Tag: Present moment

Keep it simple

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Footprints in sand.JPG

Really we operate on a very small basis. We think we are great, broadly significant, and that we cover a whole large area. We see ourselves as having a history and a future, and here we are in our big-deal present. But if we look at ourselves clearly in this very moment, we see we are just grains of sand — just little people concerned only with this little dot which is called newness.

We can only operate on one dot at a time, and mindfulness of mind approaches our experience in that way. We are there, and we approach ourselves on the very simple basis of that. That does not particularly have many dimensions, many perspectives; it is just a simple thing.

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche

photo robert lawton

Our tendency to blame

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

When we are disappointed or frustrated, when we’re in pain or when our day’s not going well – these are times when we are likely to … search for an object of blame. Our backbone softens and our heart hardens. Our mantra becomes “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be having this problem”. We believe someone stole our joy and that becomes our view. When we blame we are failing to deal with our own mind. We’re hardening our frustration and jealousy into a little ball and throwing it at somebody else. The minute we say, “it’s your fault!” we are abdicating the throne of our mind

Sakyong Mipham,   Ruling your world

Dont do much

Karl Duffy2 Comments

Wood Duck (Drake)

Meditation  is  simply a question of being. You just quietly  sit,  your body  still,  your speech silent, your mind at  ease,  and  allow thoughts to come and go, without letting them play havoc on  you. If you need something to do, then watch the breathing. This is  a  very  simple process. When you are breathing out, know  that  you are  breathing  out.  When  you breath  in,  know  that  you  are breathing  in, without supplying any kind of extra commentary  or internalized mental gossip.

Sogyal Rinpoche, Essential Advice on Meditation

Not grasping

Karl Duffy1 Comment
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Some things may not be grasped in the moment they are happening. They are  in motion, and thus cannot be fully clear. Things are continually changing, even from minute  to minute. Our main practice is to try to be aware of each breath and each moment, as if it is fresh, without seeing it with preconceived eyes. A second aspect is to say “Don’t know” frequently, and allow events develop, without placing immediate judgmental labels as to whether they are “good” or “bad”
The past mind is unattainable’; the present mind is unattainable; the future mind is unattainable
The Diamond Sutra

….Time for others

Karl Duffy3 Comments

AnamChara : Soul Friendship

Being able to focus on the other person rather than the text you just received has become the new fundamental requirement for having a relationship with that person. If you go to a restaurant these days, for instance, you see people sitting together, at the same table, staring at their video screens, their phone, their iPad, or whatever it may be — and not talking to each other. That’s become the new norm. And what it means is that the connection is being damaged to some extent — threatened by the fact that we’re together, but we’re not together. We’re alone together.

Daniel Goldman, Is Attention the Secret to Emotional Intelligence

Time for ourselves….

Karl Duffy1 Comment

tea22

Drink your tea slowly and reverently,

as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves

–  slowly, evenly –

without rushing toward the future

Thich Nhat Hahn