Wanting to reform the world
without discovering one’s true self
is like trying to cover the world with leather
to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns.
It is much simpler to wear shoes.
~Ramana Maharshi
(1879 to 1950 Advaita Vedanta Mystic)
The important thing
is not to think much,
but to love much;
and so do that
which best stirs you
to love.
~St. Teresa Of Ávila
(1515-1582, Spanish Mystic)
All of us need to begin by respecting ourselves
and see how we can spread that respect around
to include everyone we encounter,
everyone we practice with,
everyone we see on the street.
To understand their suffering when they’re suffering,
knowing that they have feelings just as we do.
To be kind to them and to be kind to ourselves.
To take care of their suffering
as we take care of our own suffering.
To see how intimately we are woven together
with each being and to embrace ourselves
as we are and to embrace everyone
as she or he is.
And if someone needs some improvement,
work with the person.
I could use a little improvement.
Help me.
If you could use a little improvement,
ask for help.
~Zenkei Blanche Hartman
(1926-2016, Soto Zen teacher,
co-abbess of the San Francisco Zen Center)
May we trust and live
from the purity of our boundless,
radiant heart.
And may we hold hands
as we awaken together,
bringing our shared caring
to this precious, troubled, mysterious,
and beautiful world.
~Tara Brach
(1953 to pres., Psychologist and Buddhist Teacher)
Those who speak much
and waste their precious energy
in the idle and loose talk
cannot listen to the Heavenly Melody.
It is the inner single-minded devotion and attention
which grants this Rapturous Listening.
~Sant Kirpal Singh
(February 06, 1894 to August 21, 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)
The wonderful thing about patience,
unlike commodities,
is the more we use it,
the more we offer it,
the more we have.
~Allan Lokos
(Interfaith minister, meditation teacher, and author,
director of the Community of Peace and Spirituality)
It’s about waking up
in the morning and saying:
No matter what gets done
and how much is done
and how it’s done,
I’m enough,
and I’m worthy
of belonging and love and joy.
~Brené Brown
(1965 to pres., Research Psychologist)
We are living in a culture entirely hypnotized
by the illusion of time,
in which the so-called present moment
is felt as nothing but an infinitesimal hairline
between an all-powerfully causative past
and an absorbingly important future.
We have no present.
Our consciousness is almost completely preoccupied
with memory and expectation.
We do not realize that there never was, is, nor will be
any other experience than present experience.
We are therefore out of touch with reality.
We confuse the world as talked about,
described, and measured
with the world which actually is.
We are sick with a fascination
for the useful tools of names and numbers,
of symbols, signs, conceptions and ideas.
~Alan W. Watts
(1915-1973, British Zen Buddhist teacher)
An important point
is to meet yourself with kindness,
be present with your human self,
just like you would be patient and kind
with a small child you care about.
Criticizing yourself
simply adds to the difficulty.
~Lama Palden Drolma
(1952 to pres., founder and spiritual director
of Sukhasiddhi Foundation,
cofounder of the Feminine Wisdom School)
As human beings we are meant
to go through transitions
throughout our phases of life
in order to become fully human,
to become true elders
who have wisdom to pass down the generations.
With each transition in our life,
we go through a descent
where we let go of an old identity
so that the energies and the motivation
for the new can emerge.
One of the reasons we go on retreat
and keep a daily practice
is because we’re training in descent.
We go into liminal space, between worlds,
where we separate from what we know
as we are birthed into a new phase of life.
~Erin Selover
(Therapist, Strategic Coach,
Consultant with Courageous Leadership,
serves on the Teachers Council
at Spirit Rock Meditation Center)
Thought for Today 