Changing Places

“And whatever your path is at this moment, every single step is equal in substance. Every step actualizes the self. Every moment of practice is always the koan of having to agree to your condition, to bring unlimited friendliness to what you are, just as you are, right now. Even your obnoxiousness, your failures, your rank inadequacy is it. Your best revenge is to include it as you.” — Susan Murphy, via Whiskey River

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” –- Ansel Adams

“If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself you should say: “He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned.”” — Epictetus

“Let no one say that he is a follower of Gandhi. It is enough that I should be my own follower. I know what an inadequate follower I am of myself, for I cannot live up to the convictions I stand for. You are no followers but fellow students, fellow pilgrims, fellow seekers, fellow workers.” — Mohandas Gandhi

The highest Virtue seems empty;
Great purity seems sullied;
A wealth of Virtue seems inadequate;
The strength of Virtue seems frail;
Real Virtue seems unreal.

- – Tao Te Ching 41

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?”

Actually, who are you not to be? — – Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Speech 1994

Actions in life can be reduced to two factors: positioning and timing. If we are not in the right place at the right time, we cannot possibly take advantage of what life has to offer us. Almost anything is appropriate if an action is in accord with the time and the place. But we must be vigilant and prepared. Even if the time and the place are right, we can still miss our chance if we do not notice the moment, if we act inadequately, or if we hamper ourselves with doubts and second thoughts. When life presents an opportunity, we must be ready to seize it without hesitation or inhibition. Position is useless without awareness. If we have both, we make no mistakes. — Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

“Oh soul,
you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.
Of anything less,
why do you worry?
You are in truth
the soul, of the soul, of the soul.”

Jalal ad-Din Rumi

I am feeling a bit inadequate today. As much as I try to follow Tao, to be unattached to things and people and results, some days it is too much for me, and I fail to live up my promises. I really hate letting other people down, or letting my impulsive actions become a problem for someone. Some days I am simply not the person that I want to be and know that I can be, and usually am. This weekend has been a difficult one for me. Between being stupid and losing my beautiful ash tree, it’s been a really tough time. There have been good moments — wonderful dinners out with my husband, and a beautiful moonlit evening at La Jolla cove, with one of the most gorgeous full moons I’ve ever seen in my life. But my inadequacies are overwhelming the good things for me right now.

This time around, we are the tree-killers. Sadly our big ash got too big and was threatening to take out the entire yard, so we decided it was time to take it out. The tree-trimmer was glad for the work, the woodworkers are glad for the wood, which they pronounced wonderful and promised to make wonderful bowls from, one of which I hope to see in about nine months or so when they wood cures. Others will be glad for the firewood, the garden will be glad for the sunlight.

But, I am sad today, to have to say goodbye to a friend….

“Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement.”
– Alfred Adler

“Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.” — Booker T. Washington

“To sit patiently with a yearning that has not yet been fulfilled, and to trust that fulfillment will come, is quite possibly one of the most powerful “magic skills” that human beings are capable of. It has been noted by almost every ancient wisdom tradition.” — Elizabeth Gilbert

“No soul is desolate as long as there is a human being for whom it can feel trust and reverence.” — T.S. Eliot

“As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live.” — Garth Henrichs

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” — George MacDonald

“You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you do not trust enough” -– Frank Crane

“Trust that little voice in your head that says “Wouldn’t it be interesting if..”; And then do it.” — Duane Michals

“You must trust and believe in people or life becomes impossible.” — Anton Chekhov

Every time I think I know what trust means, something comes along and makes me learn it all over again. Right now I’m trusting in magic, believing in future possibilities that may or may not happen, and yet I know they will happen. Trying to be non-attached to the result, but still wanting it all right now, instead of patiently waiting for it to unfold in its own time.

Trusting myself, trusting others, trusting in magic. Believing in magical possibilities… my challenges for the day.

Satori — Michelle Curiel

Satori (悟り?) (Chinese: 悟; pinyin: wù; Korean 오) is a Japanese Buddhist term for “enlightenment.” The word literally means “understanding.” “Satori” translates as a flash of sudden awareness, or individual enlightenment, and while satori is from the Zen Buddhist tradition, enlightenment can be simultaneously considered “the first step” or embarkation toward nirvana.

Satori is typically juxtaposed with a related term known as kensho, which translates as “seeing one’s nature.” Kensho experiences tend to be briefer glimpses, while satori is considered to be a deeper spiritual experience. Satori is as well an intuitive experience and has been described as being similar to awakening one day with an additional pair of arms, and only later learning how to use them.

