Philosophy 04 (Jan 25 - Dec 26)

[winston]

Let Go and Be Mindful

Let go of everything but don’t be indifferent.

Let go with reason. Be neutral with mindfulness and wisdom.

Whatever can be done, we do it but our hearts harbor no attachment or aversion to them because attachment is one kind of suffering and aversion is another.

- Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto, “A Spoiled Child”

[winston]

Pain Is a Fact of Life

The pain of our own bodies, hearts and minds and the pain in the world, is not going away.

It’s just a fact of life.

We’re not going to outrun the pain but we can learn to actually practice with mitigating that pain if that’s possible.

- Sebene Selassie, “Finding Belonging in the Body”

[winston]

Accepting What Is

All of us have wanted things to be otherwise at some point in our lives.

All of us have wished for different choices, different stories, different results.

Yet there’s enormous strength — and infinite possibility — in learning to love what is, instead of what should have been and one way to do this is to learn to attend, allow and accept.

- Vanessa Goddard, “The Gift of Contemplation”

[winston]

Never Just One Mind

Consciousness itself is arising and passing away in each instant.

There is not one mind that is observing all phenomena; at every instant “mind” is created and destroyed.

- Joseph Goldstein, “The Nature of Concepts”

[winston]

Sublime Experiences

Liberatory sublime meditative experiences arise 3,000 times a day.

You may have felt it come and go.

You can’t hold on to and use it as a superpower.

Once you allow it to come and go, over time it will settle in you, as a way of being.

- Earthlyn Manuel, “Meditation Is Not Required"

[winston]

Our Relationship in This Moment

We’re not anyone in particular.

Every moment, in response to the conditions in front of us, another person, the sky, the flowers, we are created again.

That’s who we are: our relationship in this moment.

- Norman Fischer, “We Are Our Relationships"

[winston]

Notice the Thread of Life

We may survive a hurricane and have a heart attack the next day.

Our lives are all hanging by a thread. It makes us nervous to think about it, so we try not to.

But that thread has held us up since we were born.

And once in a while, it’s good to notice it so we can be thankful for it.

- Gregg Krech, “Grateful for Nothing”

[winston]

Let Go Happily

Meditation requires diligent effort and clear intention.

You cannot demand that distractions vanish but you can cultivate a deep willingness to repeatedly and happily let go.

- Shaila Catherine, “Access to Absorption”

[winston]

Nirvana Is Right Here

Maybe we think that nirvana is a place where there are no problems, no more delusions.

Maybe we think nirvana is something very beautiful, something unattainable.

We always think nirvana is something very different from our own life.

But we must really understand that it is right here, right now.

- Maezumi, “Appreciate Your Life”

[winston]

Spiritual Work Against Oppression

The structures that are not compatible with life on Earth, will end.

Our spiritual work is either shaking the foundations of injustice or letting go of our reliance on anything that results from oppression.

- Adrienne Maree Brown, “Breaking Is a Part of Healing”