Freedom
What is freedom?
It is the moment-by-moment
experience
of not being run
by one’s own
reactive mechanisms.
~Ken McLeod
(1948 to pres., Tibetan translator)
Let Everything Happen
Let everything happen to you:
beauty and terror.
Just keep going.
No feeling is final.
~Rainer Maria Rilke
(1875-1926, Austrian Poet)
Living Energy
If you break open a seed,
there is no tree inside,
there is only spirit;
living energy
in the form of potential.
~Don Mateo Sol
(Shamanic Soulwork teacher)
Seasons
Ten thousand flowers in spring,
the moon in autumn, a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter. If your mind isn’t clouded
by unnecessary things, this is the best season
of your life.
~Wumen Huikai
(1183-1260 Chinese Zen Poet)
Listen
The best way to deal
with excessive thinking
is to just listen to it,
to listen to the mind.
Listening is much more effective
than trying to stop thought
or cut it off.
When we listen
there is a different mode
employed in the heart.
Instead of trying to cut it off,
we receive thought
without making anything out of it.
~Ajahn Amaro
(1956 to pres.,
Abbot of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery,
England)
Inward Illumination
The problem before us
is how to bring about a change
in our hearts and effect
an inner conversion
so that we can see truly and clearly
and learn to discriminate
between truth and untruth.
Since this lies beyond the scope
of body and intellect,
it can only come about
through an inward illumination
of divine wisdom
in the sanctuary of the soul.
~Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj
(1894-1974 Mystic Adept, Spiritual Teacher,
Organizer of World Conference on Unity of Man,
President of the World Fellowship of Religions,
and Sant Satguru of Surat Shabd Yoga)
Silence
Silence allows you to watch your mind
and become aware of the thoughts
that you may be acting on unconsciously.
When you see the thoughts,
you can make a conscious choice
to act on the thought
or change your mind,
instead of going along with the noise.
I have seen people
who don’t want to look at themselves
keep going until something happens
that makes them stop —
a sickness or an accident —
but it gives them that reflective,
quiet space where they can face
what is difficult in their mind.
We each have a unique purpose
to fulfill in this life and inklings
can come in those quiet moments.
~Swami Radhananda
(1914-1995, Spiritual teacher)