“Meditation opens seldom glimpsed areas of our subconscious. When that happens, extraordinary thoughts and awareness come to us with seeming spontaneity. We realize truths that were opaque to us before; we perceive events that were previously too distant… All the power of transcendence is also within us. Tap into it and you tap into the divine itself.”
– Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

“Inner truth is only glimpsed by disconnecting the mechanism of interpretation. If we can withdraw the activities of the senses and isolate that part of the mind responsible for filtering sensory input, then we can temporarily shut off the ongoing process of interaction with the outside world. We will then be in a neutral place that is wholly turned inward. We are left with an absolute state, entirely without distinction or relativity. This is called nothingness, and it is the truth underlying all things.”

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

Once you realize that the true Tao is to be found within yourself, you shift your attention. Then worship becomes recognition. Your own spirit arises, and you learn to tap into it on your own. If someone had told you what to look for, you might never be sure of your experiences. What comes from outer suggestion is not the true Tao.

Glimpsing the source leaves no doubts.

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

Tao is continuous, flowing, and changing, but there is no knowing it in a single view. We rely on composite images that we form in ourselves. For a beginner, glimpses of Tao will be random and fleeting. You will stumble on it from time to time, or you will see it in the brief spaces between events. For the mature practitioner, your composite view comes from training, technique, research, and the experience of self-cultivation. But even after years, it is impossible to take in the totality.

There is a way to know Tao directly and completely. It requires the awakening of one’s spiritual force. When this happens, spirituality manifests as a brilliant light. Your mind expands into a glowing presence. Like a lighthouse, this beacon of energy becomes illumination and eye at the same time. Significantly, however, what it shows, it also knows directly. It is the light that sees.

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

Invocation becomes declaration.
Worship becomes recognition.
When blessings mature,
One glimpses the source.

When one is young in Tao, all practices begin as external procedures. Sometimes, it is difficult to understand their significance — we don’t know what to expect. This is proper: Not daring to interfere with growth and discovery, those who follow Tao hesitate to go beyond technical instruction.

Take worship, for example. At first, an invocation is something external. You repeat it, but really, it means very little. You kneel down at the altar because you need something on which to focus. Once you realize that the true Tao is to be found within yourself, you shift your attention. Then worship becomes recognition. Your own spirit arises, and you learn to tap into it on your own. If someone had told you what to look for, you might never be sure of your experiences. What comes from outer suggestion is not the true Tao.

Glimpsing the source leaves no doubts.

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

I guess what bothers me most about religion is that it fails in its main purpose so much of the time. Religion to me was always about invoking a higher spirit, and retaining that spirit within yourself so that you could get beyond your own petty needs and wants, and really tune in to the world and to other people. It calls out, invokes, the best in us so that we can share it with others.

But this gets distorted and perverted into worshipping some other, giving that other power and then excusing yourself from having to make decisions about life, saying what happens to other people is just “God’s will” or assuming bad things happen to people because they aren’t holy enough. I look at the man just elected Pope, and see someone who is so caught up in the doctrine of the Church that he has forgotten why the Church is even there. He lives to force doctrine on others instead of making their lives better.

So in Tao, what is it we want to invoke, to call upon?

Something I learned in business school and process management was the concept of alignment. What creates friction and frustration in business processes is when the purpose of the business is not aligned with its processes. People become confused over whether to follow the principles they know are correct, or the processes they know are wrong, but are told to follow. I think that is what we want to invoke when we call upon the Tao – to bring ourselves into alignment with the Tao, with the natural forces of the world and the way things work, and in doing so, eliminate friction and frustration from our lives.

Stop working at cross purposes to what your inner spirit tells you is right. Invoke the Tao, recognize it within yourself, tap into the source within yourself. Have a cup of tea and a cookie, go out to the garden and smell the roses and the clean, clear air. Ah. Isn’t that better?

Now, go share that feeling with someone else, and spread it along…

Once in a vision
I came on some woods
And stood at a fork in the road
My choices were clear
Yet I froze with the fear
Of not knowing which way to go
One road was simple
Acceptance of life
The other road offered sweet peace
When I made my decision
My vision became my release….

