gregory colbert

I am grateful

for the way my soul is

sometimes drawn to move with

other souls and then separated from them.

I observe here a law of soulmaking

with exciting possibilities for

understanding.

Scenes of how

it operates appear: people

in arctic cold, others in the tropics.

Oceans, high desert canyons, wooded valleys,

all in harmony with “the One who has no partner”.

There is a group that sings and moves in pure joy; another

is quiet in the midst of tremendous grief and carnage.

A tree bristling with thorns: jealousy, meanspirited

revenge. Then the white jasmine flowers

bud, open, and drop the gift

of themselves.

Why are

we shown this?

So we can appreciate

the whole as given. When I am

grieved and without hope, I accept that

as grace, as well as the removal of pain.

A deep knowing comes as we

are shown, receive, and

grow to love

both.

Bahauddin

When we’re holding

the mental formations of despair

and suffering, we can look and see that 

this has been born from that; suffering is born

because we are in touch with an image from

the past. The reality is that we are safe,

and we have the capacity to enjoy

the wonders of life in the

present moment.

When we recognize

that our suffering is based on images

instead of current reality, then living happily

in the present moment becomes

possible right away.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Favor and disgrace

are meaningless — what’s the use

of contending? Drifting clouds do not obstruct

the shining moonlight. My body lives in the city,

but my essence dwells in the mountains.

The affairs of a puppet play are

not to be taken too

seriously.

Wu Kaolin

synchronous fireflies

The Way

is not what the ancestors

transmit. Before the ancestors come,

it already pervades the whole environment.

Emptiness is inherently without characteristics;

spirituality cannot be imitated. On its own,

illumination emerges from causes

and  conditions. Simply unite

with it; you cannot be

handed it.

Hongzhi Zhengjue

Thus

shall ye think

of all this fleeting world:

a star at dawn, a bubble in a stream;

a flash of lightning in a summer

cloud, a flickering lamp,

a phantom, and a

dream.

Prajnaparamita