We must also remember that it is not our responsibility to fix all the brokenness of the world — only to fix what we can. Otherwise we become grandiose, as if we were put here to be the savior of the humanity around us.
Mindfulness and compassion are genuinely undertaken one step at a time, one person, one moment.
Jack Kornfield
There is only one thing that all twelve stages [of the Four Noble Truths] have in common — they all present a highly subjective experience without mention of self. They are all expressed as: “There is; it is to be; it has been.”
The unenlightened perspective surely is: “I am; I should; I have…” If I was a mathematician, I could probably draw up an equation based upon these data which concludes: “I am” = “unenlightenment.”
The description of the practice of the Four Noble Truths does not suggest a process of becoming enlightened. It seems that a particular viewpoint is sustained, and understanding arises through it. The viewpoint is a focus upon dukkha [suffering/ stress] in an objective, dispassionate way. …This leads to a most powerful insight because it reveals that dukkha is structured, created and not absolute, and therefore possible to be dismantled or not created.
Ajahn Sucitto, The Dawn of the Dhamma
What the Buddha said is that you are a verb, not a noun. What you’re doing is what is real, not who’s doing it.
Buddha said this is the basic mistake we all make and is why we suffer.
For example, only walking is real, not the walker or the path. And, the more attached you are to yourself – “you” being a thing – the more trouble you get into.
Mas Kodani, Jodo Shinshu Buddhist teacher
In his
eternal search for truth, the
poet is alone.
He tries to be timeless in a
society built on time.
Jack Kerouac, Lines Written
I live by the truth that “No” is a complete sentence.
I rest as a spiritual act.
Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
The first real cold spell of winter expected over the next few days. We prefer life to be all sunshine, but…
Without the bitterest cold that penetrates to the very bone,
how can plum blossoms send forth their fragrance all over the world?
Dogen, 1200 – 1253, Buddhist monk, founder of the Soto school of Zen.