“There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say “It is yet more difficult than you thought.” This is the muse of form. It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work — and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.” — Wendell Berry via Kerrdelune

“As everything changes overnight, I praise the breaking of promises. Whatever love wants, it gets. Not next year, but now. I swear by the one who never says tomorrow, as the circle of the moon refuses to sell installments of light, it gives all that is has.” — Rumi

Choose what makes you happy this time, instead of what you think you’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to be happy in our lives. Settling for less will only make us unhappy, and if we are unhappy we cannot make the world any better. We can only release the light within us if we allow it to shine as brightly as possible, and that cannot happen if our souls are not rising and singing. We have to do what makes our souls sing. Sing as you travel over the obstacles in your path. — Me

“I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and in thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world.” -– Lao Tsu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 67

“One’s own self is well hidden from one’s own self; of all mines of treasure, one’s own is the last to be dug up.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

“If out of all mankind one finds a single friend, he has found something more precious than any treasure, since there is nothing in the world so valuable that it can be compared to a real friend.” — Andreas Capellanus

“Heroes take journeys, confront dragons, and discover the treasure of their true selves.” — Carol Lynn Pearson

“Success, happiness, peace of mind and fulfillment -– the most priceless of human treasures –- are available to all among us, without exception, who make things happen -– who make “good” things happen –- in the world around them” — Joe Klock

“It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.” — Joseph Campbell

“Treasure each other in the recognition that we do not know how long we shall have each other.” — Joshua Loth Liebman

You’ve awakened something deep inside my soul
And every moment, every breath I feel it more
Your hidden treasure that you kept down deep inside
We make love freely as we watch the new sunrise
I’d live a thousand lives if every one I lived could be with you…

– Journey, “Kiss Me Softly”

Take a walk down by, take a walk down by the river
There’s a lot that you, there’s a lot that you can learn
If you’ve got a mind that’s open, if you’ve got a heart that yearns

If you listen to, if you listen to the water
You will hear the sound, you will hear the sound of life
There’s a million different voices, there is happiness and strife

Message in the deep, from a strange eternal sleep
That is waiting there, that is waiting there for you
Like hidden treasure

– Traffic, “Hidden Treasure”

My morning meditation consists of listening to music, reading from various books, surfing through Tao blogs and other things I run across as I ease into my day. Sometimes these thoughts and ideas come together with a single theme, some days they do not. Some days I share what I find here, other days I store these things up while I think about them until they build into a blog post or perhaps simply fade into my being. Some things spring unbidden into my head and I find I must simply write them down. Those are the best things. It is all Tao, and it is all good. Of course some mornings are busy so I don’t get a chance to post until later. Today is one of those days.

So here is the day’s collection ….

__________

“Gifting” is the giving and receiving of love and energy between individuals in all of its possible forms: with words of affection, acts of service, quality time, physical touch. It is a process that requires you to be open to the world around you and find the strength in your own vulnerability. He writes:

“For your life to feel profound and full of love’s power, practice opening at all times, including times of hurt. Feel and breathe your heart’s deep hurt, and the hurt of others, without closing. Offer the openness of your heart to everyone, and especially to those who are wounding you. The only alternative is to close and live unfulfilled.” ~ David Dieda

How is man to live in a world dominated by chaos, suffering, and absurdity?
According to the mystic/philosopher Chuang Tzu: Free yourself from the world.

Chuang Tzu tells the story of a man named Nan-jung Chu who went to visit
the Taoist sage Lao Tzu in hopes of finding some solutions to his worries.
When he appeared, Lao Tzu promptly inquired,
“Why did you come with all this crowd of people?”
The man whirled around in astonishment to see if there was someone standing behind him.

Needless to say, there was not; the “crowd of people” that he came with
was the baggage of old ideas, the conventional concepts of right and wrong,
good and bad, life and death, that he lugged about with him wherever he went.
It is this baggage of conventional values that man must first discard before
he can be free.

“Free yourself from the world!”

“You know that in all tombs there is always a false door?”
Renisenb stared. “Yes, of course.”
“Well, people are like that too. They create a false door—to deceive. If they are conscious of weakness, of inefficiency, they make an imposing door of self-assertion, of bluster, of overwhelming authority—and, after a time, they get to believe in it themselves. They think, and everybody thinks, that they are like that. But behind that door, Renisenb, is a bare rock… And so when reality comes and touches them with the feather of truth—their true self reasserts itself.”

