The Leaf is Singing Still

What can I say that I
have not said before?
So I'll say it again.
The leaf has a song in it.
Stone is the face of patience.
Inside the river there is
an unfinishable story
and you are somewhere in it
and it will never end until all ends.
Take you busy heart to the art
museum and the chamber of commerce
but take it also to the forest.
The song you heard singing in the leaf
when you were a child
is singing still.
I am of years lived, so far, seventy-four,
and the leaf is singing still.

Mary Oliver

The Whole Universe

To the mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders.

Lao Tzu

Already Perfect

There is nothing to achieve, there is nowhere to go,
there is nothing to be done. We are already divine
and we are already perfect - as we are.
No improvement is needed, no improvement at all.
God never creates anybody imperfect.

Osho

What Use?

Of what use is the universe?
What is the practical application
of a million galaxies?

Alan Watts

Because of Their Striving

Everyone is in pain because of their striving
to achieve something, but no on realizes it.
By no more than this instruction,
the fortunate one attains tranquility.

Ashtavakra Gita

The Most Difficult Thing

You don't want to be an ordinary person.
That is really the problem. It is the most
difficult thing to be an ordinary person.
Culture demands you must be something
other than what you are. That has created
a certain momentum - a tremendous,
powerful movement of thought.
That's all that it is. Otherwise it has no use.

U.G. Krishnamurti

Including Moderation

Everything in moderation,
including moderation.

Oscar Wilde

To Know Itself

The cosmos is within us.
We are made of star-stuff.
We are a way for the universe
to know itself.

Carl Sagan

There is Nothing Lacking

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

Lao Tzu

Don't Miss the Flower Show

It's OK to be a late bloomer,
as long as you don't miss
the flower show!

Jane Fonda

Be It

I've been searching for years for the ideal place.
And I've come to the realization that the only way
to find it is to be it.

Alan Watts

Take the "er" Out

Take the "er" out of feel-er, think-er, own-er of bodies.
Take the "er" out of know-er, and connect-er to awareness.
The "er" assumes a do-er, a self-er, and receiver.
Take the "er" out, de-centers.
Try on the possibility that there is no-thing doing the 
feeling and thinking and witnessing and connecting.
Why would this matter?
Well, if there's no "er," then how can experience happen?
What's left, without self-ers?
Happenings. Lots and lots and lots of happening.
Not knowers of happenings.
Not awarenesses of happenings.
Just happenings.
Instead of experience-er of things,
it's simply all actual experience.

Judy Cohen

That's Okay

When you sit alone quietly,
it's something beautiful,
even if nobody sees it.
When a little flower appears
in a crack between two rocks,
it's a beautiful sight.
People may never see it,
but that's okay.

Thich Nhat Hanh

The Problem Isn't You

If you're struggling to change your life,
achieve your goals, or feel happier,
I want you to hear this: The problem isn't you.
The problem is the power you unknowingly
give to other people.

Mel Robbins

No Control

The reality is, no matter how
hard you try or what you do,
you cannot control other people.
And yet, you live your life
as if you can.

Mel Robbins

Create Something

In a time of destruction,
CREATE something.

Maxine Hong Kingston

Doing My Job

If I'm not deleting myself,
I'm not doing my job.

Byron Katie

Mystical Fool

There is a mystical fool in me
that proved to be stronger
than all my science.

Carl Jung

More Myself

I never change.
I simply become
more myself.

Joyce Carol Oates

We Are Experience Itself

If we ARE this experience -
this feeling, then that one,
and then that one - it is also us.
This is it. If we are experience itself,
then who is there to change it,
and what would need anything
to be different?

Judy Cohen

Experience is What We Are

What if THIS IS IT,
and there's nothing we can do
to control the universe?
A feeling, a thought ...
What else is there but this?
That is existence itself.
The experience is what we ARE.
Everything else is thought.

Judy Cohen

Too Old

I'm too old to
pussyfoot around.

Judy Cohen

So What

So feelings come. You like them. You don't like them. 
So what. Maybe it doesn't matter what you feel.
This is it, liked or not. And wouldn't it be something,
or even no-thing, if it turned out that you like that.

Judy Cohen

A Single Flower

If we could see the miracle
of a single flower clearly,
our whole life would change.

