Philosophy 04 (Jan 25 - Dec 26)

[winston]

Set Today’s Tone

“May I relate to myself, to others and to the events around me, with kindness, understanding and less judgment.

May I use my day in a way that is in tune with my deeper values.”

In this way, set the tone for the day.

- Thupten Jinpa, “Two Exercises for Turning Intention into Motivation”

[winston]

Enlightenment Arising

Enlightenment is something we seek and something that seeks us, something that arises within us.

- Aaron P. Proffitt, “Beyond Simplicity”

[winston]

Sitting and Shattering Illusions

Seeing more clearly into how the mind functions tends to shatter some of the meditator’s most cherished beliefs about cognition, consciousness and the nature of self.

- Wes Nisker, “Thinking About Thinking”

[winston]

Maintaining Our True Nature

Just as gold can be tarnished, our true nature can be obscured by habits or temporary emotional patterns.

- Bennett-Goleman, “Emotional Alchemy: How the Mind Can Heal the Heart”

[winston]

Fix Your Heart

Be neither glad nor regretful when sadness and gloom appear within the heart.

Look on them as mental conditions that must be investigated, as things that arise, cease and come out from the heart.

They depend on the heart for their birth and then latch on to it.

- Ajaan Suchart Abhijāto

[winston]

Relationships Start with Self-Love

If you love yourself, you will never enjoy making yourself angry.

If you love yourself, you will have the opportunity to love others.

And if you love others, you will never try to hurt those people with rude and angry words.

- Mahindasiri Thero, “How to Deal with Toxic People

[winston]

This Exquisite Moment

No matter how frenzied you feel, no matter how shoved and strangled by the rush of events, you are standing in a single exquisite moment.

- Kathleen Dean Moore, “We Are Held by What We Cannot See”

[winston]

The Mindful Body

If you have been struggling to develop mindfulness, this may come as a surprise.

The secret to stabilizing your practice has not only been right under your nose but it is your nose — and the rest of your body, too, for that matter.

- Willa Blythe Baker, “The Body Is Already Mindful”

[winston]

Understanding Death

You have to know the true nature of dying, to understand the true nature of living.

If you don’t understand death, you don’t understand life.

- Thich Nhat Hanh, “The Gift of Fearlessness”

[winston]

Creating Confidence

Confidence must be created. No one is born with it.

It must be fostered through familiarization in the context and field of what we wish to accomplish.

- Dzigar Kongtrul, “Working on Laziness”