Philosophy 03 (May 24 - Dec 25)

[winston]

The Paradox of You and I

My life and yours, are the unfolding realization of total aloneness and total intimacy.

The self is completely autonomous yet exists only in resonance with all other selves.

- Robert Aitken, “The Nature of the Precepts”

[winston]

Practice without Desire

If you want to free yourself, you have to put all your heart into your practice, patiently developing your mind every day — day in, day out — without desiring results or wisdom.

- Herman Schreuder, “Don’t Read, Meditate!”

[winston]

Resting in Spiritual Consciousness

Whether I’m engaging with my grandson or whether I’m going to the supermarket and talking to the person checking out my groceries, I try to be in a place of spiritual consciousness all the time.

Charles Johnson, “I Must Change My Life”

[winston]

Seeing Beyond the Surface

When you take care of things, see with the eyes of the heart, even if sometimes it means seeing beyond the surface.

- Paula Arai, “Healing Glistens on Carefully Washed Windows”

[winston]

How Can We Learn About the World?

How can we see more deeply and grow spiritually more and more? Very simply, how can we learn about the world?

- Mushim Patricia Ikeda, “Seeing the Unseen”

[winston]

Release Emotions

Only through acknowledging and releasing blind emotions, can I experience the inner unencumbered and harmonious being, that is always present despite the suffering.

- Zenju Earthlyn Manuel, “The Terror Within”

[winston]

Right Effort

It isn’t enough just to show up, accept yourself as you are and embrace your authentic true self.

Living a wholesome life requires effort.

- Mark Herrick

[winston]

More Than One Truth

Paradox is where enlightenment is born — it’s not about resolving or conquering paradox by choosing one side;

Rather, it’s in the tension of more than one truth being true that a new wisdom arises.

- Kai Cheng Thom, “Writing Love Letters to Monsters”

[winston]

Dive Into Sadness

When we try to oppose and resist whirlpools of thought-fueled sadness, to swim away from them through thought, we become exhausted from the effort, while our misery only increases.

But when we dive into the whirlpools, astonishing things happen.

- David Edwards, “Meditation in an Age of Cataclysms”

[winston]

Facing Conflict Head on and Belly Button Forward

Over the weeks, months and then years of training in Kendo, it would become deeply ingrained in me to face conflict and challenges this way: head on and belly button forward.

- Cristina Moon, “Stand Tall, Cut Straight”