Zen Student:Is there anything I can do to make myself enlightened?
Zen Master:
As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.
Zen Student:
Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?
Zen Master:
To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise.
#zen #wisdom #practice #awareness #WakeUp #meditation
we chain ourselves to the debts we carry for those who have wounded us. a second wounding from the weight of burdens too heavy and never meant to be carried or held onto.
let them go and be free.
~j
The world is swirling around, a sound over here, a sight over there.
Confusion is an easy companion of distraction.
Where is balance and harmony, when the mind wants to run?
Let the mind stay…
~j
Song of Paldarbom
by Shepa Dorje, the yogi Mila Milarepa
I can contemplate the sky,
But clouds make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on clouds.
“If the sky’s as easy as you say,
Clouds are just the sky’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sky.”
I can contemplate the sea,
But waves make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on waves.
“If the sea’s as easy as you say,
Waves are just the sea’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within the sea.”
I can contemplate my mind,
But thoughts make me uneasy.
Milarepa, tell me how
To meditate on thoughts.
“If your mind’s as easy as you say,
Thoughts are just the mind’s play.
Let your mind stay
Within your mind.”
The secret of the mountain is that the mountains simply exist, as I do myself: the mountains exist simply, which I do not. The mountains have no “meaning,” they are meaning; the mountains are. The sun is round. I ring with life, and the mountains ring, and when I can hear it, there is a ringing that we share. I understand all this, not in my mind but in my heart, knowing how meaningless it is to try to capture what cannot be expressed, knowing that mere words will remain when I read it all again, another day.
~
Peter Matthiessen
it seems, we may need this now more than ever. so much going on that encourages division, that encourages anger and aggression, that encourages the dismissing of individuals as well as whole groups of people.
the good news is that this kindness that transcends is always available, right here, right now in your very own heart.
~j
doing lovingkindness meditation today for so many at the receiving end of horrific violence including Egypt today, and Syria. sitting with the darkness of such anger and violence, in contrast to the Palm Sunday message of Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on the humble donkey as a prince of peace, as opposed to a king of war.
the transformative message of the deep and lasting power (love) present in openness and vulnerability – seemingly powerlessness – is still waiting to take hold. it has to take hold in each of our hearts first…
#LovingKindness #metta #meditation #love #vulnerability #peace #PalmSunday #Jesus #war #violence #anger #darkness #light #TheLongArc #PlantingSeeds
be mindful. be discerning. be awake.
~j
The Metta Garden 