Creates music in its own way

Zen Talks

Snowflake Nursery Rhyme

What does graduate school look like to an outsider?

Me: "Mom, would you like to go to school with me today?"

Mother: "I think I'll pass. I feel very restricted there, everyone seems so serious."

Me (slightly surprised by this response): "They are not serious. They are concentrated."

Mother: "Yeah, exactly. I don't want to go to the concentration camp."

:-D

On engaging life

“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man's life.”

—T.S. Eliot

To engage in life completely

Never give up. No matter what is going on, never give up. Develop the heart. Too much energy is spent developing the mind instead of the heart. Be compassionate, not just to your friends, but to everyone. Be compassionate. Work for peace in your heart and in the world. Work for peace. And I say again, never give up. No matter what is going on around you. Never give up.

~ The Dalai Lama ~ 

Rise Up!

Will Power :)

Freedom to be free

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the people who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread.  They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a person but one thing:  the last of the human freedoms--to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.

Viktor E. Frankl

An Ancient Way to New Freedom

By the 2007 Nobel Laureate in Literature Doris Lessing

Orient Art

This mysterious beauty, this depth -- how it pulls on my heart-strings!

Ah!

Children know this Joy

Maurice Sendak, author of Where the Wild Things Are, tells the story of a boy who wrote to him. "He sent me a charming card with a drawing. I loved it. I answer all my children's letters -- sometimes very hastily -- but this one I lingered over. I sent him a postcard and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, 'Dear Jim, I loved your card.' Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, 'Jim loved your card so much that he ate it.' That to me was one of the highest compliments I've ever received. He didn't care that it was an original drawing or anything. He saw it, he loved it, he ate it." :-D

Voice feelings

Records of Music says, "Music is produced by sound. The root of this is in the human mind's sensitivity to things. For this reason, when people feel sorrow their voices are choked and stifled; when they feel happiness, their voices are cheerful and relaxed. When they feel delight, their voices are excited and expansive; when they feel anger, their voices are rough and harsh. When they feel respect, their voices are plain and clear; when they feel love, their voices are gentle and soft. These six are not spontaneous; they come into play after feeling something."

Excerpted from "Samurai wisdom: lesson's from Japan's warrior culture" / translated by Thomas Cleary.

Slowly and Steadily

What is being transfigured here is your mind,
and it is difficult and slow to become new.
The more faithfully you can endure here,
the more refined your heart will become
for your arrival in the new dawn.

~ John O. Donohue ~

May Your Dreams Come True

...

If your heart is in your dream
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do

...

Be free

 

Source: Calligraphy by Thich Nhat Hanh

On Death, without Exaggeration

It can't take a joke,
find a star, make a bridge.
It knows nothing about weaving, mining, farming,
building ships, or baking cakes.

In our planning for tomorrow,
it has the final word,
which is always beside the point.

It can't even get the things done
that are part of its trade:
dig a grave,
make a coffin,
clean up after itself.

Preoccupied with killing,
it does the job awkwardly,
without system or skill.
As though each of us were its first kill.

Oh, it has its triumphs,
but look at its countless defeats,
missed blows,
and repeat attempts!

Sometimes it isn't strong enough
to swat a fly from the air.
Many are the caterpillars
that have outcrawled it.

All those bulbs, pods,
tentacles, fins, tracheae,
nuptial plumage, and winter fur
show that it has fallen behind
with its halfhearted work.

Ill will won't help
and even our lending a hand with wars and coups d'etat
is so far not enough.

Hearts beat inside eggs.
Babies' skeletons grow.
Seeds, hard at work, sprout their first tiny pair of leaves
and sometimes even tall trees fall away.

Whoever claims that it's omnipotent
is himself living proof
that it's not.

There's no life
that couldn't be immortal
if only for a moment.

Death
always arrives by that very moment too late.

In vain it tugs at the knob
of the invisible door.
As far as you've come
can't be undone.

By Wislawa Szymborska
From "The People on the Bridge", 1986
Translated by S. Baranczak & C. Cavanagh

Strength

 

Talk about making a statement!

...

HOW TO DEFEAT FEAR

Once there was a young warrior. Her teacher told her that she had to do battle with fear. She didn’t want to do that. It seemed too aggressive; it was scary; it seemed unfriendly. But the teacher said she had to do it and gave instructions for the battle.

The day arrived. The student warrior stood on one side, and fear stood on the other. The warrior was feeling very small, and fear was looking big and wrathful. The young warrior roused herself and went toward fear, prostrated three times, and asked, “May I have permission to go into battle with you?”

Fear said, “Thank you for showing me so much respect that you ask permission.”

Then the young warrior said, “How can I defeat you?”

