Tag: Present moment

Not in control

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To be immersed in mystery can be very distressing at first, but over time I have found immense relief in it. It takes the pressure off. I no longer have to worry myself to death about what I did right or wrong to cause a good or bad experience- because there is no way of knowing. One of the biggest lessons is the realization that I’m not as much in control of life as I’d like to be. This is not an easy learning, especially for take-charge people like me, people who think they can- and, more important, should- be in control of things. Mysterious as it may be, there is something wonderful at the heart of our existence, and it is about nothing other than love: love for God, love for one another, love for creation, love for life itself.

Gerald May

Pay close attention

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If the doors of perception were cleansed

then everything would appear to man as it is,

Infinite.

William Blake

Mental noise

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In the absence of presence there is only that repetitive mental noise,  and part of that mental noise is the story of me. It’s the problematic story that is hoping that at some point in the future that it will no longer be problematic,  not realizing that what it calls ‘future’ has no actual existence

Eckhart Tolle

Reframing

Karl Duffy1 Comment

You cannot rely on anything. Things change. OK, so this is where your choices begin. We can’t escape life’s essential problems, but we can change our understanding about them. We can practice reframing, generosity, and gratitude. The evanescence of things is the real reason you enjoy your life

Lewis Richmond, Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser

Already awake

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

One of the most powerful Buddhist teachings is that as long as you are wishing for things to change, they never will. As long as you’re wanting yourself to get better, you won’t. As long as you are oriented toward the future, you can never just relax into what you already have or already are. One of the deepest habitual patterns that we have is the feeling that the present moment is not good enough. Instead of looking for fruition, we could just try to stay with our open heart and open mind. By entering into this kind of unconditional relationship with ourselves, we can begin to connect with the awake quality that we already have

Pema Chodron

Saturday pause

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

Many of us have been running all our lives. We have the feeling that we need to run — into the future, away from the past, out from wherever we are. In truth, we don’t need to go anywhere. We just need to sit down and look deeply to discover that the whole cosmos is right here within us.

Thich Nhat Hahn