Philosophy 03 (May 24 - Dec 25)

[winston]

Aiming for Peace and Liberation

Take stock of the reasons you give yourself for engaging in activities that take you away from your aim to be at peace and attain liberation.

Resolve to return, again and again, to those actions that will help you along the path.

- Vanessa Zuisei Goddard, “Pocket Paramis: Determination”

[winston]

Start with Truth

We think we know our own life but what we know is only an edited version, colored by our emotions and narrow vision.

How close can we come to the original draft?

By staring at truth, the soil is warmed and we begin digging toward the sky.

- Gregg Krech, “Naikan Therapy”

[winston]

Befriending Pain

While pain can be distracting, alienating and upsetting, it can also be a powerful way to practice being present with what is — without stories or expectations.

- Annalisa Rakugo Castaldo, “The Noble Truth of Pain”

[winston]

Understanding Change

Understanding change is not freeing ourselves in a fixed way but it may help us to see there are different types of change.

- Martine Batchelor, “Impermanence as Liberation”

[winston]

No Monkey Business

If you’re concentrating, you’re not roaming around — there’s no monkey business.

While I’m creating, I have no time to think badly about other beings.

In this way, my art practice is like a spiritual practice.

- Asha Kama, “Recovering ‘Wasted Prayers’”

[winston]

Honesty Is the Way Forward

It’s not easy to take accountability, to see yourself in another but we must all be honest about how we got here, so that we can imagine a new way.

- Christopher Rivas, “I Am This Chaos”

[winston]

Breathing Lightly

Breathing in, I recognize tension in my body.

Breathing out, I release tension, calming my body.

- Valerie Brown, “The Lightness of Breathing”

[winston]

Immersing Yourself in the Present Moment

In flow, we are released from all egoic constrictions, freed from grasping and aversion.

The sense of separation falls away as we immerse ourselves wholeheartedly in whatever we’re doing, whatever is arising in the present moment.

- John Brehm, “The Art of Appreciative Attention”

[winston]

Death Is the Setting Sun

Once you see that life is like the rising and setting of the sun, you will not be afraid of dying; it is like the setting of the sun.

- Phra Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto, “Meet a Teacher”

[winston]

Just Accept

When something is difficult or not working out for you, just accept it and it will get easier.

Let come, let go.

Don’t follow your thoughts, your stories, your narratives.

Whether thoughts are happy or sad, good or bad, they all have the same compelling repetition. Just watch them.

- Dzogchen Rinpoche, “Let Come, Let Go”