Philosophy 04 (Jan 25 - Dec 26)

[winston]

This Very Moment

The only place we can rest is in this very moment, living deeply and richly and fully right now, meeting each person and event with an open heart.

This is where we have a chance to meet joy, to come home to our breath and our true nature.

- Laura Burges, “Living from the Inside Out”

[winston]

Emptiness in Perspective

Emptiness is not a denial of existence but a subtler perspective that all phenomena are impermanent and interrelated.

- Miranda Shaw, PhD, “Mothers of Liberation”

[winston]

Uncertainty and Impermanence

We don’t know when love will arrive. We don’t know when it will fade.

We can only know that the unexpected will happen, that certainty is a falsity and that things will be impermanent regardless of how tightly we clench our fists around them.

- Sunita Puri, “A Gift”

[winston]

A Free Body

A free body is a relaxed body, an open body.

The foundation of all of our not knowing, of all our deeper, freer ways of knowing, is embodied presence.

- Martin Aylward, “Why We Should Turn Towards Mystery”

[winston]

Tranquility Supports Wisdom

With the support of tranquility, what is wise, will often be obvious and simple.

This is especially true in meditation; everyone has the ability to be wise in meditation, provided we are not too agitated to recognize it.

- Gil Fronsdal, “A Satisfying State of Happiness”

[winston]

The Wholeness of the Mind

The mind is of infinite variety and that’s important to recognize.

This kind of wholeness is the ultimate creative space.

Everything arises in it and never leaves it.

- Anne C. Klein, “Softening into Wholeness”

[winston]

Relax and Let It Be

The world is perfect as it is. Down to the smallest, most insignificant detail.

The ant crawling across the floor. The spider hanging on the tree. The birds flying.

Just let it be. Relax.

Relax totally and completely.

- Guo Jun, “Zen’s Seven Wonders”

[winston]

Determination Will Arise

When the great root of faith and the great ball of doubt are present, great determination will arise.

Great determination is a strong resolve that wells up from the bottom of our gut and spurs us on.

We already believe that we ourselves are intrinsically awake; we only need discover what is within us.

- Koun Yamada, “Great Faith, Great Doubt, Great Determination”

[winston]

The Freedom to Evolve

Compassion releases others from your struggle to make them conform to your wishes.

There is a great deal of kindness in giving others the freedom to evolve naturally as they are — and a lot of patience involved in that.

= Jetsün Khandro, “3 Basic Laws of Nature That Can’t Be Ignored”

[winston]

Forget the Self

To study the self — your thoughts, etc. — is to forget the self.

And to forget the self is what? It’s to be enlightened by all things.

- Charlotte Joko Beck, “Life’s Not a Problem”