Our difficulties are not obstacles
on the path of self-realization -
they are the path itself.
on the path of self-realization -
they are the path itself.
Ezra Bayda
Tuesday, December 31, 2024
Every Moment is the Guru
Life always gives us exactly the teacher
we need at every moment. This includes
every mosquito, every red light, every traffic jam,
every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),
every illness, every loss, every moment
of joy or depression, every addiction,
every piece of garbage, every breath.
Every moment is the guru.
we need at every moment. This includes
every mosquito, every red light, every traffic jam,
every obnoxious supervisor (or employee),
every illness, every loss, every moment
of joy or depression, every addiction,
every piece of garbage, every breath.
Every moment is the guru.
Charlotte Joko Beck
Monday, December 30, 2024
Nothing is Really Describable
Poetry is the great language because poetry
is the art of saying what can't be said.
Every poet knows this. They're trying to describe
the indescribable, and every poet also knows
that nothing is describable. Whether you take
some sort of ineffable mystical experience
at one extreme or whether you take an ordinary
rusty nail at the other, nothing is really describable.
is the art of saying what can't be said.
Every poet knows this. They're trying to describe
the indescribable, and every poet also knows
that nothing is describable. Whether you take
some sort of ineffable mystical experience
at one extreme or whether you take an ordinary
rusty nail at the other, nothing is really describable.
Alan Watts
Monday, December 23, 2024
Radical Freedom
Nirvana is a practical term for a life in which the fire inside
us is contained in an understanding of our innate freedom
which allows us in the next moment to drop our personal
history and narratives and become something completely
new and different. That is radical freedom.
us is contained in an understanding of our innate freedom
which allows us in the next moment to drop our personal
history and narratives and become something completely
new and different. That is radical freedom.
Peter Coyote
An Awareness at Root
We like to say, well, I know myself. But, if that's the case,
your growth has stopped because you're a fixed entity. And
what the Buddha reminds us of is that we are an awareness
at root. We are fluid and formless and there's an absolute
freedom to that. And if there are things about yourself that
you don't like, they're not fixed, they're habits and they can
be resisted and unwound with suitable labor. So, we're all
in the same boat as far as that goes.
your growth has stopped because you're a fixed entity. And
what the Buddha reminds us of is that we are an awareness
at root. We are fluid and formless and there's an absolute
freedom to that. And if there are things about yourself that
you don't like, they're not fixed, they're habits and they can
be resisted and unwound with suitable labor. So, we're all
in the same boat as far as that goes.
Peter Coyote
We Have No Defense
One of the problems that happens to humans is that from
the moment that adults talk to us when we're an infant,
we have no defense again their description of the world.
the moment that adults talk to us when we're an infant,
we have no defense again their description of the world.
Peter Coyote
To Be Awake is to Be Alive
To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake. How could I have looked him in the face? We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us in our soundest sleep. I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor.
Henry David Thoreau
Enlightenment
It's not that affliction ends.
It's that we get a better toolkit
for dealing with it.
It's that we get a better toolkit
for dealing with it.
Peter Coyote
Containing What Arises
What the Buddha taught was that by meditating and
by understanding that all things are impermanent and
changing, that you can contain whatever arises in you.
And it's the running from what arises within you that
gets us all into trouble.
by understanding that all things are impermanent and
changing, that you can contain whatever arises in you.
And it's the running from what arises within you that
gets us all into trouble.
Peter Coyote
Saved from the Effects of Suffering
The Buddha talked about saving people from suffering
and it took me a while to realize that when you save
somebody from drowning, you don't drain the ocean.
So, I think that really what's being said is he teaches us,
he saves us from the effects of suffering.
and it took me a while to realize that when you save
somebody from drowning, you don't drain the ocean.
So, I think that really what's being said is he teaches us,
he saves us from the effects of suffering.
Peter Coyote
Impermanence
If the universe was fixed, we would have no choices.
But because the universe is always changing,
it's the source of our freedom. So, much as we might
want to be stubborn and keep this situation just as
it is because this is the way I like things, that's just
trying to take a photograph of a river.
But because the universe is always changing,
it's the source of our freedom. So, much as we might
want to be stubborn and keep this situation just as
it is because this is the way I like things, that's just
trying to take a photograph of a river.
