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2021-08-15 02:30:01+00:00
Death is the epitome of the truth that in each moment we are thrust into the unknown. Here all clinging to security is compelled to cease, and wherever the past is dropped away and safety abandoned, life is renewed. Death is the unknown in which all of us lived before birth.
Nothing is more creative than death, since it is the whole secret of life. It means that the past must be abandoned, that the unknown cannot be avoided, that “I” cannot continue, and that nothing can be ultimately fixed. When a man knows this, he lives for the first time in his life. By holding his breath, he loses it. By letting it go he finds it.
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~Alan Watts
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2021-08-12 14:30:01+00:00
Zen Buddhism is said to have originated with a monk named Bodhidharma. He transmitted his teachings to a disciple named Huike.
One time, Huike shared his troubles with Bodhidharma.
“My mind is always filled with anxiety. Please help me to quiet it.”
Bodhidharma replied, “I will calm these anxieties for you. But first, will you bring them to me? If you can set them before me and say, ‘These are the anxieties that burden me,’ I will be sure to calm them for you.”
Hearing this, Huike realized something for the first time.
“Anxiety” was a thing within his mind. In reality, it was intangible.
His fears were intangible, and yet he clung to them. He recognized the futility in this.
There is no need to be troubled by things that have not yet happened. Think only about what is happening right now.
Almost all anxieties are intangible. They are the invention of your own mind.
~Zen: The art of simple living
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2021-08-09 13:34:58+00:00
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2021-08-09 13:34:58+00:00
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2021-08-09 13:34:58+00:00
In Zen: The Art of Simple by Shunnyō Masuno
In Zen: The Art of Simple Living, you will learn to find happiness not by seeking out extraordinary experiences but by making small changes - to what you do, how you think, how you interact with others and how you appreciate the present moment. With each task, you will open yourself up to a renewed sense of peace and inner calm.
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2021-08-06 13:38:02+00:00
I think it is important for everybody to learn to meditate. Anybody who wants to be healthy – which means everybody – needs to meditate. Anybody who wants a calm mind and a loving heart – which again means everybody – needs to meditate. One of the greatest benefits of meditation is the loss of any feeling of inadequacy you may have. It is amazing to me, but I don’t ever feel inadequate today. I don’t know what the meaning of depression is. I have many important responsibilities, many challenges come up every day, but I know that I can dive deep into my consciousness in meditation and bring up with me the resources necessary for dealing with any dilemma the day may bring.
I was not born this way. It is something that I achieved through long years of discipline and the grace of my teacher, my grandmother. And when this state is achieved, a great teacher of meditation in ancient India makes this quiet statement: “Now you see yourself as you really are.”
Before I took to meditation, although I was leading a satisfactory and successful life, I didn’t have any idea of who I am. Of course, I thought I knew: I was a village boy from Kerala who had become professor of English on a campus in Central India and was sure he was enjoying life and perhaps even contributing to it a little. Only later did I realize that I had been asleep and dreaming – no more awake, as William James says, than a man who thinks his capacities are limited to what he can do with his little finger.
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#eknath_easwaran