Fear replied, “My weapons are that I talk fast, and I get very close to your face. Then you get completely unnerved, and you do whatever I say. If you don’t do what I tell you, I have no power. You can listen to me, and you can have respect for me. You can even be convinced by me. But if you don’t do what I say, I have no power.”

In that way, the student warrior learned how to defeat fear. 

Source: Excerpted from "The Pocket Pema Chödrön," page 72.

We Build

The most solid stone in the structure is
the lowest one in the foundation.

Khalil Gibran ♥

 

Tricky

...

Oftentimes have I heard you speak of one who commits a wrong as though he were not one of you, but a stranger unto you and an intruder upon your world.
But I say that even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and the weak cannot fall lower than the lowest which is in you also.
And as a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree,
So the wrong-doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
Like a procession you walk together towards your god-self.
You are the way and the wayfarers.
And when one of you falls down he falls for those behind him, a caution against the stumbling stone.
Ay, and he falls for those ahead of him, who though faster and surer of foot, yet removed not the stumbling stone.

... 

Source: Excerpted from the poem "On Crime and Punishment" by Kahlil Gibran.

...

Find myself feeling this wonderful connection with buffaloes this morning. Not sure why, but this animal is what's on my mind. :)
So, here it is -- showing a little love, in my imagined way within present circumstances.

Pretty Direct

“Great is the matter of
birth and death.
Life slips
quickly by.
Time waits
for no one.
Wake up!
Wake up!
Don’t waste a moment.”

- Zen Quote

Then what?

When you have come to the edge of all the light you have and step into the darkness of the unknown, believe that one of the two will happen to you. Either you'll find something solid to stand on or you'll be taught how to fly. ~ Richard Bach

Makes a Difference

Polite speech, polite mannerisms and strong family bonds are attributes common in people who follow the Muslim religion.

By sharing food is how the believers in Hinduism commonly touch the world.

Christian missionaries prove to be very effective in uplifting the hearts and improving the living conditions of people living in extreme poverty.

And Buddhist practitioners seem to naturally offer great comfort and support, by applying their presence and compassion to the people dying at the hospice, or to people living in prisons who have been cast as criminals.

Sure, these aren't the only ways people following the particular spiritual practice make a difference. On observing closely, however, the natural inclination and effectiveness shine forth. Isn't it amazing -- the design of spiritual practice to settle into a natural space of generosity.

An Irish Blessing

by Roma Downey 

May the blessing of light be upon you,
Light on the outside ... light on the inside.
With God's sunlight shining on you,
May your heart glow with warmth
Like a turf fire that welcomes friends
And strangers alike.

May the light of the Lord shine from your eyes
like a candle in the window,
Welcoming the weary traveler.
May the blessing of God's soft rain be on you,
Falling gently on your head,
Refreshing your soul with the sweetness
of little flowers newly blooming.



May the strength of the winds of Heaven bless you,
Carrying the rain to wash your spirit clean,
Sparkling after ... in the sunlight.
May the blessing of God's earth be on you
And as you walk the roads,
May you always have a kind word for those you meet.



May you understand the strength and power of God
in a thunderstorm in winter,
And the quiet beauty of creation
and the calm Of a summer sunset.
And may you come to realize that
insignificant as you may seem
in this great universe,
YOU ARE an important part of God's plan.

May He watch over you
And keep you safe from harm.

Time is the answer

Like to share some beautiful words I heard someone express. They are as so...

If you want to be kind, 

give yourself time.

If you want to be patient, 

give yourself time.

If you want to know yourself well, 

give yourself time.

If you want to know another well, 

give yourself time.

When you do this, it's hard not to relish and wonder at the way time works.

The Eyes

...a window into the heart.

10 Words into 1

 

The narrator's voice blends well with the theme of his speech on the Samurai Spirit.

Enter the Dragon

On some days we slay the dragons, and on other days they slay us. It's remarkable to have the strength of mind for handling both circumstances with a sense of equanimity.

...

...

"Patience is not learned in safety. It is not learned when everything is harmonious and going well. When everything is smooth sailing, who needs patience? If you stay in your room with the door locked and the curtains drawn, everything may seem harmonious, but the minute anything doesn’t go your way, you blow up. There is no cultivation of patience when your pattern is to just try to seek harmony and smooth everything out. Patience implies willingness to be alive rather than trying to seek harmony." 

Source: The Pocket Pema Chödrön, page 72

dum de dum dudum de dum ♪ ♪ ♫

Work

by Kahlil Gibran

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons,
and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.

But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.

You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart,
even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection,
even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy,
even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead
are standing about you and watching.

Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, "He who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet."
But I say, not in sleep but in the overwakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.

Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

With Heart Wide Open

Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more, until the day you die, world without end, amen.

- George Saunders