— Agatha Christie

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” -Dr. Howard Thurman

Unobtrusive and unostentatious, intrinsically good (can even be rich), patterns not regularly placed, often unfinished, creating interesting spaces. Simple, with an economy of line and effort. Nothing complicated could be called “Shibui”. Must have depths worth studying, after first noticed, must have design character, and be fitting exploitation of the nature of the material and the method. Should not be shiny or new looking, though small touches of sparkle can be used. Even if new, object should have dull patina that comes with loving care. If applied to color scheme, the large areas of color should be dark, rich and unobtrusive, but there  should be a small sharp accent color somewhere to give astringency and interest. The essence of controlled understatement, aimed to produce tranquility. A feeling of modesty and humility is necessary in striving for “shibui”.

“Shibui” is the essence of Japanese culture and is considered the ultimate in taste, for all but the very young. There are two strains of it: the folk craft school of thought and the aristocratic school of thought. In actuality, one can encompass both.

“House Beautiful” magazine, August 1960, article entitled “The Shibui Syndrome”.

“Like all transcendent qualities, the word Shibumi eludes definition. To the Japanese, those externals which soothe and satisfy the spirit are Shibumi. These things are instinctive, not shaped by reason and not easily put into words: but Shibumi suggests art appreciation, culture, ultra-refinement, quiet taste, and a great consideration for others. Nothing “too much” is in it, and the word is in itself a protest against ostentation. It confirms the traditional appreciation of serenity, introspection, modesty, formality, nobility, generosity, reserve and conservatism. As the antithesis of bizarre it is opposed to everything that is garish, loud, noisy or commercial hype.

No single word in the English language exactly describes Shibumi as the Japanese understand it. The artistic and sensitive foreigner would describe Shibumi as the acme of elegance and refinement, the result of years of training and the use of restraint in the highest sense. Japanese speak of Shibui in relation to customs, houses, rooms, decorations and art, persons, dress as well as the tone of voice. It marks the character of the proper order of things.

In short, all parts must be related to the whole, and the whole must be seemly to the place and circumstance. I have coined a word “appropriateness” (I know there is no such word in English, but it seems appropriate) describing a quality that is much lacking in our times and most people.

Shibumi is found in all the traditional and quality arts of Japan; that esoteric quality introduced into art by Zen Buddhism. It is the art that conceals art. ” –  W.G. von Krenner

“The concept of shibusa includes a range of related meanings that cannot be embodied in any other term, English or Japanese; the concept is unique. When attempts at translation were made, we received contradictory impressions: one person might say that shibusa means refined and subdued, while another might translate the term as rough or astringent. Eventually, however, after enough examples of shibusa had been gathered, we began to formulate an intuitive grasp of this standard of taste, even though we could not precisely define it. — David and Michiko Young

Shibui (渋い?) (adjective), or shibumi (渋み?) (noun), is a Japanese word which refers to a particular aesthetic of simple, subtle, and unobtrusive beauty. Like other Japanese aesthetic terms, such as iki and wabi-sabi, shibui can apply to a wide variety of subjects, not just art or fashion.

Originating in the Muromachi period (1333-1568) as shibushi, the term originally referred to a sour or astringent taste, such as that of an unripe persimmon. Shibui maintains that literal meaning still, and remains the antonym of amai (甘い?), meaning ’sweet’.

However, by the beginnings of the Edo period (1603-1867), the term had gradually begun to be used to refer to a pleasing aesthetic. The people of Edo expressed their tastes in using this term to refer to anything from song to fashion to craftsmanship that was beautiful by being understated, or by being precisely what it was meant to be and not elaborated upon. Essentially, the aesthetic ideal of shibumi seeks out events, performances, people or objects that are beautiful in a direct and simple way, without being flashy.

“A certain love of roughness is involved, behind which lurks a hidden beauty, to which we refer in our peculiar adjectives shibui, wabi and sabi. .. It is this beauty with inner implications that is referred to as shibui. It is not a beauty displayed before the viewer by its creator .. a piece that will lead the viewer to draw beauty out of it for themselves. The world may abound with different aspects of beauty. Each person, according to his disposition and environment, will feel a special affinity to one or another aspect. But when their taste grows more refined, they will necessarily arrive at the beauty that is shibui.” — “The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty”, Soetsu Yanagi, Bernard Leach

