Buddha’s Enlightenment:
If you take pride in your attainment or become discouraged because of your idealistic effort, your practice will confine you by a thick wall*
*cited in:
Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind
Shunryu Suzuki
Buddhism
autumn remains
Seeing our finger,
hearing a frog jump into the water,
experiencing the sunrise,
washing one’s face in the early morning –
anything will serve as a medium of realization if the mind is serene ~ Robert Aitken, A Zen Wave
If you stay at a place where a feeling of loneliness
[or sadness, detachment, voidness] comes,
the contemplative absorption arises in us ~Paltrul Rimpoche
accompany you home
Dear Larry,
as the winter winds travel across Wyoming’s landscape
the swirling snow releases its memories of you, lost upon Casper Mountain
its frigid touch awakens me to imagine your
aloneness in that wilderness of blinding snow
cries, deafened by the river of winds,
calling out in hope for
a human form to emerge out of the whiteness
the warmth of a human hand
the sound of a voice, comforting you
to accompany you home.
as I become lost within this winter’s swirling thoughts
the river winds tear into my soul
releasing tears arising from
the darkness of grief’s aloneness, seeking
a knowing to emerge out of ignorance’s darkness
you found peace
within a loving presence
that embraced you
and accompanied you home –
until then may refuge be found within the nature of things.
weekly photo challenge: love
The goddess of the heart
tells us
compassionate loving-kindness
embraces equanimity and joy.
weekly photo challenge: delicate
IN A NEW POST CREATED SPECIFICALLY FOR THIS CHALLENGE, SHARE A PICTURE THAT MEANS DELICATE TO YOU.
Delicate … the dance
of light and shadow
between insight and ignorance
in life and death
from suffering to tranquility
May you become acquainted with tranquil single-pointed concentration . . . those who seek wisdom through the lens of tranquility glimpse reality in the same manner as a lighted candle — the light chases away that which is hidden within a darken closet’s shadows. Insight, once risen, shines light into closed hearts and minds and keeps the gloom of ignorance at bay
space of openness
In the higher Buddhist view, appearances rise from emptiness and dissolve again…It is a process like birth, living, and dying…practice letting come and go…we may rest longer and longer in the space of openness…Don’t try to shape the oneness, or see it as one thing or another, or gain anything from it. Just let things be. This is the way to find your center.
Tulku Thondup, The Healing Power of Mind
