Philosophy 04 (Jan 25 - Dec 26)

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Infinite Fire

Connectedness can’t be ordered up, laid out or unraveled.

Its fire runs through an infinite network of points of mutual contact and exchange, that are beyond explanation and must simply be accepted with respect and gratitude.

- Susan Murphy, “Why Love What You Will Lose?”

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Lightening Ourselves

When we stop clinging to a fixed sense of “I,” we become freer to respond to each moment with presence and compassion.

Our roles and relationships become lighter — less about performance, more about genuine connection.

- Santiago Santai Jiménez, “A Thought Experiment to Go Beyond Thought”

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Beloved Community

Within our practice, we share an intention, enact our purpose and cultivate care for one another.

We find intimacy, companionship, friendship and a community of people, who gather together in the same way, that people have for over a thousand years.

- Gabriel Wilson, “The Beloved Embodiment of Community”

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Mindful Walking

With our mindful walking, we enter into a direct communion with the earth and with the ancient practices and rituals of the cultures buried beneath our highways and skyscrapers.

- Zachiah Murray, “Mindfulness in the Garden”

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Practice New Thoughts

If you look at the facts of something and write down your thoughts, you find that those thoughts lead to certain feelings and those feelings lead to action.

If you can practice new thoughts, you can change outcomes for yourself.

- Catherine Burns, “How to Break Free from the Stories We Tell Ourselves”

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Open to What Is

Open to what is.

Let go of those add-ons we’re conditioned to pile on.

Don’t be afraid of what you are feeling.

- Sharon Salzberg, “Forever Connected”

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Turn Toward Discomfort

When you try to ignore something or push it away, it actually seems to have a larger and more unrelenting presence.

But when you turn toward and pay attention to the discomfort, it loses power over you.

- Susan Bauer-Wu, “Tuning Into the Body”

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The Nature Within

Establishing a meditation practice where we become intimate with the elements, offers us a way to connect to the presence of nature within ourselves, seeing over time that we are nature, not something separate from it.

- Juliana Sloane, “A Practice for Connecting with the Four Elements That Can Be Done Anywhere”

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Open-hearted Inquiry

Questioning in a meditative way doesn’t demand an answer.

We come to this art of inquiry with an attitude of openheartedness.

We familiarize ourselves with silence because wise questions and fruitful responses, arise out of silence.

- Narayan Helen Liebenson, “Practice Questioning”

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Detach from Thoughts

The thought is the thinker. There is no one behind it.

The thought is thinking itself. It comes uninvited.

You will see that when there is a strong detachment from the thought process, thoughts don’t last long.

- Joseph Goldstein, “These Are Not ‘Your’ Thoughts”