“There is a Cloud Floating…” – Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

Text reads:

“You will see clearly that there is a cloud floating in this sheet of paper. without a cloud there will be no water; without water the trees cannot grow; without trees, you cannot make paper. so the cloud is in here. the existence of this page is dependent on the existence of a cloud. paper and cloud are so close. let us think of other things, like sunshine. sunshine is very important because the forest cannot grow without sunshine, and we as humans cannot grow without sunshine. so the logger needs sunshine in order to cut the tree, and the tree needs sunshine in this sheet of paper. and if you look more deeply… you see not only the cloud and the sunshine in it, but that everything is here, the wheat that became the bread for the logger to eat, the logger’s father—everything is in this sheet of paper. the presence of this tiny sheet of paper proves the presence of the whole cosmos.”

—	Thich Nhat Hanh

Quote text found on infamous-jamie

 

“If You are Empty…” — Osho

Osho

“Buddha says sammasamadhi is aloneness. The right meditation is to be so utterly alone that you are one with the all. Let me explain it to you. If you are empty your boundaries disappear because emptiness can have no boundaries. Emptiness can only be infinite. Emptiness cannot have any weight, emptiness cannot have any color, emptiness cannot have any name, emptiness cannot have any form. When you are empty, how will you divide yourself from others? – because you don’t have any color, you don’t have any name, you don’t have any form, you don’t have any boundaries. How are you going to make distinctions? When you are empty you are one with all. You have melted into existence, existence has merged with you.”

—

Osho

From No Self-Esteem to No-Self Esteem

I really enjoyed this video.  He delivers a very worthy message.  ”I can be myself.”

“We often strive to live up to our own expectations and those imposed on us by our associates and society at large. This pursuit of the unachievable causes enormous stress and a sense of failure followed by low self-esteem.

We can raise our self-esteem by recognising and rejecting the increasing and unrealistic nature of these expectations, and replacing them with an acceptance of the fact that we are not perfect. If we can accept ourselves then others will accept and welcome us.

When we are at ease with ourselves and have good self-esteem, chances are that we can take it further and develop ‘no-self esteem’. This is when we do not define ourselves, but are who we are at the present moment. We are not ‘locked’ in our past and we are not anxious about the future, but are free to enjoy what life has to offer. This is ‘no-self esteem’.”

 

The Way of Waking Up – Alan Watts

What does it mean, to awaken? A short movie narrated by Alan Watts…

It’s Hard to Collect Spilled Water – A Word on Attachments

“When something has happened, do not talk about it.  It is hard to collect spilled water.” – Proverb

The more you open your heart along this journey, the more you still your mind, the deeper you move within your own mysteries, the more likely you are to have wonderful and awe-inspiring  experiences.  The boundaries of what you thought possible will be stretched and then stretched again.  This can be very exciting!

But nothing will derail the energy flow and slow your growth like becoming attached to the experience.  It’s like finding a gem in the road.  You just can’t resist picking it up, admiring it, stuffing it in your pocket and then gathering a crowd to display it proudly for all to see.  We can become so enraptured with our new and exciting treasure that we forget where we’re going and what we’re doing.  We inevitably find the people who surrounded us grow bored with our discovery.  It’s not their’s after all.  They’re not likely to understand its magnitude.  Then we’re left feeling deflated, side-tracked and alone again.

Instead of “picking up that gem in the road” the next time you experience something beyond your previously-held possibilities, simply admire it a moment and continue your walk.  Hold gratitude in your heart that you had the experience and beheld its beauty, then let it simply dissolve into your being.  This way your ego doesn’t develop another attachment to add to your burden.  Instead, the awareness of your being is enriched without distraction and continues to open its luminous petals as you continue on your journey.

Who knows, you may discover so many gems your pockets wouldn’t have room to carry them all!  Being, on the other hand, is a limitless container.

JM

I Know What I Know

I know what the stone knows at the bottom of the stream.

It knows though the water flows,

it’s nothing but a dream.

 

I know what the tree knows standing on the hill.

The winds will shake and push,

but will still blow where they will.

 

I know what the flower knows blooming in the meadow.

that life isn’t a forever thing;

it comes then so it goes.

 

I know what the stars know twinkling in the sky.

The silence that enfolds them,

cannot be denied.

 

I know what I know and I know what I can see.

I know that I know nothing;

I can only be.

Finding Hidden Gems

Have you ever noticed the simplest and most obvious things are the hardest to see?  The more immersed we get in the daily grind, the more these simple things go unnoticed.  I know I’m so guilty of this.  Today I ran across a blog entry where someone wrote:

 “Nothing special happened today.” 

I felt her.  But then that little voice inside rang out.

“Are you sure nothing special happened today?  Did you really pay attention?”

Truth is, no I didn’t.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “special” as follows:

: distinguished by some unusual quality; especially : being in some way superior <our special blend>

So when we’re looking for something special to happen, we’re expecting something distinguishable from the usual stuff; something that shines a little happiness or excitement and yanks us out of the rut.  This is saying two things about our usual personal outlook:

1.  We’ve already decided our life has no happiness or excitement.
2. We’ve set the bar pretty high when it comes to “something special” happening.

No wonder we end up disappointed.  We already set the expectation for it.  I was expecting the heavens to open up with trumpets blaring and a big shiny “something” to drop out of the sky all for my delight.  Sound silly?  It is.

The truth is we’re swimming in a sea of special somethings.  They’re all around us.  They’re just too subtle, too simple, too obvious to see.  We walk right over them blinded by bigger expectations.

How do we find these elusive “somethings?”  Mindfulness.  This may not be a term you’re familiar with.  It has its roots in Buddhist philosophy but you don’t have to be a Buddhist to understand it or use it.  To be mindful quite literally means to be inclined to be aware.

We think we are aware, but stop and ponder how much is there we’re not aware of?  Truth is, a lot.  How many of us woke in the morning and noticed the birds singing despite the cold bleakness outside the window?  How many took a moment to appreciate the bliss of that first sip of coffee and how it warmed us?  As we greeted our neighbors, did we notice the beauty of their smile or the happiness meant just for us in the wagging tail of a dog?

If we can just shift our awareness slightly to the more subtle things around us, become more mindful, we’ll suddenly find all our days overflowing with special somethings.

Some of my regular readers know I’ve been participating in a daily creative writing exercise in mindfulness.  It’s been an amazing and rewarding experience in guiding me to be more aware of all special somethings I take for granted.  It’s called River of Stones.  What it encourages is noticing a little something you might otherwise take for granted and really examine it.  Appreciate it.  Then write about it.  That’s all there is to it.  What you end up with is a little piece called a small stone.  I post mine here daily.  I encourage you to visit the Writing Our Way Home blog where the River of Stones originates.  It’s a beautiful place.

When this month ends I’ll continue to write them.  It’s become part of a spiritual practice reminding me daily that happiness is found inside me in how I view the world.  It’s not something that haphazardly falls from the sky and announces “this is special.”  Everything is special if you have the ability to see it.

If you want to find these hidden gems for yourself, try this small stone exercise.  You don’t have to have any gift with words to do it.  It’s really for no one but you.  I know it changed everything for me.  If I had one wish for the world, it would be that it embraces mindfulness.  I think it would be a much different existence, but then I’m an idealist.