“Throughout your stay in Japan you must have heard the word shibui uttered frequently. It is impossible to translate this word accurately into English. ‘Austere’, ’subdued’, ‘restrained’, ’sombre’ – these words come nearest to acceptable substitutes. Etymologically, shibui means ‘astringent’, and is used to describe profound, unassuming and quiet feeling. … this simple adjective is the final criterion for the highest form of beauty.” — “Folk Crafts of Japan”, Soetsu Yanagi

“A shibui room brings out deep conversation; a shibui woman draws out a thoughtful man; a shibui man listens to a thoughtful woman; a shibui child is a rare child indeed. Shibui is marked by three main characteristics: wabi, sabi, and yugen.” — Richard R. Powell, ” Wabi Sabi for Writers”

Her life is a fine piece of Japanese pottery
in the Shibui style,
so crafted that to see the cup’s exterior
is to be privy only to its dull sienna clay
and to the flavored warmth with which you choose to fill it.

But drained of all your preconceptions
you may discover the bowl inside –
a high-glazed hyacinth blue
that rushes to your heart
and there remains, like an indelible message
you remember from a fortune told in tea leaves once,
like a wet jasmine flower
that you can never rinse away.

– Robin Morgan

Shibui allows viewer participation in the artist’s art. It’s particularly valuable in an age of highly finished and sophisticated machine-manufactured products. Shibui comes naturally, shows the hand of the maker, and triumphs gesture and the vagaries of process. While there are hundreds of ways to bring shibui into your life, if you think you might include the idea in your painting, here are seven:

Use the whole brush–right down to the ferrule.
Have more than one color on the brush at one time.
Hold the brush well up on the handle.
Work freshly and let intuition be your guide.
Feel the energy and direction of your subject.
Be not uptight, but relaxed.
Quit when you’ve connected and while the going is good.

– Robert Genn

Just think, if you had a life of a thousand years you would miss many things, because you would go on postponing. But because life is so short, only seventy years, one cannot afford to postpone. Yet people do postpone — and that at their own cost.

Imagine if somebody comes and tells you that you have only one day’s life left. What will you do? Will you go on thinking about unnecessary things? No, you will forget everything You will love and pray and meditate, because only twenty-four hours are left. The real things, the essential things, you will not postpone.

And love and meditation are the two basic essentials. Meditation means to be oneself, and love means to share one’s own being with somebody else. Meditation gives you the treasure, and love helps you to share it. These are the two most basic things, and all else is non-essential.

Everyday Osho — 365 Daily meditations for the here and now by Osho

Life is a constant series of opportunities. If we don’t reach out for things, if we don’t take advantage of what comes our way, then we cannot be in harmony with the essential nature of life. —   Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

Don’t think that creativity is only for artists, writers, and musicians. Creativity is an essential element for everyone. Unlike the outer-directed creativity of making art, solving problems, or writing, the creativity that everyone can engage in is learning.  — Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

“The deep root of failure in our lives is to think, ‘Oh how useless and powerless I am.’ It is essential to think strongly and forcefully, ‘I can do it,’ without boasting or fretting.” — Tenzin Gyatso, The 14th Dalai Lama

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret; it is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

“Risk is essential. There is not growth of inspiration in staying within what is safe and comfortable. Once you find out what you do best, why not try something else?” — Alex Noble

“It is essential to our well-being, and to our lives, that we play and enjoy life. Every single day do something that makes your heart sing.” — Marcia Wieder

Why do we hold back? There is some fear that if we don’t hold back,if we give all, then we have nothing else to give. So we give only in parts, we keep the carrot dangling. We want to remain mysterious.

When you don’t allow the other to enter into your whole being and know it totally, it is because of the fear that once the other knows you totally he or she may become disinterested. You keep a few corners of yourself aloof so that the other goes on wondering, “What are those corners? What more do you have give?” And the other goes on searching and seeking and persuading and seducing…. And in the same way, the other is also holding back.

There is some animal understanding behind it that once the mystery is known, the thing is finished. We love the mystery, we love the unknown. When it is known, mapped, and measured, it is finished! Then what else is there? The adventuring mind will start thinking of other women, other men. This has happened to millions of husbands and wives: They have looked into each other totally –  finished! Now the other has no soul because the mystery is no longer here-and the soul exists in mystery.

This is the logic in it. But when you are truly independent, and you are surrendered to the god of love, then you can open yourself totally. And in that very opening you become one. When two people are open, they are no longer two. When the walls disappear, the room is one. And that is where the fulfillment is. That’s what every lover is seeking for, searching for, hankering after, dreaming about, desiring. But not understanding rightly, you can go on seeking and searching in a wrong direction.