The Buddha

Bumper Wisdom

Don't believe
everything
you think.

Bumper Sticker

Where Jazz Comes From

It's out there, man.
Don't you hear it?

Dizzy Gillespie

Not-Minding That We Do Mind

If we really want to not-mind something,
we could play with not-minding
that we do mind what happens.

Judy Cohen

No Wiser

Now that I know that I am no wiser than anyone else,
does this wisdom make me wiser?

Hugh Prather

All the Time They Weren't

What an absurd amount of energy I have been wasting
all my life trying to find out how things "really are,"
when all the time they weren't.

Hugh Prather

That's All We Have

It's not possible to know what's true. About anything.
It's only possible to believe rather than know.
It's always just beliefs. That's all we have.

Judy Cohen

The Life That is Waiting

We must be willing to get rid of the life we've planned,
so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

Joseph Campbell

What Am I?

Am I the bulb that carries the light?
Or am I the light of which the bulb is a vehicle?
This body is a vehicle of consciousness
and if you can identify with the consciousness
you can watch this thing go like an old car.

There goes the fender. There goes this.

But it's expectable. You know? And then

gradually the whole thing drops off and

consciousness rejoins consciousness.

It's no longer in this particular environment.

Joseph Campbell

No Maintenance

Entropy requires
no maintenance.

Robert Anton Wilson

No Such Thing

If everything were consciousness, there
could be no such thing as consciousness.

Michael Markham

You're Every Experience

When you're every experience, what
could you become that you aren't already?

Goodbye stillness, lessons, and the path or journey.

When you're experience itself, where are you

going to go where you aren't already?

Judy Cohen

Pause and Reflect

Whenever you find yourself
on the side of the majority,
it's time to pause and reflect.

Mark Twain

Clear and Transparent

When all thoughts
Are exhausted
I slip into the woods
And gather
A pile of shepherd's purse.
Like the little stream
Making its way
Through the mossy crevices
I, too, quitely
Turn clear and transparent.

Taigu Ryokan

Let the World Take Care of Itself

Too lazy to be ambitious,
I let the world take care of itself.
Ten days' worth of rice in my bag;
a bundle of twigs by the fireplace.
Why chatter about delusion and enlightenment?
Listening to the night rain on my roof,
I sit comfortably, with both legs stretched out.

Taigu Ryoken

All Home Together

Aging is what life does and

whatever happens tomorrow,
next month, or next year,

today we are all home together.

Lewis Richmond

It's Today

"What day is it?" asked Pooh.
"It's today," squeaked Piglet.
"My favorite day," said Pooh.

A.A. Milne

Every Moment an Opportunity

Every moment is also an opportunity
for something new.

Lewis Richmond

The Ultimate Fact

That you are here right now
is the ultimate fact.

Shunryu Suzuki

This Moment

Gratitude
IS this moment.

Shunryu Suzuki

Why Do We Meditate?

So we can enjoy
our old age.

Shunryu Suzuki

Dying Young

I always planned

to die young,
just later on.

Dick Van Dyke (paraphrased)

New Chances

Every breath,
new chances.

Lewis Richmond

The Way

This is
the way.

The Mandalorian

I Love You

I love you not only for what you are,
but for what I am when I am with you.
I love you not only for what you
have made of yourself,
but for what you are making of me.
I love you for the part of me
that you bring out.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Way We Learn

To know that we don't know,
yet to keep practicing, is the way
we learn to go deeper.

Ezra Bayda

Our Core Beliefs

Our core beliefs need to be seen for what they are:
deeply held assumptions about reality 
that our particular life circumstances have
conditioned us to accept as absolute truth.

Ezra Bayda

Essential Roots of Happiness

Having gratitude for being alive, being able
to experience an inner delight in the moment,
is one of the essential roots of happiness.

Ezra Bayda

Those People Are Us

We wonder how people can't see
the most obvious things about themselves,
yet we forget those people are us.

Ezra Bayda

Where Real Freedom Lies

Experiencing, rather than trying
to have special experiences,
is where real freedom lies.

Ezra Bayda

Ordinary, Everyday Mantra

Being here now,
doing this.

Dan Metevier