Don’t Be Fooled
“The most important thing is to be able to enjoy your life without being fooled by things.” -Shunryu Suzuki Left to right… Bending Time, by Rodgell; The I of Light, by JJ Horner; and Shunryu Suzuki, dispensing silent wisdom. “Without being fooled by things” is to not be confused or troubled by any thought or […]
Awareness
Question: “Is happiness related to awareness?” Yes, awareness itself is peaceful. Inattention, or, not knowing you are thinking, is the enemy of peace. As you stabilize in awareness, at some point you will realize… “Oh, now, for the first time I see clearly … this became a problem because of what I thought: I wanted […]
Let Go
Elliot – the King of Happy. I received a couple questions about this quote: “Running around and accusing others is not as good as laughing, and enjoying a good laugh is not as good as going along with things. Be content to go along and forget about change and then you can enter the mysterious […]
Presence, Again
“When you study your thought process, you not only see how it rules your life. In the breaks and gaps between thoughts, you can experience awakened mind on the spot.” -Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche “Awakened mind” is awareness of presence, and is what you are when not lost in thought. To stabilize in inner peace, it’s […]
Go Along
“Running around and accusing others is not as good as laughing, and enjoying a good laugh is not as good as going along with things. Be content to go along and forget about change and then you can enter the mysterious oneness of Heaven.” -Chuang Tzu Chuang Tzu’s quotes remind me of Shunryu Suzuki, in […]
Wonder
“Existence is beyond the power of words.To define:Terms may be usedBut are none of them absolute.In the beginning of heaven and earth there were no words,Words came out of the womb of matter;And whether a man dispassionately Sees to the core of lifeOr passionatelySees the surface,The core and the surface are essentially the same,Words making them […]
Your Mind Is…
“Your mind is brilliantly clear, open, spacious, and full of excellent qualities: unconditional love, compassion, and wisdom that sees things as they truly are. In other words, your awakened mind is always a good mind; it’s never dull or confused. It’s never distressed by the doubts, fears, and emotions that so often torture us. Instead, […]
The Problem Is Not
“The problem is not with the mind, it is the personal identification with thoughts that creates suffering.” -Jac O’Keeffe Regard thoughts as objects: nothing you perceive is yours. There is nothing about the appearance of a thought that is personal. The connection or relationship between a thought and an object is imagined. Realize that as […]
What Do You Need?
“Spirituality or what you call “religion” is mainly to understand this: That you don’t require anything.” -Nisargadatta Maharaj Obviously, Leopard Man (me, at 14 at church camp) is fully aware of Maharaj’s instructions. Teacher: Do you see? Student: Yes. T: How do you know? S: I see objects, so I know I see. T: What […]
To Be Is To Know
Question: “What is implied by ‘seeing into the Real Nature’”? “That Nature and your perception of it are one. Let me repeat that the perceived cannot perceive.” -Huang Po By “perceive,” he does not mean what we think we see with our eyes or hear with our ears. What he does mean: The body does […]