Philosophy 04 (Jan 25 - Dec 26)

[winston]

Understanding Thought


Most of our suffering comes from habitual thinking.

If we try to stop it out of aversion to thinking, we can’t; we just go on and on and on.

So the important thing is not to get rid of thought but to understand it.

- Ajahn Sumedho, “Noticing Space”

[winston]

Appreciating Life

It is precisely our recognition of life’s inevitable hardships, along with our uprooting of the attachment that exacerbates them, that allows us to appreciate the mere fact of being.

- Patti Nakai, “Someone Is Jealous of You”

[winston]

Grieving Is Not Clinging

As practitioners, we aim to let go of our attachments.

At first, grieving for something or someone we’ve lost, may look like clinging but it’s actually a process of acknowledging our loss, which allows us to heal from the pain and loosen our grip on the past.

- Bradley Donaldson, “One Thing for Sure”

[winston]

The Light Behind Everything

We aren’t in control in the way we think we are.

Things happen, even terrible things but they are not what they seem to be.

And we aren’t alone. There is a light, a luminosity behind the appearances of this world.

- Tracy Cochran, “The Night I Died”

[winston]

Finding Awareness

Every time you recognize that you have lost awareness, be happy.

The fact that you have recognized that you lost awareness, means that you are now aware.

- Sayadaw U Tejaniya, “The Art of Investigation”

[winston]

The Spark Before the Flame

Where practices seem to be of most help, is in developing more awareness of emotions as they are beginning to arise — the spark before the flame.

- Paul Ekman, “In Defense of Envy”

[winston]

Sitting in the Fire

If you sit in the fire, grace will come — it will eventually come, a cooling effect.

- Ralph Steele

[winston]

Learning from Embarrassment

The next time you find yourself in a state of embarrassment, take a moment to ask yourself, 'How can this embarrassment be good news? How can it teach me something essential and good for my relationships?'

- Paley Ellison, “On Meeting a Giant at Absolute Bagels”

[winston]

Don’t Be a Doormat

Be friendly and even with others.

Unguarded, intemperate chatter, will put you in their power;

Excessive silence may leave them unclear as to what you mean.

Keep a middle course: Don’t swagger with self-confidence but don’t be a doormat either.

- Dudjom

[winston]

Defined by Potential

I will define my life not by fear, loss or scarcity but by potential.

I will always win in the way that matters most.

I know this is true because we win the moment we summon the strength, necessary to make a determination.

- Saeed Jones, “‘We Are a Determined Household’”