Everyday Osho — 365 Daily meditations for the here and now by Osho

“Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.” — Lou Holtz

“One very important aspect of motivation is the willingness to stop and to look at things that no one else has bothered to look at. This simple process of focusing on things that are normally taken for granted is a powerful source of creativity.” — Edward de Bono

“Walking your talk is a great way to motivate yourself. No one likes to live a lie. Be honest with yourself, and you will find the motivation to do what you advise others to do.” — Vince Poscente

“The whole idea of motivation is a trap. Forget motivation. Just do it. Exercise, lose weight, test your blood sugar, or whatever. Do it without motivation. And then, guess what? After you start doing the thing, that’s when the motivation comes and makes it easy for you to keep on doing it.” — John C. Maxwell

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique, and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium; and be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is, not how it compares with other expression. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open. No artist is pleased. There is no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is on a queer, divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others.” — Martha Graham

“When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expressing, then we truly live life” — Greg Anderson

“The moon and the sun travel night and day. The years trail on without interruption. Whether steering a ship at sea or leading a horse on land, each person’s life is a journey and the journey itself is home.” — Basho

“Dogen reminds us that to raise the mind of compassionate awakening is none other than the whole of daily activity with no concern for one’s self, no thought of outcome, no sense of self-gratification. It means that whatever is, is the best that there is at this moment. Just this, wholly this, only this.

Engaging in the Way, in the life of continuous practice, means that we are constantly awakening with each new moment. Awakening is not a single event in time. Rather it is a continuous event through time. Basho wrote: Let me be called a traveler. He did not mention any destination. Just a traveler.”
- Joan Halifax via Whiskey River

“This paradox of building a life on change scares me. It feels reckless, dangerous, and foolish. But what it does for a writer is create a sense of expectation, a sense that each moment may contain the experience that will open up something bracing and real, or something warm and meaningful, or something bright and sober, something worth sharing, something readers will not be able to put down.

This way of being is like carrying a hidden doorway in your pocket through which you can smuggle impressions, silent apprehensions, and private observations moment after moment because you are not expending effort to get anywhere. You can focus on the moment because each moment takes place inside your stillness, inside your own home. Being present in the motion, moment after moment, provides that secret chamber of awareness and gives the writer the chance to notice what is passing by before it is gone.” — Richard R. Powell, Wabi Sabi for Writers

Shift from anger to creativity, and immediately you will see a great change arising in you. Tomorrow the same things will not feel like excuses for being angry.

Out of one hundred people suffering from anger, about 50 percent suffer from too much creative energy that they have not been able to put into use. Their problem is not anger, but they will go on thinking their whole life that it is. Once a problem is diagnosed rightly, half of it is already solved.

Put your energies into creativity. Forget about anger as a problem; ignore it. Channel your energy towards more creativity. Pour yourself into something that you love. Rather than making anger your problem, let creativity be your object of meditation. Shift from anger to creativity and immediately you will see a great change arising in you. And tomorrow the same things will not feel like excuses for being angry because now energy is moving, it is enjoying itself, its own dance. Who cares about small things?

Everyday Osho — 365 Daily meditations for the here and now by Osho

I started cleaning when I was angry about something. It helps give you something to do with the energy, and gives you an activity instead of venting at someone. It gives you time to think things through and lose the anger. Even when I don’t feel like cleaning anything else, I often sweep the floor. Just that little bit makes things feel so much cleaner to me, getting the bits of dirt out from under my feet and making things look that little bit better.

Dragon of anger
Calls for us to take action
Anger is the fuel

“A friend of mine once noted that anger was not possible without a goal. No goal, no possibility of anger. I thought about this a long time and realized that no matter how modest or unimportant the goal, the moment I have something I want, an outcome I desire more than other possible outcomes, there arises the possibility for anger, and farther along that spectrum, the possibility of cruelty if I am willing to pursue my goal at any cost, even at the expense of another living being. We may not take the achievement of a goal to Machiavellian extremes. But simply shaping a goal and focusing on it has the additional effect of narrowing our perspective.” — Suzanne Clothier, “Bones Would Rain From the Sky”

When the Madwoman is transformed from destructive paths and embodied in creative ways, a woman will not give up her vision. Rid of the resentments, paranoia, and isolation that result when her anger is suppressed or goes unrecognized or unacknowledged, she will be free to create. Her vision will be clear and congruent, and she will have the courage and wisdom to embody it in the world. — Linda Schierse Leonard, Meeting the Madwoman

