Philosophy 03 (May 24 - Dec 25)

[winston]

The Craving Itself

True freedom is not about getting an object to satisfy the craving.

True freedom is in exploring the craving itself and seeing and feeling what is on the other side of that craving.

- Larry Yang, “The Bare Experience of Craving”

[winston]

Receiving Is a Gift

When you are given a gift, although you may have opinions as to the motivation of the giver, try to accept whatever is given to you simply and directly, with dignity.

- Judy Lief, “The Power of Receiving”

[winston]

Sitting with Uncomfortable Truths

Mindfulness practice is a source of courage that allows us to slow down and to look deeply at the fear and discrimination present inside ourselves.

When we can sit with ourselves and love both the most magnificent parts of our being and the more uncomfortable truths that we embody, we give way for profound transformation.

- Pháp Hũ’u, “The Path to Transforming Generational Suffering”

[winston]

Soften and Slow Down

What happens if you soften and slow, just a little bit?

Feel how that changes your experience.

- Martin Aylward, “The Art of Slowing Down”

[winston]

Snuffing Out Desire

The more clearly we see the lack of worth in mental and physical sensations, the less desire we’ll have for them until, thoroughly disenchanted, craving will be snuffed out automatically.

As soon as that occurs, pure happiness will arise by itself.

- Cynthia Thatcher, “What’s So Great About Now?”

[winston]

The Truth Is the Truth

Love and understanding can ease the suffering of all beings.

The truth is the truth, whether or not it is accepted by the majority.

Therefore, I tell you that it takes great courage to stand up for and protect what is right.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Wounded Swan”

[winston]

A Greater Space

The depth of sorrow one feels, can also carve out a greater space for a kind of joy that doesn’t turn away from sorrow.

- Jungwon Kim, “Joy and Sorrow, Love and Rage”

[winston]

Accessing the Sacred

I am learning how not to think but to pray and use my body to access the sacred — to locate the sacred of my own body.

- Lekey Leidecker, “Some Things Are Felt Through the Body”

[winston]

Live Within Each Exhale

In each inhalation and each exhalation, there are countless instants of time.

Your intention is to live in each instant.

- Shunryu Suzuki, “Exhaling into Emptiness”

[winston]

A Shapeless Emptiness

All our lives we’ve tried to be someone, to be something.

What if, in essence, who we are, is impossible to pin down?

What if behind the mask, there’s only a timeless, genderless, colorless, shapeless emptiness?

- Santiago Jiménez, “Waking Up Is Letting the Mask Fall”