stages

As every flower fades, so with all youth

And age brings different flowers at each stage of life,

Blooms each and every virtue and wisdom

In their time, and may not last forever.

From within every heart,  life calls, be

Ready for parting, and each new endeavor,

To bravely and without remorse

Find new beauty in the next other.

In all beginnings dwells a magic

Protecting us and helping us to live.

We shall traverse realm on realm,

cleaving to none as a home,

The world of spirit wishes not to fetter us,

He will raise us higher, to wider spaces.

We're hardly at home in one circle,

 Familiar habits make for indolence,

In someone who is ready to depart and travel,
 The crippling habit may dismiss itself.

Perhaps even the hour of death

may bring us home to new fresh spaces

The call of life to us is never ending ...

Well, my heart, bid farewell continually!

~ Hermann Hesse

relaxing into flexibility and composure

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are so used to being caught up in our thoughts and feelings

 that we lose sight of our true nature. The key to meditation

 is to recognize that the host is not the guest. 

 

The comings and goings of thoughts and feelings are like guests

 coming into our homes. Would you let guests run your house? 

Of course not. You're the host. You may consult them, 

but you must be the one to make any final decisions.

 Most of the time, trouble comes when we listen to the guests - 

our fleeting thoughts and feelings - and ignore our responsibility as hosts.

 For example, some people are extremely affected by 

self-disparaging thoughts. But why should our happiness 

depend on passing thoughts? 

Our true nature, is already free and liberated.

 

Who is the host though?

 

Many of us are habituated to tensing up throughout the day.

Due to our postures while sitting or working, we may have pain

in different areas of our bodies. For some of us,even certain words

 or images can trigger tension. Every time these scenarios arise, 

the body responds in a certain way. These are signs that our bodies

 have learned to respond to situations with tension, and there's

blockage.  

 

 Progressive relaxation from head to toe, by placing 

awareness on each body part and feeling its accompanying 

sensations. Not thinking, but experiencing the sensations of the body. 

This practice strengthens our ability to relax both in 

meditation and in daily life. It enhances our brain's flexibility

and stimulates neurons that secret neurotransmitters,

which strengthen our ability to make connections.

This enhancement helps enable composure when we're

faced with difficulties.

 

 

 

 

~ Guo Gu

excerpts from Silent Illumination

 art by WOLFSKULLJACK

 

 

 

 

the little horse

the little horse is newlY

Born)he knows nothing,and feels

everything;all around whom is

perfectly a strange

ness Of sun

light and of fragrance and of

Singing)is ev

erywhere(a welcom

ing dream: is amazing)

a worlD.and in

this world lies:smoothbeautifuL

ly folded;a(breathing and a gro

Wing)silence, who:

is:somE

oNe

.

e.e. cummings

a looking

silence

.is

a

looking

bird:the

turn

ing;edge,of

life

(inquiry before snow

~ e. e. cummings

contentment

 

 

 

 

 

Contentment counters and overrides our constant tendency to grasp and chase after things. Contentment has the flavor of being at ease - grasping nothing, lacking nothing. It is being open and leisurely. In this state, we don't make anything into a big deal, while at the same time we engage with the freshness of each moment. Cultivating an attitude of contentment is engaging with and yet not grasping at causes and conditions.

 

We are swayed by causes and conditions when we feel a sense of lack and when grasping is present. We inevitably get sucked into the vortex of grasping and rejecting, having and lacking.  These polarities bring up all sorts of other issues, such as trying to escape from who we are or, alternately, trying desperately to be someone we're not.

 

There is no formulaic way to cultivate contentment or non-grasping. We need to personally explore the flavor of contentment and digest this feeling little by little, becoming familiar with it in our lives. We can't just force this attitude on ourselves and expect to be able to plow through all of our problems. Contentment is not a mere concept. We need to appreciate the depth of what it means to be content. It is not just being disinterested or detached from everything.

 

When we are content, we appreciate what we have, and we are able to engage fully with whatever may arise. There's a freshness to it. With contentment, we're able to avail ourselves openly of everything, without rejecting anything. In this process, there may be pain and grief, But we are cultivating the ability to feel fully, to be present to whatever arises without judgment. Allowing such feelings to move through us will make us stronger. We are incredibly resilient. Our hearts and minds will eventually accept and release whatever comes through us.

 

 

 

 

~ Guo Gu

from Silent Illumination

 

 

  

a fabrication

 

 

 

 

 

It’s funny how much our surroundings influence our emotions. 