Nurture the darkness of your soul
until you become whole.
Can you do this and not fail?
–Tao Te Ching, 10

“When you are feeling depreciated, angry and drained, it is a sign that other people are not open to your energy.” — Sanaya Roman

“The world needs anger. The world often continues to allow evil because it isn’t angry enough.” — Bede Jarrett

“At the core of all anger is a need that is not being fulfilled.” — Marshall B. Rosenberg

“It is wise to direct your anger towards problems — not people; to focus your energies on answers — not excuses.” — William Arthur Ward

It is this willingness to hand over our lives that fascinates and appalls me. There’s such a lovely perversity to it; it’s so wonderfully counterintuitive, so very Christian: You must empty your pockets, turn them inside out, and spill out your wife and your son, the pets you hardly knew, and the days you sim­ply missed altogether watching the sunlight fade on the bricks across the way. You must hand over the rainy afternoons, the light on the grass, the moments of play and of simply being. You must give it up, all of it, and by your example teach your children to do the same, and then – because even this is not enough – you must train yourself to believe that this outsourcing of your life is both natural and good. But even so, your soul will not be saved.

The young, for a time, know better. They balk at the harness. They do not go easy. For a time they are able to see the utter sadness of subordinating all that matters to all that doesn’t. Eventually, of course, sitting in their cubi­cle lined with New Yorker cartoons, selling whatever it is they’ve been asked to sell, most come to see the advantage of enthusiasm. They join the choir and are duly forgiven for their illusions. It’s a rite of passage we are all familiar with. The generations before us clear the path; Augustine stands to the left, Freud to the right. We are born into death, and die into life, they mur­mur; civilization will have its discontents. The sign in front of the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Work confirms it. And we believe.

All of which leaves only the task of explaining away those few miscreants who out of some inner weakness or perversity either refuse to convert or who go along and then, in their thirty-sixth year in the choir, say, abruptly abandon the faith. Those in the first category are relatively easy to contend with; they are simply losers. Those in the second are a bit more difficult; their apostasy requires something more… dramatic. They are considered mad.

via Quitting the Paint Factory by Mark Slouka « adamantine.

“To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common – this is my symphony.” — William Henry Channing

When listening not with the ear but with the spirit, we enter into supreme purity. — Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

“One friend, one person who is truly understanding, who takes the trouble to listen to us as we consider our problems, can change our whole outlook on the work.” — Elton Mayo

“We spend most of our time and energy in a kind of horizontal thinking. We move along the surface of things… but there are times when we stop. We sit sill. We lose ourselves in a pile of leaves or its memory. We listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper.” — James Carroll

“In the short time we are here, we should listen to our own voices and follow our own hearts. Why not be free and live your own life? Why follow other people’s rules and live to please others? ” -– Yang Chu , Lieh Tzu

“Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story” — Max Ehrman

“The more faithfully you listen to the voices within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside.” — Dag Hammarskjold

“Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.” — Anne Sexton

“Every person I work with knows something better than me. My job is to listen long enough to find it and use it.” — Jack Nichols

“You seldom listen to me, and when you do you don’t hear, and when you do hear you hear wrong, and even when you hear right you change it so fast that it’s never the same.” — Marjorie Kellogg

“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.”
– Ernest Hemingway

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” –Shel Silverstein

I had a shirt I wore for a long time with the Chinese character for “listen” on it. Only a few people recognized it and knew what it meant, but it was a reminder to me whenever I wore it to just shut up and listen to what others had to say. So, today is for listening. What do you have to say?

One evening as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras a thief with a sharp sword entered, demanding either his money or his life.

Shichiri told him: “Do not disturb me. You can find the money in that drawer.” Then he resumed his recitation.

A little while afterwards he stopped and called: “Don’t take it all. I need some to pay taxes
with tomorrow.”

The intruder gathered up most of the money and started to leave. “Thank a person when
you receive a gift,” Shichiri added. The man thanked him and made off.

A few days afterwards the fellow was caught and confessed, among others, the offense
against Shichiri. When Shichiri was called as a witness he said: “This man is no thief, at least as far as I am concerned. I gave him the money and he thanked me for it.”

After he had finished his prison term, the man went to Shichiri and became his disciple.

