He cries for awhile, for no apparent reason.

Sniffs, blows his nose. Then goes about his

business, stomp, pound, smash, crush, explode.

Then cries a little more, sob, blubber, bleat.

It’s awful, he says. It’s of no use. He throws

his chair through the window. It’s a mess, he says.

The whole damned thing is useless. Now he’s

really weeping, cascades, waterfalls, rivers.

I shouldn’t bother, he says. It’s a big, miserable

waste of time. His wife walks in. Honey,

haven’t you finished changing the baby yet?

Almost finished, he chirps.

James Tate

When

we see clearly,

nothing is born, nothing

dies, nothing ever happens.

If you can dwell in emptiness,

breathe emptiness, see

only emptiness, you

will always

be full.

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 60

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We are born

under circumstances that

would be favourable if we did not

abandon them. It was nature’s intention

that there should be no need of great equipment

for a good life: every individual can make himself happy.

External goods are of trivial importance and without much influence

in either direction: prosperity does not elevate the sage and

adversity does not depress him. For he has always made

the effort to rely as much as possible on himself

and to derive all delight from

himself.

Seneca

As you

continue to practise,

please understand: there is

nothing to worry about. Establish

this feeling of being relaxed and unworried,

securely, in the mind. Once the mind is concentrated

and one-pointed, no mind-object will be able to penetrate

or disturb it, and you will be able to sit in the meditation

posture for as long as you want. You will also

be able to sustain concentration without

any feelings of pain and

discomfort.

Having

developed samadhi

to this level, you will be able

to enter or leave it at will. When you

leave it, it will be at your convenience.

You simply withdraw at your ease, rather

than because you are feeling lazy or tired.

You withdraw from samadhi because

it is the appropriate time to

withdraw from it, and you

come out of it at

your will.

You enter

and leave this samadhi

without any problems. The mind

and heart are at ease. If you genuinely have

samadhi like this, it means that sitting meditation

and entering samadhi for just thirty minutes or an hour

will enable you to remain cool and peaceful for many days

afterwards. Experiencing the effects of samadhi like this

for several days has a purifying effect on the mind.

Whatever you experience will become an object

for contemplation. This is where

the practice really begins. It is

the  fruit which arises as

samadhi matures.

Ajahn Chah

To live fully

is to be always in no-man’s-land,

to experience each moment as completely new

and fresh. To live is to be willing to die

over and over again.

Pema Chödrön