Posts Tagged → death

life has some possibility left

joy from the archives

 

If you suddenly

and unexpectedly feel joy,

don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are

plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed

or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often

kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some

possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes

something happened better than all the riches or power in the world.

It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant

when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case.

Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid

of its plenty. Joy is not made

to be a crumb.

 

Mary Oliver

 

working in the dark


 

I had

dokusan with Suzuki Roshi

during sesshin. I felt lost and far from home

at that point in my life, and I asked him

if big mind was lost in the

dark, too.

 

He said,

“No, not lost in the dark,

working in the dark!” and he moved

his arms about, demonstrating. He said it was like

the many-armed statue of Avaloki-teshvara,

and he made the statue come to life

for a moment.

 

To Shine One Corner of the World

hard copy

 

you can touch nirvana right now

steph gilmore

 
The wave can live her life as a wave, and at the same time she can live the life of water. She does not have to die in order to become water, because the wave is water already in the present moment.

Nirvana means the extinction of all notions and concepts, including the concepts of birth and death, being and nonbeing, coming and going, but it does not mean the extinction of life. Nirvana is the ultimate dimension of life, a state of coolness, peace, and joy.

It is not a state to be attained after you die. You can touch nirvana right now by breathing, walking, and drinking your tea in mindfulness. Everything and everyone are dwelling in nirvana. You have been “nirvanized” since the very non-beginning of time!

If we can live our daily life deeply, we’ll be able to touch nirvana right in the here and now.

 

Thich Nhat Hanh