You must descend from
your head into your heart.
At present your thoughts of God
are in your head. And God Himself is,
as it were, outside you, and
so your prayer and other spiritual
exercises remain exterior.
Whilst you are still
in your head, thoughts will not easily be subdued but
will always be whirling about, like snow
in winter or clouds of mosquitoes in summer.
Saint Theophan the Recluse, (1815–1894) monk of the Russian Orthodox Church
photo alan Murray-Rust
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment.
A man’s whole life is a succession of moment after moment.
If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and
nothing else to pursue.
Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Samurai, 1659 – 1719, Hagakure
photo of our cat Barney doing his meditation practice.
The mind isn’t always a shining light, is it? Even if you don’t act upon them, becoming aware of jealous, moaning, manipulative, greedy or fearful states of mind is uncomfortable. We tend to ignore such moods or bury them under activity or distraction, but as long as they’re not dealt with, we’re divided internally. So what would it take to become whole and peaceful? Isn’t that about relating to how it is right now from a place of compassion and non-identification? Isn’t that the faculty that could be developed to a lasting excellence, which would provide us with a good perspective and attitude?
Ajahn Sucitto, Good Enough
photo Shawn Allen California USA
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is acquired.
In the pursuit of the Way, every day something is dropped.
Less and less is done until non-action is achieved.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 48
“Non-doing” – Wu-wei, – meaning “not to force”, refers to what we understand of one’s acting accordingly to one’s nature, of one’s swimming downstream, sailing before the wind, rolling like the waves or one’s bending in order to win.
Alan Watts, Tao: the Watercourse Way
photo sharon loxton
So many of our troubles, personal and political, come from “either-or” thinking. For example, when I’m talking with a person who holds religious or political beliefs that differ from my own, either-or thinking can create a combative situation: “I’m right, so he/she is wrong. Therefore, my job is to win this argument by any means possible.” But ”both-and” thinking can lead to something much more creative: “Maybe I don’t have everything right, and maybe he/she doesn’t have everything wrong. Maybe both of us see part of the truth. If I speak and listen in that spirit, we both might learn something that will expand our understanding.”
Think of how much more civil and creative our conversations across lines of difference would be if we thought that way more often! We’d be working to create a container to hold our differences hospitably instead of trying to win an argument.
Of course, like everything human, this issue begins inside of us, in how we hold our own internal paradoxes. If we can’t hold our inner complexities as both-and instead of either-or, we can’t possibly extend that kind of hospitality to another person. Here’s an ancient truth about being human: we cannot give gifts to others that we are unable to give to ourselves! That’s why “inner work” done well is never selfish. Ultimately, it will benefit other people.
Parker Palmer, Holding Paradox
When you treat your time as though you are a machine; a doing machine;
you are committing violence against the sacredness of life itself.
Philip Moffit
Mindfulbalance 