Our joys and sorrows, likes and dislikes are colored by our environment 

so much that often we just let our surroundings dictate our course. 

 

We go along with “public” feelings until we no longer even know

 our own true aspirations. We become a stranger to ourselves,

 molded entirely by society… 

Sometimes I feel caught between two opposing selves — 

the “false self” imposed by society and what I would call my “true self.” 

 

How often we confuse the two and assume society’s mold to be our true self.

 Battles between our two selves rarely result in a peaceful reconciliation.

 Our mind becomes a battlefield...

These are our loneliest moments. Yet every time we survive such a storm, 

we grow a little. Without storms like these, I would not be who I am today.

 But I rarely hear such a storm coming until it is already upon me.

 It seems to appear without warning, as though treading silently

 on silk slippers. I know it must have been brewing a long time,

 simmering in my own thoughts and mental formations,

 but when such a frenzied hurricane strikes,

 nothing outside can help.

 I am battered and torn apart,

 and I am also saved.

I saw that the entity I had taken to be “me” was really a fabrication.

 My true nature, I realized, was much more real,

 both uglier and more beautiful than I could have imagined.

 I saw that I am neither young nor old, existent nor nonexistent.

 My friends know I can be as playful and mischievous as a child.

 I love to kid around and enter fully into the game of life.

 I also know what it is to get angry. And I know the pleasure

 of being praised. I am often on the verge of tears or laughter. 

But beneath all of these emotions, what else is there? 

How can I touch it?

 If there isn’t anything, 

why would I be so certain that there is?

 I understood that I am empty of ideals, hopes, viewpoints, or allegiances.

 I have no promises to keep with others. In that moment,

 the sense of myself as an entity among other entities disappeared. 

I knew that this insight did not arise from disappointment, 

despair, fear, desire, or ignorance. A veil silently lifted effortlessly. 

That is all. If you beat me, stone me, or even shoot me, 

everything that is considered to be “me” will disintegrate.

 Then, what is actually there will reveal itself — faint as smoke, 

elusive as emptiness, and yet neither smoke nor emptiness,

 ugly, nor not ugly, beautiful, yet not beautiful. 

It is like a shadow on a screen.

At that moment, I had the deep feeling that I had returned.

 My clothes, my shoes, even the essence of my being had vanished,

 and I was carefree as a grasshopper pausing on a blade of grass… 

 

When a grasshopper sits on a blade of grass, 

he has no thought of separation, resistance, or blame…

 The green grasshopper blends completely with the green grass… 

It neither retreats nor beckons. It knows nothing of philosophy or ideals. 

It is simply grateful for its ordinary life. Dash across the meadow,

 my dear friend, and greet yesterday’s child. 

 

When you can’t see me, you yourself will return. 

Even when your heart is filled with despair, you will find the same grasshopper

 on the same blade of grass… Some life dilemmas cannot be solved 

by study or rational thought. We just live with them, struggle with them,

 and become one with them…

 To live, we must die every instant.

 We must perish again and again

 in the storms that make life possible.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

from  Fragrant Palm Leaves: Journals 1962–1966

with thanks to the marginalian 

breath deeply with movement

 

 

 

 

~ Judy K Young

Qigong practice is focuses mastering the art of breathing. 

How we breathe has a vital effect on our well-being physically,

 mentally, and spiritually. As you gain more control of your breathing,

 you gain more mastery of the rest of your body.

 
Your heart beats slower and more effectively

Muscles relax

Levels of nitric oxide increase, 

which relaxes blood vessel muscles and lowers blood pressure

Deep breathing is a signal to your body that the danger is over. 

The fight-or-flight hormone production stops and your body 

returns to a neutral, peaceful state. Your mind becomes clear 

and you regain perspective. 

 

This peace spills over into every part of your life.

 

 

 

zen hospice training

.

.

From Zen Hospice training I have taken these three precious gems:

Sit

Breathe

Listen

and carried them around with me everywhere, all week. 

Sitting, not always literally, as in taking the time to settle into each moment, fully. There is a groundedness to be had there, that says, yes, I am here in this place, at this moment. I sit while I walk. I 'sit' while I drive. I 'sit' while I am talking to someone. I 'sit' everywhere, nowadays . . . 

Breathing, as a way of staying anchored in the body. I can't say enough about the gift of belly breath. So much calmness to be drawn from each breath, rising and falling in the belly. Breath has become my constant companion, my best friend, that can help me survive even the most turbulent circumstances.

