Philosophy 05 (Aug 25 - Dec 26)

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A Glimpse of Grace

Every act of kindness that comes our way, is not karmic feedback but a glimpse of grace.

- Nagapriya, “The Economy of Grace”

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Embrace Awakening

Instead of conquering awakening like a foe, what about embracing awakening as a lover? As a beloved friend?

- River Shannon, “Grasping Way, Granting Way”

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Experiences Come and Go

Whatever experience that comes is it.

And whatever comes, goes.

Even if it is the dark night of the soul, it comes and then it goes.

- Ian Kilroy, “Fear of Losing Oneself”

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Looking and Witnessing

When you’re deeply looking at something, you’re loving it.

And I think that when you do that, whether it’s with a person or a nonhuman animal or a plant or a tree, it is a way of witnessing and being witnessed.

- Ada Limón, “Decentering the Self”

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Learning from the Elements

The elements can teach us the truth of impermanence. The elements are constantly changing in the natural world, as they are within us.

- Lin Wang Gordon, “We Are the Elements”

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A Shared Dilemma

The artist’s dilemma and the meditator’s are, in a deep sense, equivalent.

Both are repeatedly willing to confront an unknown and to risk a response that they cannot predict or control.

- Stephen Batchelor, “A Democracy of the Imagination”

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Life’s Contradictions

The beauty of the path is that it makes room for all of life’s contradictions.

It begins by acknowledging an underlying truth: Yes, there is suffering.

- Nina Müller, “The Same Heart”

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Moment-to-Moment Change

Interestingly, mindfulness meditation begins with the opposite approach to trying to be in the moment; it asks us to actually notice moment-to-moment change.

- Loch Kelly, “When Am I?”

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Helping Everyone

In helping yourself, you help others; in helping others, you help yourself.

All in all, the practice boils down to behaving in the right manner, both to oneself and to others.

- P. A. Payutto, “Helping Yourself, Helps Others”

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The Effort of Compassion

Sometimes compassion will arise spontaneously, like the clouds parting to reveal the blue sky.

At other times we may have to make a conscious effort, which is a bit more like imagining what the blue sky looks like, even when it’s obscured by clouds.

- Andy Puddicombe, “10 Tips for Living More Mindfully”