The five instructions given to Machig Labdron in the 12th century by her teacher Padampa Sangye
Confess your hidden faults.
Approach what you find distasteful.
Help those you do not want to help.
Anything you are attached to, let go of.
Go to the places that scare you.
Fairy tales are more than true
not because they tell us that dragons exist
but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten
G.K. Chesterson
With the mind, you can apply inwardly the same attention. When your eyes are closed, you can listen to the inner voices that “speak” in the mind. They say “I am this…”I should not be like that”. You can use those voices for bringing you to the space between thoughts. Rather than making a big problem about the obsession and fears that go on in your mind, you can open your attention and see those obsessions and fears as mental conditions that come and go in space. This way, even an negative thought can take you to emptiness.
Ajahn Sumedho, The Mind and the Way
Life is no passing memory of what has been
nor the remaining pages in a great book
waiting to be read.
It is the opening of eyes long closed.
Davids Whyte, The Opening of Eyes
Photo of Lake Leman from Nyon by Alexandra Lee
When we use the term “basic goodness”,
we are talking about our inherent completeness.
Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche
You were born with goodness and trust.
You were born with ideals and dreams.
You were born with greatness.
You were born with wings.
You are not meant for crawling, so don’t.
You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.
Rumi
