Impermanence is a Teacher.
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Snow All Around
What a beautiful morning
I am here to witness
Snow all around
Hugging the trees
Caressing the grass
Such a light powder
Falling calmly, without a plan
I observe its beauty
It fills me with joy
I get to wake up today
Be alive for this day
My birthday
I am one number older
I am wiser and I am not
As I go deeper, I find more
As I think less, I am more
Allowing for space all around
Just like this snow
Gentle and fierce
All at the same time
Human Family
I pray for a more loving human family
Even when I meet a stranger
Each time I have the same feeling:
“He is another member of my human family.”
Such an attitude deepens
My affection and respect for all beings.
May this natural loving kindness
Become my small contribution to world peace!
I pray for a world that is more friendly,
More loving, and for a better understanding
Among the human family, on this planet.
That is the appeal I make from the bottom of my heart
To all those who hate suffering
And cherish lasting happiness.
The Dalai Lama
(excerpt from the book “My Spiritual Journey”, The Dalai Lama with Sofia Stril-Rever).
Words to chew on today.
Everything Is A Gray Area
Everywhere you look someone is telling you what to do and how to live. What to eat, how to be a good person, what to buy, how to build the perfect life, how to sleep, what time to do this and that, and wow, we can get pulled so many directions!
If we get pulled by all the perspectives out there, we will get lost. We won’t have a deep sense of being comfortable, being sure. We simply can’t listen to it all – most of it is contradictory and changing every day, anyway.
I try to live by the theory that everything is a gray area. Sometimes something is great for me, and sometimes that same thing is not so right, or downright a bad choice. So different actions would fit different times, different moods. We can’t follow a list of right and wrongs, because those apply differently depending where we are in a certain moment.
If everything is a gray area, it is clear that we can’t follow all the advice out there without checking in – going within, and getting our own answer by engaging in self inquiry. If we just take outer perspectives as our own, we check out.
This brings us to the fact that it makes no sense to be concerned with what others are choosing either, because even if we are not choosing that, they are in a different place, different mood, and it is all a gray area, remember? Maybe if you were in their shoes you would be choosing differently, too.
Seeing Beauty Again
It’s amazing how much more noticeable beauty is when we are in a relaxed state of mind. There are cycles in which I am so busy that I even forget how much I love trees. Eventually something happens and reminds me of the importance of the practice, of meditation – and I get back to center. And then I can sense beauty again. It has always been there, I was just blind.
Have you felt this way? Just as in meditation practice, when we go for a ride on a thought, notice it, and come back to the breath, in our lives we feel beauty and relaxed, and then go on a run of business and action, get a bit lost, and then come back to beauty. It’s really true that in every small thing, you can see the whole – and this is comforting.
Worth It
Waking up earlier to fit in some meditation time has been worth it. The practice really does build upon itself, with every session I feel more comfortable with the process and less judgy about my mental state. Some days I am calm and smooth, and some days, like today, I have been running responsibilities in my mind since 5am. Days like today are the ones in which I am grateful to have the habit to sit down and watch it all. I am a lot more tolerant, and love can fill me up a lot quicker.
Now… To the practice – I go.
Such A Treat
Our everyday life is often filled with responsibilities, planning and performing, oh so busy. That is not bad, there’s beauty in it, but it often makes us overwhelmed, stressed and dull. Little things start to feel like big things. Making dinner and doing the dishes start to feel like a monumental feat. Sleep gets interrupted by a busy mind. Life, after all, is not meant to be just marshmallows and trips to be beach – all of these issues are common for everyone at some point and at some level, so no one is alone in this. We have to honor our experience and not be so hard on ourselves and others – specially because it is a good thing to have hard days and some hard seasons (it sure makes what truly matters more clear to us). Meditation and time to feel what is going on can be a great asset for everyone, anywhere. No yoga pants needed, no sage needs to be burned, no special music, nothing – just the ability to sit with yourself and stay there for a moment. You, your beautiful mind, watching thoughts go by, breath by breath. Such a treat.
Energy Explosion
Energy Explosion, 2015 – Acrylic
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