Today

Today

Today I’m flying low and I’m
not saying a word.
I’m letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.

But I’m taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I’m traveling
a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.

-Mary Oliver, from A Thousand Mornings

In Love With All

I wonder what would happen if
I treated everyone like I was in love
with them, whether I like them or not
and whether they respond or not and no matter
what they say or do to me and even if I see
things in them which are ugly, twisted, petty,
cruel, vain, deceitful, indifferent, just accept
all that and turn my attention to some small
weak tender hidden part and keep my eyes on
that until it shines like a beam of light
like a bonfire I can warm my hands by...

~Derek Tasker

Parenting

"Accept the children the way we accept trees—with gratitude, because they are a blessing—but do not have expectations or desires. You don’t expect trees to change, you love them as they are." ~ Isabel Allende ♥

Abundance

"One of the most difficult things for us to accept is that beneath all our dreams and disappointments, we live and breathe in abundance.  It is hard when in pain to believe that all we ever need is before us, around us, within us.  And yet it is true.

The humble challenge of being  human is not in agreeing or disputing this truth.  Our humble way, if we can open it, is to root ourselves beneath the thousand dreams and excuses that keep us from the ground we walk.  Time and again, we are asked to outlast what we want and hope for, in order to see what's there.  It is enough."  Mark Nepo

Imperfection

Face your deficiencies and acknowledge them; but do not let them master you. Let them teach you patience, sweetness, insight... When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or in the life of another.
-   Helen Keller

Effort

"As swimmers dare to lie face to the sky and water bears them, as hawks rest upon air and air sustains them, so would I learn to attain freefall, and float into Creator Spirit’s deep embrace, knowing no effort... earns that all-surrounding grace." --Denise Levertov

Dogma

"A man or woman who clings to the words of others can become a slave to dogma.  Many religions spoon feed their flocks descriptions of the afterlife and strict instructions on how to get there.  They lead followers around the fear and darkness into the promised safety of the light.   This is a mistake.  People who blindly accept the teachings, who hold on the wings of someone else's angels, miss out on the peace gained from experience."  Montaigne

Fear

"Fear of knowing is very deeply fear of doing."  Abraham Maslow

Acceptance

"We can stop struggling with what occurs and see it's true face without calling it the enemy.   Our practice is not about accomplishing anything - not about winning or losing - but about ceasing to struggle and relax as it is.   That is what we are doing when we sit down and meditate.   That attitude spreads into the rest of our lives."  Pema Chodron

Buddha's Wisdom

"Do not accept what you hear by report.  Do not accept tradition.  Do not accept a statement because it is found in our books, nor because it is in accord with your beliefs, nor because it is the saying of your teacher.  Be lamps unto yourselves."  Buddha (on his deathbed) 

Happiness

"You may get to the point where you realize that if you want happiness, you have to accept profoundly and honestly the sadness that waits at every turn."  Unknown

St. Francis and The Sow

The bud
stands for all things,
even those things that don't flower,
for everything flowers, from within, of self-blessing;
though sometimes it is necessary
to reteach a thing its loveliness,
to put a hand on its brow
of the flower
and retell it in words and in touch
it is lovely
until it flowers again from within, of self-blessing;
as St. Francis
put his hand on the creased forehead
of the sow, and told her in words and in touch
blessings of earth on the sow, and the sow
began remembering all down her thick length,
from the earthen snout all the way
through the fodder and slops to the spiritual curl of
the tail,
from the hard spininess spiked out from the spine
down through the great broken heart
to the blue milken dreaminess spurting and shuddering
from the fourteen teats into the fourteen mouths sucking
and blowing beneath them:
the long, perfect loveliness of sow.

Compassion

"Our task must be to free ourselves... by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and...its beauty."     ≈♥♡≈ Albert Einstein

Perhaps

"Perhaps we wouldn't eat so much or smoke, or drink so much, if we were paying attention to ourselves.   Perhaps we wouldn't talk so much if we were paying attention to each other.   All of these oral activities are trying to meet a need, and perhaps the greatest need is to be seen and heard."  Christina Baldwin

Oneness

"Those who control the ear of the heart understand that if people truly discover each other, we will have a million circles and sit down and laugh and cry at our commonalities.   And then we will not be so easily led to fight wars.   We will not so unconsciously exploit each others lives in order to make our own more comfortable.   We will not be confused by the manipulation of half-truths and lies."  Christina Baldwin

Joy

"Joy seems to be part of an unconditional wish to live, not holding back because life may not meet our preferences and expectations.   Joy seems to be a function of the willingness to accept the whole, and to show up to meet with whatever is there."  Rachel Naomi Remen

Approval

"To seek approval is to have no resting place, no sanctuary.   Approval encourages constant striving.   It makes us uncertain of who we are and of our true value.   Approval can't be trusted.   It can be withdrawn at any time no matter what our track record has been.   It is as nourishing of real growth as cotton candy.   Yet many of us spend our lives pursuing it."  Rachel Naomi Remen

Unconditional Love

"It is rare to find someone who loves us as we are as it is to find someone who loves themselves whole."  Rachel Naomi Remen

Receiving

"I have come to accept that no matter how much I am able to be with myself, no matter how much I like my own company, I still long to sit close to and at times merge with another in deep intimacy.   The completeness of self is found when we can be alone and when we can bring all of who we are to another, receiving and being received fully."  Oriah

Tell me a Story

"Tell me a story of failure in your life, a time when you made a mistake.   Tell me with compassion for the child or man or woman you were.   Tell it with ruthless honesty and gentle acceptance.   We do not avoid shame be hiding mistakes.   The shame just becomes buried within us."   Oriah