If we strive to be happy by filling all the silences of life with sound,
productive by turning all life’s leisure into work,
and real by turning all our being into doing,
we will only succeed in producing a hell on earth.
Thomas Merton, The Silent Life
Avoidance of discomfort is one of the most powerful drives in us, yet much of its power derives from the belief – the false belief – that we can’t be happy if we’re uncomfortable. One of the great benefits of practice is learning that this belief is not, in fact, an unalterable truth.
Ezra Bayda, Zen Heart
By pausing and accepting our experience, we free ourselves to respond to our circumstances in ways that bring genuine peace and happiness. In a pause, we simply discontinue whatever we are doing. We become wholly present, attentive and, often, physically still. Try it now: Stop reading and sit there, doing “no thing,” and simply notice what you experience.
Taking our hands off the controls and pausing lets us clearly see the wants and fears that drive us. We become conscious of how the feeling that something is missing or wrong keeps us leaning into the future. We can continue our futile attempt to manage our experience, or we can meet our vulnerability with the wisdom of what I call “radical acceptance.”
Tara Brach
photo greymalkn
The reason why men are so anxious to see themselves,
instead of being content to be themselves,
is that they do not really believe in their own existence.
Thomas Merton, A Search for Solitude: Pursuing the Monk’s True Life
photo 4028mdk09
Your body is your first home:
“Breathing in, I arrive in my body.
Breathing out, I am home.”
Thich Nhat Hahn
One reason we do sitting meditation is to strengthen our capacity to be with ourselves. It is a profound act of gentleness, because we allow ourselves to simply be, without any need to achieve or do. The weekend allows us a little more time to cultivate this space in our lives, through winding down, walking in nature, creating some area for “Non-doing”. This is a key to happiness, growth and to real relationships with others.
No other person will completely feel like we do, think like we do, act like we do. Each of us is unique, and our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness. The question is whether we let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we allow it to lead us into solitude. Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Loneliness makes us cling to others in desperation; solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.
Henri Nouwen.
photo simon speed