Therefore the sage takes care of all men
And abandons no one.
He takes care of all things
And abandons nothing.

This is called “following the light.”

What is a good man?
A teacher of a bad man.
What is a bad man?
A good man’s charge.
If the teacher is not respected,
And the pupil not cared for,
Confusion will arise, however clever one is.
This is the crux of mystery.

– Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu – chapter 27

My mom was always happy she shared a birthday with Martin Luther King … she would have been 83 today…

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.” — Martin Luther King

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

It’s a good kind of fear when you don’t know exactly what it is. It is simply means that you are on the verge of something unknown.

When your fear has some object, it is an ordinary fear. One is afraid of death -– it is a very ordinary fear (that is) instinctive; there’s nothing special about it. Being afraid of old age or disease, illness -– these are ordinary fears, common, garden variety. The special fear is when you cannot find an object for it, when it is there for no reason at all. That makes one really scared! If you can find a reason, the mind is satisfied. If you can answer why, the mind has some explanation to cling to.

It is better to see the thing as it is without asking why. Something unknown is hovering around you, as it is going to hover around every seeker. This is the fear every seeker has to pass through. I am not here to give you explanations but to push you into it. I am not a psychoanalyst -– I am an existentialist. My effort is to make you capable of experiencing as many things as possible -– love, fear, anger, greed, violence, compassion, meditation, beauty, and so on forth. The more you experience these things, the richer you become.

Everyday Osho — 365 Daily meditations for the here and now by Osho

If spirituality is simply a function of life, the edge of a cosmic ripple, then where is it going? We don’t know. Like the universe, it is still expanding into unknown territory. We can decide to cooperate and go with that wave, or we can ignore our spirituality and thereby ignore one of the basic meanings of being human. If we choose to engage in the full process of being human, then we will truly fulfill our part in the universe’s evolution.

Deng Ming Tao, 365 Tao

If we don’t offer ourselves to the unknown, our senses dull. Our world becomes small and we lose our sense of wonder. Our eyes don’t lift to the horizon; our ears don’t hear the sounds around us. The edge is off our experience, and we pass our days in a routine that is both comfortable and limiting. We wake up one day and find that we have lost our dreams in order to protect our days.”  –  Kent Nerburn, “Letters to my Son”

What made Dr. K memorable was a gimmick he employed that began with his introduction at the beginning of his first class:

“Now I know some of you have already heard of me, but for the benefit of those who are unfamiliar, let me explain how I teach. Between today until the class right before finals, it is my intention to work into each of my lectures … one lie. Your job, as students, among other things, is to try and catch me in the Lie of the Day.”

And thus began our ten-week course.

This was an insidiously brilliant technique to focus our attention – by offering an open invitation for students to challenge his statements, he transmitted lessons that lasted far beyond the immediate subject matter and taught us to constantly check new statements and claims with what we already accept as fact.

Early in the quarter, the Lie of the Day was usually obvious – immediately triggering a forest of raised hands to challenge the falsehood. Dr. K would smile, draw a line through that section of the board, and utter his trademark phrase “Very good! In fact, the opposite is true. Moving on … ”

As the quarter progressed, the Lie of the Day became more subtle, and many ended up slipping past a majority of the students unnoticed until a particularly alert person stopped the lecture to flag the disinformation.

Every once in a while, a lecture would end with nobody catching the lie which created its own unique classroom experience – in any other college lecture, end of the class hour prompts a swift rush of feet and zipping up of bookbags as students make a beeline for the door.

On the days when nobody caught the lie, we all sat in silence, looking at each other as Dr. K, looking quite pleased with himself, said with a sly grin: “Ah ha! Each of you has one falsehood in your lecture notes. Discuss amongst yourselves what it might be, and I will tell you next Monday. That is all.”

Those lectures forced us to puzzle things out, work out various angles in study groups so we could approach him with our theories the following week.

Brilliant … but what made Dr. K’s technique most insidiously evil and genius was, during the most technically difficult lecture of the entire quarter, there was no lie. At the end of the lecture in which he was not called on any lie, he offered the same challenge to work through the notes; on the following Monday, he fielded our theories for what the falsehood might be (and shooting them down “no, in fact that is true – look at “) for almost ten minutes before he finally revealed: “Do you remember the first lecture – how I said that ‘every lecture has a lie?’”

Exhausted from having our best theories shot down, we nodded.

“Well – THAT was a lie.

via My Favorite Liar | Zen Moments.