Arriving

at the correct solution

to a difficult situation requires a

receptivity to inner truth. Unless we are

willing to put aside the strong emotions of

our egos and devote ourselves to discovering

what is right, there can be no hope of

progress at this time. Help only

comes when we invite it with

a sincere and innocent

attitude.

 

The

I Ching teaches

a simple but effective

method of influencing difficult

people and arduous situations. It advises

us first to lay aside our prejudices — our feelings

of being wounded, angry, or in the right —

and second to seek to understand the

positions of others and the lesson

that the Sage is teaching

us with the

situation.

 

Even

when another is

truly out of line, it is only by

accepting this and remaining balanced

that you make it possible for positive change

to occur. Gentleness and understanding

create in others an unconscious

willingness to

be led.

 

The

superior person

therefore avoids the use of anger

and force in trying times, knowing that they

only prolong conflict. It is far wiser to accept that

each experience we have is necessary for us to learn

something about ourselves and about the higher

laws of life. The greatest openings come when

we meet difficulty with acceptance,

gentleness, and a desire to

understand the lesson

underneath.

 

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 61, Chung Fu / Inner Truth

 
 
 

 

People

of  the Way

are quiet and still,

within and

without.

 

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 61

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didier lourenço

 

Feelings

are often born from

the matrix of conditions beyond

your control. Let them just

pass through, like a

cloud in the

sky.

 

Haemin Sunim

 

 

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

 

My friend and hero

Rory Young was killed on 26 April 2021

in an ambush while leading a wildlife protection

patrol in Arly National Park, Burkina Faso.

Rory was a wildlife expert,

professional guide — 

 

 

— and for many years

an anti-poaching ranger training

other rangers and leading

patrols across Africa.

 

 

A man of colossal ability,

wit, integrity, and drive, Rory Young

risked his life daily in defending the creatures he

revered. In the years since terrorists have turned  to

poaching as a source of operating revenue, he engaged

in regular gun battles with armed poachers

and was a target of multiple attacks

and ambushes.

 

 

His selfless work,

done over decades, could not

have been more dangerous,

nor more heart-rending.

 

 

Rory leaves at home a wife and

two children whom he

loved mightily.

 

 

Please make a donation to the

Rory Young Family Memorial Fund and if possible to

Chengeta Wildlife, which Rory co-founded

and led as CEO.

 

Rest in peace, lion.

🕊

 

 

 

Heaven is

eternal, earth everlasting.

They endure this way because

they do not live for

themselves.
 
 
In the same way,

the wise person puts himself last,

and thereby finds himself first;

Holds himself outside,

and thereby remains

at the center;
 
 
Abandons himself,

and is thereby

fulfilled.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 7

 

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