Those who serve life adapt to changes as they go along. Changes arise from the nature of time; those who know the nature of time do not have fixed ways. Therefore I say “Ways can be guides, but not fixed paths; names can be designated, but not fixed labels”.
Master Wen, Wen-Tzu, precise date unknown, c 5th century BC
photo tognopop
Zen master Daowu visited the assembly of master Shitou.
Daowu asked, “What is the fundamental meaning of the teachings?”
Shitou said, “Not to attain, not to know”.
Daowu, Zen Master, China, 748 – 807
With life as short as a half taken breath,
don’t plant anything but love.
Rumi
photo gila national forest
Solemnity flows out of men naturally; but laughter is a leap.
It is easy to be heavy: hard to be light.
Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly.
GK Chesterton
One of the most satisfying feelings I know – and also one of the most growth-promoting experiences for the other person – comes from my appreciating this individual in the same way that I appreciate a sunset. People are just wonderful as sunsets if I can let them be. In fact, perhaps the reason we can truly appreciate a sunset is that we cannot control it. When I look at a sunset as I did the other evening, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a little on the right hand corner, and put a bit more purple along the base, and use a little more pink in the cloud color.” I don’t do that. I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.
Carl Rogers
Mindfulness helps us get better at seeing the difference between what’s happening and the stories we tell ourselves about what’s happening, stories that get in the way of direct experience. Often such stories treat a fleeting state of mind as if it were our entire and permanent self.
Sharon Salzberg
photo experience kissimmee
