A personal blog by a graying (mostly Anglo with light African-American roots) gay left leaning liberal progressive married college-educated Buddhist Baha'i BBC/NPR-listening Professor Emeritus now following the Dharma in Minas Gerais, Brasil.
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - January 13, 2019 💌
In aging, our minds are often permeated by memories of the past or worries about the future. What gets missed is the present - and right there in the moment is the doorway into timelessness.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: A Moment of Stillness
Stillness
in the midst of motion and commotion is free of will, direction, and
time. It is a complete letting be of what is from moment to moment.
—Toni Packer, “Unmasking the Self”
—Toni Packer, “Unmasking the Self”
Saturday, January 12, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Letting Go of the Story
Witnessed
without judgment, the spasms of defense and aggression, the hint of a
child’s tears behind the eyes, relax and dissolve. The story of injury
and humiliation dies on the vine.
—Joel Agee, “Not Found, Not Lost”
—Joel Agee, “Not Found, Not Lost”
Via Daily Dharma: Just Listen
Open yourself to the music of the world in this moment, in this place.
—Martine Batchelor, “Instructions for Listening Meditation”
—Martine Batchelor, “Instructions for Listening Meditation”
Via Daily Dharma: Free To Question
When we ask an open question we have not yet found an answer. And this leaves the mind free, unobstructed, and ready for adventure… There is nothing ignorant or vague about this openness, because questioning actively engages the movement and fluidity of life.
—Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, “The Power of an Open Question”
—Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel, “The Power of an Open Question”
Via Daily Dharma: Transform Challenges Into the Path
Every
meditator has challenges. Rather than taking the obstacles as problems
or as unfortunate distractions, a more useful attitude is to patiently
and contentedly learn the skills and insights that can transform them
into stepping stones along the path of practice.
—Gil Fronsdal, “Evaluate Your Meditation”
—Gil Fronsdal, “Evaluate Your Meditation”
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: Finding What You Need
The
perfect student is you. You have within you all the ingredients you
need to practice. You are in charge, and once you realize this, you will
seek—and find—all the help you need.
—Michael Wenger, “Competing with the Incomparable”
—Michael Wenger, “Competing with the Incomparable”
Via Daily Dharma: Nonviolence Starts Within
Meditation
practice and the cultivation of heart-mind awareness give us the
opportunity to respond to our emotions in a very nonviolent and
compassionate way.
—Gerry Shishin Wick, “The Great Heart Way”
—Gerry Shishin Wick, “The Great Heart Way”
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - January 6, 2019 💌
To us Maharaj-ji often repeated, "Sub Ek!" "It's all One!" He had a gesture in which he would hold up his index finger, almost in admonition, as if to say, "Can't you see it's all One?" Buddha, Christ, Moses, and Krishna are all just different aspects of the same being.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: Turning Problems into Possibilities
The
moment you notice it, take hold of that mental affliction with your
attention and purposefully turn it into an aspiration. It’s as though
you see the mental affliction as raw material, the way a potter would
view clay. You don’t see clay as a problem; you see it as an opportunity
to create something.
—Lama Kathy Wesley, “Your Mistakes Are Progress”
—Lama Kathy Wesley, “Your Mistakes Are Progress”
Via Daily Dharma: Dare To Drop Your Resistance Inbox x
If
we slow down and drop our resistance to work’s unpleasantness, we
discover that we are resourceful enough to be daring, free from fear and
arrogance. Such confidence enables us to know instinctively which
situations need to be confronted, which should be nourished, and which
can be disregarded.
—Michael Carroll, “Mahakala at Work”
—Michael Carroll, “Mahakala at Work”
Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Via Daily Dharma: The Heart of True Happiness
Happiness
is awakening to the question "Who is happy, who is unhappy, who lives,
and who dies?" True happiness is uncaused, arising from the very nature
of being itself.
—Adyashanti, “Conceptions of Happiness”
—Adyashanti, “Conceptions of Happiness”
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - January 9, 2019 💌
When you know how to listen, everybody is the Guru - speaking to you - it's right here, always.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: Here’s Your Chance
Our true self has no idea of being separate, because it is before all ideas and thinking. Each bow is a chance to wake up from the illusion that we are somehow separate from the universe.
—Zen Master Bon Yeon, “Up and Down”
—Zen Master Bon Yeon, “Up and Down”
Thursday, January 3, 2019
Via Ram Dass / Words of Wisdom - January 2, 2019 💌
As I have gone from identity with ego to identity with soul or the witness, I have found a space and a way in relation to the mystery of the universe that allows me to be with the suffering that lives on this plane, mine and others, in a way that doesn't overwhelm me. I'm not overwhelmed by my impotence to take it all away and I don't have to look away from it, and I deal with it as it arises.
- Ram Dass -
Via Daily Dharma: Making Sense of the Moment
Buddhist
practice is never about creating goals and trying to achieve them. It’s
about learning to see clearly for ourselves our own real state in each
and every moment. As we come to see what life really is, we begin to
behave more logically and ethically, because that’s what makes sense.
—Brad Warner, “The Enlightenment Pill”
—Brad Warner, “The Enlightenment Pill”
Via Daily Dharma: Enjoying the Journey
Whatever
technique one is using, remember that the spirit of practice is more
important than the technique. Finding a way to enjoy just sitting is
key. Sitting meditation is a refuge, not a test.
—Narayan Liebenson Grady, “The Refuge of Sitting”
—Narayan Liebenson Grady, “The Refuge of Sitting”
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