Posts Tagged → meditation

fame and fortune are shallow and injurious

orion above easter island

 

People yearn 

for fame and fortune, 

but this is like aching to taste the

point of a weapon. These are shallow, 

confusing, empty of virtue — yet 

people become fixed on them 

and lose their way 

forever. 

 

Look closely 

at things that shine 

without substance. Fame 

enflames one’s idea of self and 

separates one from humanity. Touched 

by it, people grasp desperately to 

get and keep it. What is the 

wisdom, though, 

in resisting 

change?

 

Fortune 

is a lover similarly 

impossible to satisfy. 

Constantly demanding energy 

and attention, fencing off people’s 

hearts, it returns less and less to 

the soul. Yet common people 

contort themselves 

into cripples 

chasing

it.

 

See 

the injury 

built into these, 

and let them 

go by.

 

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 32

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great skill looks clumsy

kintsugi

 

The greatest

perfection seems imperfect, 

yet its usefulness is endless. The greatest

fullness seems empty, yet its usefulness is inexhaustible. 

Great straightness seems flexible. Great skill looks clumsy. 

Great eloquence sounds awkward. Movement triumphs 

over cold. Stillness triumphs over heat. 

Clarity and tranquility set

the whole world

in order. 

 

from The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 45

 

 

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your heart clear as crystal

connie gifford

 

The speech of the birds

and the voices of the insects are all

the secret of transmitting mind; the brilliance

of the flowers and colors of the grasses

are all writings on seeing

the Way.

 

To learn, it is necessary

to have your higher potential clarified

thoroughly and your heart clear as crystal.

Then you will find understanding

of mind whatever you

encounter.

 

Huanchu Daoren

 

everything has the same value

the shaggy dog

 

There is no distinction

between heaven and earth, man and woman,

teacher and disciple. Sometimes a man bows to a woman;

sometimes a woman bows to a man. Sometimes the disciple bows

to the master; sometimes the master bows to the disciple. A master

who cannot bow to his disciple cannot bow to Buddha.

Sometimes the master and disciple bow together

to Buddha. Sometimes we may bow

to cats and dogs.

 

In your big mind,

everything has the same value.

Everything is Buddha himself. You see something

or hear a sound, and there you have everything just as it is.

In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to

each thing the same respect given to a Buddha. Here there

is Buddhahood. Then Buddha bows to Buddha,

and you bow to yourself. This is

the true bow.

 

Shunryu Suzuki

zen mind, beginner’s mind

 

create from joy

hamid sardar-afkhami

 

The most

beautiful paintings and

sculptures, the greatest poetry,

have not always been born from torment

or bitterness. Often they have sprung from

contemplation, from joy, from an instinct or wonder

toward all things. To create from joy, to create from wonder,

demands a continual discipline, a great compassion…With time

and sincerity, you will discover a way to work and write that does

not harm you spiritually, that does not tempt you to vanity,

that is the deepest expression of your spirituality. You

will find a voice that is not your voice only, but the

voice of Reality itself. . . If you can be empty

enough, that voice can speak through you.

If you can be humble enough, that

voice can inhabit you

and use you.

 

Thuksey Rinpoche