Listening, as in paying attention to self, and all the thoughts, and emotions, and sensations that arise, moment to moment. Listening, as in keeping eyes, and ears, and all the other sense organs fully open to receive others. This often means talking less, and putting aside the chattering 'I'. 

Three simple things, that can change your life, and the lives of those around you!

.

 

 

~  Marguerite Manteau-Rao

.

be as wood to a carpenter

To put it more simply, let that mysterious grace move in your spirit
 as it will and follow wherever it leads you.  Let it be the active doer 
and you the passive receiver.  Do not meddle with it, but let it be... 

Your part is to be as wood to a carpenter or a home to a dweller.
  Remain blind during this time cutting away all desire to know, 
for knowledge is a hindrance here.  Be content to feel 
this mysterious grace sweetly awaken in the 
depths of your spirit.   Forget everything...

~ The Cloud of Unknowing

by the true, loving will of your heart

For silence is not God, nor speaking; 

fasting is not God, nor eating; 

solitude is not God, nor company; 

nor any other pair of opposites.  

He is hidden between them, 

and cannot be found by anything your soul does, 

but only by the love of your heart. 

He cannot be known by reason, 

he cannot be thought, caught, or sought by understanding.  

But he can be loved and chosen by the true, loving will of your heart.

~ The Cloud of Unknowing

Written anonymously, this practical, unemotional book of instruction focuses on stripping away all earthly ways of knowing, of passing through the cloud of forgetting and piercing the cloud of unknowing that exists between himself and God.  Widely read in the fourteen century for its beauty in aiding a contemplative experience, The Cloud, is better known than the later work, The Book of Privy Counseling which also clearly written by one who has trodden the mystical path himself and offers others a helping hand.

.

the peace that surpasses understanding

 

 

 

 

 

 

imagine

Imagine if all the tumult of the body were to quiet down, 

along with our busy thoughts. 

Imagine if all things that are perishable grew still. 

And imagine if that moment were to go on and on, 

leaving behind all other sights and sounds 

but this one vision 

which ravishes and absorbs 

and fixes the beholder in joy, 

so that the rest of eternal life were like 

that moment of illumination which leaves us breathless. 

~ Saint Augustine

I do not want to step so quickly

.

.

I

Do not

Want to step so quickly

Over a beautiful line on God's palm

As I move through the earth's

Marketplace

Today.

I do not want to touch any object in this world

Without my eyes testifying to the truth

That everything is

My Beloved.

Something has happened

To my understanding of existence

That now makes my heart always full of wonder

And kindness.

I do not

Want to step so quickly

Over this sacred place on God's body

That is right beneath your

Own foot

As I

Dance with

Precious life

Today.

.

~ Hafiz

from The Gift

translation by Daniel Ladinsky

photo by albert watson

.

gratitude

 

 

 

 

 

My generation is on the way out, and each death I have felt as an abruption,

 a tearing away of part of myself. There will be no one like us when we are gone,

 but then there is no one like anyone else, ever. When people die,

 they cannot be replaced. They leave holes that cannot be filled, 

for it is the fate - the genetic and neural fate - of every human being

 to be a unique individual, to find his own path, to live his own life, 

to die his own death. I cannot pretend I am without fear. 

 

But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. 

I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given 

something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. 

I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse 

of writers and readers. Above all, I have been a sentient being, 

a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself 

has been an enormous privilege and adventure.

 

 

 

 
 ~ Oliver Sacks
from Gratitude

with thanks to whiskey river

 

 

one truth

In all ten directions of the universe,

there is only one truth.

When we see clearly, the great teachings are the same.

What can ever be lost?  What can be attained?

If we attain something, it was there from the beginning of time.

If we lose something, it-is hiding somewhere near us.

Look: this ball in my pocket:

can you see how priceless it is?

~ Ryokan

Ryokan's love of children and animals is legendary. 

He often played games with the local children, attested to in his own poetry. 

His reputation for gentleness was sometimes carried to comical extremes. 

One tale is told that, one day when Ryokan returned to his hut 

he discovered a robber who had broken in 

and was in the process of stealing the impoverished monk's few possessions. 

In the thief's haste to leave, he left behind a cushion. 

Ryokan grabbed the cushion and ran after the thief to give it to him. 

This event prompted Ryokan to compose one of his best known poems:

The thief left it behind:

the moon

at my window.