Our physical space may be more restricted, but our hearts can still dance
May my ashes, when you have them, friend,
and give them to the ocean
leap in the froth of the waves,
still loving the moment,
still ready, beyond all else,
to dance for the world.
Mary Oliver, Prayer
You deal with your shit in Zen by sitting with it. By breathing right into it. You don’t try and ignore it with pleasant thoughts or lofty ideas, and you don’t try and bury it with solutions.
You deal with it, you work with it, one breath at a time.
Gento Steve Krieger, Head monk Rinzai-ji Zen Center, Los Angeles, Growing Ground
I wake clear and rested, light flooding my room. The day seems endless and free.
But making coffee, I notice three bills I haven’t paid and after showering I notice I need a haircut, and since I’ll be out that way, I think I might as well pick up my shirts. But I so want to spend time in the sun. So I think, well, after these errands, I’ll go to the park, and then I deliberate which park will be just right and decide on one forty minutes away. Finally, wanting to make sure there is some fun in all of this, I call a friend and plan to meet her at a movie at six.
Now I have to hurry along to make sure I can get everywhere on time. But, thankfully, while gassing up, I hear a small bird and lift my head just as a cloud opens and the light floods my mind, and I drop all my plans like change on the ground.
I laugh at myself. I can so easily become a slave to a schedule I create.
Not one of these things is necessary today. I drop everything and follow the bird.
Mark Nepo, The Book of Awakening
Healing is coming to terms with the actuality of things.
Jon Kabat Zinn
The world of suffering changes into a place that brings forth goodness when we can consciously relate to it, rather than identify with the circumstances we are thrown into.
We don’t have to drink the water we’re swimming through.
Ajahn Sucitto, Turning the Wheel of Truth
Any moment, however simple, can be transformative – it all depends on the quality of our attention.
By stopping and paying attention to some of the everyday aspects of our existence, we can wake up to every unique moment of our lives: the particular expression on our child’s face as we say goodbye in the morning, the way the wind blows the sycamore trees on this day compared to others…..
The beauty of life is in the day-do-day details that we can miss when we forget to stop and observe what is before us in each new moment. From the perspective of mindfulness, every moment has value and is worthy of being present to. When we practice the art of stopping, we can enjoy the blessings of nature that are always on our doorstep. We must simply take the time to stop and listen, open our eyes and our senses, and cease being consumed by our tumble dryer of thoughts.
Mark Coleman, Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery
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