddu Krisnamurti, Freedom from the Known

Perspective

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Gratitude is the memory of the heart. It is also one of the most direct routes to happiness. When we appreciate what we have, instead of focusing on what we lack, we shift our entire perspective. A simple ‘thank you’ whispered to the universe for a moment of peace, a warm cup of tea, or the sound of rain can open the door to joy. Happiness thrives in a grateful heart.

Joseph Emet, Buddha’s Book of Happiness: Teachings for Achieving Lasting Peace, Joy, and Fearlessness

Change

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The Buddha said that all conditions =

whether they are internal conditions, bodily conditions or external conditions –

are not self, their nature is to change.

Contemplate this truth until you see it clearly

Ajahn Chah, Our Real Home

Sunday Quote: Winds

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Just as a rock is not shaken by a storm,

a wise person is not affected by praise or blame

The Dhammapada, 81