Peter Coyote
Sunday, December 22, 2024
The Story Within Our Soul
"Slow" and "down" are modes of the soul; they are connective modes, ways of keeping connected
to oneself and to one's environment. "Slowing downwards" refers to more than simply moving slowly, it meand growing down toward the roots of one's being. Instead of outward growth and upward climb, like at times must turn inward and downward in order to grow in other ways. There is a shift to the verticl down that re-turns us to root memories, root metaphors, and timeless things that shapr our live from within. Slowing downwards creates opportunities to dwell more deeply in one's life, for the home we are looking for in this world is within us all along. The lost home that we are seeking is ourselves;
it is the story we carry within our soul.
Michael Meade
Friday, December 20, 2024
The Things We Consider Problems
Most of the things we consider problems are
problems of the limited perceptions of the self.
problems of the limited perceptions of the self.
Peter Coyote
Dependent Origination
When there is this, that is.
With the arising of this, that arises.
When this is not, neither is that.
With the cessation of this, that ceases.
With the arising of this, that arises.
When this is not, neither is that.
With the cessation of this, that ceases.
The Buddha
The Perfect Man
The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror;
it grasps nothing; it refuses nothing;
it receives, but does not keep.
it grasps nothing; it refuses nothing;
it receives, but does not keep.
Chuang Tzu
We Are at Home
We do not have the life that we planned
or that was planned for us.
In the gaps between there is often sorrow,
yet there is also surprise and fierce wonder.
The original silent is always reappearing,
and when it does, we feel how we belong
in the world and are at home.
or that was planned for us.
In the gaps between there is often sorrow,
yet there is also surprise and fierce wonder.
The original silent is always reappearing,
and when it does, we feel how we belong
in the world and are at home.
John Tarrant
Someone Else Altogether
For you to be always you would be an insufferable bore
and therefore it is arranged that you stop being you after
awhile and then come back as someone else altogether.
and therefore it is arranged that you stop being you after
awhile and then come back as someone else altogether.
Alan Watts
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Mastery of the World
Mastery of the world is achieved by
letting things take their natural course.
letting things take their natural course.
Lao Tzu
Not Different
We are not made of difference stuff
from the people we might choose to scorn.
from the people we might choose to scorn.
David Brazier
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Just Listen
When our thoughts and emotions become overwhelming,
sometimes it's best to just stop and do nothing,
and just listen.
sometimes it's best to just stop and do nothing,
and just listen.
Alan Watts
Monday, December 16, 2024
Egoless Center
And so the whole practitioner is able to,
from the clarity of his egoless center,
observe all relevant forces in a certain situation
in their being, undistorted so that he can respond
to them flawlessly.
from the clarity of his egoless center,
observe all relevant forces in a certain situation
in their being, undistorted so that he can respond
to them flawlessly.
Woei-Lien Chong
What It Is All About
We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes
of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture
that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.
of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture
that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about.
Joseph Campbell
Friday, December 13, 2024
The World I Live In
I have refused to live
locked in the orderly house
of reasons and proofs.
The world I live in and believe in
is wider than that. And anyway,
what's wrong with Maybe?
You wouldn't believe what once or
twice I have seen. I'll just tell you this:
Only if there are angels in your head
will you ever possibly see one.
locked in the orderly house
of reasons and proofs.
The world I live in and believe in
is wider than that. And anyway,
what's wrong with Maybe?
You wouldn't believe what once or
twice I have seen. I'll just tell you this:
Only if there are angels in your head
will you ever possibly see one.
Mary Oliver
Thursday, December 12, 2024
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
We Just Think We Are
We are never really in control.
We just think we are when things
happen to be going our way.
We just think we are when things
happen to be going our way.
Byron Katie
Sunday, December 8, 2024
It is Dangerous
It is dangerous to be right in matters
on which the established authorities
are wrong.
on which the established authorities
are wrong.
Voltaire
Praying
It doesn't have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don't try
to make them elaborate, this isn't
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
Mary Oliver
To Live in this World
You must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against you bones knowing
you own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to
let it go,
to let it go.
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against you bones knowing
you own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to
let it go,
to let it go.
Mary Oliver
Where You Stumble
It is by going down into the abyss that
we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.
we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.
Joseph Campbell
No One's Job But Mine
And one day I understood that
it is no one's job, but mine,
to take care of myself and
make myself happy.
Paulo Coehlo
Deep Intimate Relationship
When one loses the deep
intimate relationship with nature,
Then temples, mosques, and
churches become important.
intimate relationship with nature,
Then temples, mosques, and
churches become important.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Your Own Cage
The soul doesn't know boundaries.
Only the mind does. You are the creator
of your own cage.
Only the mind does. You are the creator
of your own cage.
Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi
What You Truly Love
Feel yourself being quietly drawn
by the pull of what you truly love.
by the pull of what you truly love.
Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi
Your Own Soul
Listen to your own voice, your own soul;
too many people listen to the noise
of the world instead of themselves.
too many people listen to the noise
of the world instead of themselves.
Leon Brown
Individual as Expression
Every individual is an expression
of the whole realm of nature,
a unique action of the total universe.
This fact is rarely, if ever, experienced
by most individuals. Even those who
know it to be true in theory do not sense
of feel it, but continue to be aware
of themselves as isolate "egos"
inside bags of skin.
of the whole realm of nature,
a unique action of the total universe.
This fact is rarely, if ever, experienced
by most individuals. Even those who
know it to be true in theory do not sense
of feel it, but continue to be aware
of themselves as isolate "egos"
inside bags of skin.
Alan Watts
The Finest Medicine
To be silent the whole day long,
see no newspaper, hear no radio,
listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and
completely lazy, thoroughly and
completely indifferent to the fate
of the world is the finest medicine
a man can give himself.
see no newspaper, hear no radio,
listen to no gossip, be thoroughly and
completely lazy, thoroughly and
completely indifferent to the fate
of the world is the finest medicine
a man can give himself.
Henry Miller
Friday, December 6, 2024
One of Two Things Will Happen
Faith is when you've come to the edge of
all the light you know and are about to
step off into the darkness of the unknown.
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:
there will be something solid to stand on or
you will be taught how to fly.
all the light you know and are about to
step off into the darkness of the unknown.
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:
there will be something solid to stand on or
you will be taught how to fly.
Ram Dass
Just Another Moment
The ego is frightened by death, because ego is
part of the incarnation and ends with it.
That is why we learn to identify with our soul,
as the soul continues after death.
For the soul, death is just another moment.
part of the incarnation and ends with it.
That is why we learn to identify with our soul,
as the soul continues after death.
For the soul, death is just another moment.
Ram Dass
Bear the Unbearable
I think the game is to bear the unbearable with a giggle,
with your heart breaking, and then do what you do.
with your heart breaking, and then do what you do.
Ram Dass
It's Just Change
While we don't invite suffering,
when it comes along you work with it.
The only reason you're suffering is because
your mind has attractions and aversions.
Otherwise it's just change.
when it comes along you work with it.
The only reason you're suffering is because
your mind has attractions and aversions.
Otherwise it's just change.
Ram Dass
Contribute Happiness
If I would like to live in a happy world,
maybe what I could contribute is happiness.
maybe what I could contribute is happiness.
Ram Dass
Thursday, December 5, 2024
Loving the Distance
Once the realization is accepted that
even between the closest human beings
infinite distances continue, a wonderful
living side by side can grow, if they succeed
in loving the distance between them which
makes it possible for each to see
the other whole against the sky.
even between the closest human beings
infinite distances continue, a wonderful
living side by side can grow, if they succeed
in loving the distance between them which
makes it possible for each to see
the other whole against the sky.
Rainer Maria Rilke
The Purpose of Life
The purpose of life is to be defeated
by greater and greater things.
by greater and greater things.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Life is in the Right
Let life happen to you.
Believe me: life is
in the right, always.
Believe me: life is
in the right, always.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Not Poet Enough
If your daily life seems poor, do not blame it;
blame yourself that you are not poet enough
to call forth its riches; for the creator,
there is no poverty.
blame yourself that you are not poet enough
to call forth its riches; for the creator,
there is no poverty.
Rainer Maria Rilke
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
The Art Form in Dying
It's the attraction and aversion that keep you
holding to form. The more you are aware of
the spiritual nature of life, the more you see
the moment of death as release or taking off
the tight shoe. And the art form in dying is that,
at the moment of death, you are neither grabbing
at life nor pushing it away. You are neither
pushing nor pulling. So to prepare for
the moment of death, know that the processes
that go on in consciousness are a dissolving
of boundaries.
holding to form. The more you are aware of
the spiritual nature of life, the more you see
the moment of death as release or taking off
the tight shoe. And the art form in dying is that,
at the moment of death, you are neither grabbing
at life nor pushing it away. You are neither
pushing nor pulling. So to prepare for
the moment of death, know that the processes
that go on in consciousness are a dissolving
of boundaries.
Ram Dass
Take Off Your Mask
When you take off your mask,
it's easier for everybody else
to take off theirs.
it's easier for everybody else
to take off theirs.
Ram Dass
Just Witness It All
Everybody's playing with their stories,
who they think they are. It's more fun
to just witness it all, to be the environment
in which this stuff is happening.
who they think they are. It's more fun
to just witness it all, to be the environment
in which this stuff is happening.
Ram Dass
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