Look within.
Within is the wellspring of good;
and it is always ready to bubble up, if you just dig.
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Sunday Quote: within
Tag: Mindfulness
in mud, the lotus blooms
There is a hard truth to be told:
before Spring becomes beautiful
it is plug ugly, nothing but mud and muck…
But in that muddy mess,
the conditions for rebirth are being created
Parker Palmer
Effort and non-effort
Ryokan realises that happiness is related to not forcing life, but letting it unfold. The buds in Spring come all by themselves.
Once in a while I just let time move on
Leaning against a solitary pine
Standing without speaking, as does the whole Universe
Ah, who can share this solitude with me?
Ryokan, 1758 – 1831, Soto Zen Buddhist monk
Learn to live lightly
We have to cultivate contentment with what we have.
We really don’t need much. When you know this, the mind settles down.
Cultivate generosity. Delight in giving.
Learn to live lightly.
In this way, we can begin to transform what is negative into what is positive. This is how we start to grow up.
Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo, No Excuses
Start over
The first days of a new Spring
There is no expected pace for inner learning.
What we need to learn comes when we need it, no matter how old or young, no matter how many times we have to start over, no matter how many times we have to learn the same lesson.
We fall down as many times as we need to , to learn how to fall and get up. We fall in love as many times as we need to , to learn how to hold and be held. We suffer pain as often as is necessary for us to learn how to break and how to heal. No one really likes this of course, but we deal with our dislike in the same way, again and again, until we learn what we need to know about the humility of acceptance.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Signs of Spring
Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers today;
And give us not to think so far away
as the uncertain harvest; keep us here
all simply in the springing of the year.
Robert Frost
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