Life

we have enough…

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment
Thich Nhat Hanh calligraphy

can we find happiness, here in this moment?if not here and now, then when?
this underlying dissatisfaction and dis-ease is at the heart of Buddhism’s First Noble Truth, that life is suffering.
not that life is itself some horrible or tragic thing, not at all. our suffering partly comes from attaching ourselves to things, people and life as if these things won’t change or pass away in a world where all things change and pass away. and our suffering also comes from a desire that we must have things a certain way or that we must have more in order to be happy, to have happiness.

and yes, we have goals and dreams and these can be great motivators and they can bring benefit and happiness to ourselves and others.
but can we be happy in this moment, even while we journey towards those goals and dreams? 
can we be happy in this moment if they don’t happen or happen the way we thought they would?

can we be happy with just what is, here and now?
this is a struggle in western culture, in a culture of want, driven by attainment of things, people, and status. 
we have enough.
the Thich Nhat Hanh calligraphy and the quote below remind us that we can have happiness right now, here where we are at. 

there is abundance.
“I see a fearless generosity in the flowers and trees, in the way birds sing out at dawn, in the steady drumming of the rain. As I grew older and found I had things to protect, I forgot. I completely forgot that I had always had enough in the first place. Now I am trying to learn this once again—total abundance, nothing begrudged.”

~ Sallie Tisdale
#WeHaveEnough #abundance #happiness #life #suffering #peace

finding myself, I offer myself…

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Sitting quietly,one minute, one hour, no matter,

finding the quiet within
I find myself again and again.

Finding myself, I offer the quiet light

to those on the street, in the office,

all around me.

To the lost and suffering beings, to the

   bewildered

and questioning,

even to the bare tree with its leafless

branches filled with chirping sparrows.
~ Roshi Pat Enkyo O’Hara

“Quiet friend who has come so far…”

~ jaysen ~ Leave a comment

  

friends ~
a new favorite poem to share. this one from Rainer Maria Rilke. please read and enjoy. short comment follows ~j
 
Quiet friend who has come so far,

feel how your breathing makes more space around you.

Let this darkness be a bell tower

and you the bell. As you ring,
what batters you becomes your strength.

Move back and forth into the change.

What is it like, such intensity of pain?

If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.
In this uncontainable night,

be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,

the meaning discovered there.
And if the world has ceased to hear you,

say to the silent earth: I flow.

To the rushing water, speak: I am.
Sonnets to Orpheus II, 29
by Rainer Maria Rilke

as the Buddhist scholar and environmentalist, Joanna Macy, has said about this poem – each of us can claim this. each of us was born from the web of life. take joy in this. no room for self-pity.

~j