Tag: Stress Reduction

Attached to the idea

Karl DuffyLeave a comment

File:Comic book superheros (7153401117).jpg

In the midst of this vast, unfathomable, ever-changing, dying, and renewing flow of life, the human brain  ceaselessly engages in trying to fix for itself a state of permanency and certainty. Having the capacity to think and form pictures of ourselves, to remember them and become deeply attached to them, we take this world of pictures and ideas for real. We thoroughly believe in the reality of the picture story of our personal life. We are totally identified with it and want it to go on forever.  The idea of “forever” is itself an invention of the human brain. Forever is a dream.

Toni Packer, The Work of this Moment

photo helgi halldorsson

The way of letting things be

Karl Duffy1 Comment

File:Butterfly butterflies bugs flowers.jpg

With no mind,  flowers invite the butterfly;
With no mind,  the butterfly visits the flowers.
Yet when flowers bloom, the butterfly comes;
When the butterfly comes, the flowers bloom.

I don’t know others, Others don’t know me.
By not-knowing we follow nature’s course.

Ryōkan Taigu, 1758 – 1831

Saturday : Step back

Karl Duffy1 Comment
blowing_bubbles_
This body’s lifetime is like a bubble’s:
may as well let things go.
Hopes and events seldom agree,
but the one who can step back doesn’t worry
We blossom and fade like flowers
we gather and part like clouds
earthly thoughts I forgot long ago
relaxing all day on a mountain peak
Shiwu, Chinese Zen Poet, 1272 – 1352,  Mountain Poems, No. 31

Staying in the present moment

Karl Duffy3 Comments

File:Pug lying in bed with its head on the pillow.jpg

When we wake up in bed on Monday morning and think of the various hurdles we’ve got to jump that day, immediately we feel sad.

Bored and bothered.

Whereas actually we’re just lying in bed.

Alan Watts

photo christoper michel

A simple practice

Karl Duffy4 Comments

File:Traffic signal in Italy with red light.jpg

Driving is a daily task in this society. I am not suggesting that you stop driving, just that you do it consciously. While we are driving, we think only about arriving. Therefore, every time that we see a red light, we are not very happy. The red light is a kind on enemy that prevents us from attaining our goal. But we can also see the red light as a bell of mindfulness, reminding us to return to the present moment…. It is easy to transform a feeling of irritation into a pleasant feeling. Although it is the same red light, it becomes different. It becomes a friend, helping us to remember that it is only in the present moment that we can live our lives…

The next time you are caught in a traffic jam, don’t fight it. It’s useless to fight. Sit back and smile to yourself. Enjoy the present moment, breathing and smiling, and make the other people in your car happy. Happiness is there if you know how to breathe and smile, because happiness can always be found in the present moment. Practicing meditation is to go back to the present moment to encounter the flower, the blue sky, the child. Happiness is available.

 Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace is Every Step.

Rising above worries

Karl Duffy1 Comment

 

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Everyone is overridden by thoughts;
that’s why they have so much heartache and sorrow.
At times I give myself up to thought purposefully;


But when I choose, I spring up from those under its sway.

I am like a high-flying bird, and thought is a gnat:
How should a gnat overpower me?

Rumi

photo andrew bowden