Tag: Present moment

Holding the tension

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We must learn to hold the tension between the reality of the moment and the possibility that something better might emerge. The insight at the heart of nonviolence is that  we live in a tragic gap – a gap between the way things are and the way we know they might be. It is a gap that never has been and never will be closed. If we want to live nonviolent lives, we must learn to stand in the tragic gap, faithfully holding the tension between reality and possibility in hopes of being opened to a third way.  

Parker J. Palmer

Resting on the waves

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To find the Buddhist law, drift east and west, come and go, entrusting yourself to the waves.

Ryokon, 18th Century Zen poet

The “Buddhist law” refers to the truth of how things really are. We can’t understand the nature of reality until we let go of controlling our experience.There’s no way to see clearly what’s going on if on some level we’re attempting to ignore or bypass the stormy weather.

By not resisting, by letting the waves wash through me, I began to relax. Rather than fighting the stormy surges, I rested in an ocean of awareness that embraced all the moving waves. I’d arrived in a sanctuary that felt large enough to hold whatever was going on in my life.

Tara Brach, Entrusting Yourself to the Waves

Restricted by labels

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Keep asking “What idea of self have I dreamed up today?

Zenkei Blanche Hartman,1926-2016, Soto Zen teacher

Sunday Quote: Be fully present

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If we live everything,

life will be faithful to us.  

John O’Donohue

In front of you

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A drop of water has the tastes of the water of the seven seas: there is no need to experience all the ways of worldly life.

The reflections of the moon on one thousand rivers are from the same moon: the mind must be full of light.


Hung Tzu-Ch’eng, 1572-1620, Chinese Philosopher

Sunday Quote: Dancing with life

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God ..[is].. more a verb than a noun, more a process than a conclusion, more an experience than a dogma, more a personal relationship than an idea.

There is Someone dancing with you now, and you are not afraid of making mistakes.

Richard Rohr