Our Original Nature

In emptiness, forms are born. When we become empty of the assumptions, inferences, and judgments we have acquired over the years, we come close to our original nature and are capable of conceiving original ideas and reacting freshly.

Adapted from Tenet 8 in Zen Art for Meditation by Stewart W. Holmes and Chimyo Horioka.

Wealth

Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.

Henry David Thoreau

quoted in The Prosperous Life Journal

by Chris Michaels and Edward Viljoen

Beauty's Gift

I know a cure for sadness:

Let your hands touch something that makes your eyes smile.

I bet there are a hundred objects close by that can do that.

Look at beauty's gift to us—

her power is so great she enlivens the earth, the sky, our soul.

Mirabai (c. 1498-1550) woman poet of India. Her great-grandfather founded the city of Jodhpur.

The Truth of My Being

The truth of my being is that I was created perfect, whole, and complete. I now choose to live my life from this understanding. I am in the right place at the right time, doing the right thing. All is well in my world.

Adapted from You Can Heal Your Life by Louise L. Hay.

Every Moment

Walk and touch peace every moment.

Walk and touch happiness every moment.

Each step brings a fresh breeze.

Each step makes a flower bloom.

Kiss the Earth with your feet.

Bring the Earth your love and happiness.

The Earth will be safe

When we feel safe in ourselves.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Where We Come From

The cycle which includes our coming and going
Has no discernible beginning nor end;
Nobody has got this matter straight—
Where we come from and where we go to.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
Translated by Peter Avery and John Heath-Stubbs

Basic Goodness

We can awaken to basic goodness, our birthright.

Pema Chödrön is an ordained Buddhist nun. She was born Deirdre Blomfield-Brown in 1936, in New York City. She attended Miss Porter's School in Connecticut and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley. She taught elementary school for many years in both New Mexico and California. She has two children and three grandchildren.

The goal of Pema Chödrön’s work is to apply Buddhist teachings in everyday life. A prolific author, she has conducted workshops, seminars, and meditation retreats in Europe, Australia, and throughout North America. She is resident teacher of Gampo Abbey, a monastery in rural Nova Scotia, Canada.

Ex Libris

I often purchase used hardcover books because they consistently cost much less than new paperback editions of the same title. Occasionally there will be a bookplate inside, also known as ex libris, Latin for “from the books of...”

This handsome bookplate was a happy surprise waiting for me to discover inside the front cover of Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya, published in 1954. The strong figure in the foreground is leaning against a tree which may symbolize knowledge. Behind him, on the left, is the fertile countryside. On the right one sees a city with factory smokestacks and a railway along the edge of town. I wonder what the book’s first owner, Marjory F. Collins, thought about the image and why she chose this particular bookplate design for the books in her library.

Bookplates have long been objects of collection; at the present time more than 50 national societies of ex-libris collectors exist, grouped into an International Federation of Ex-libris Societies (FISAE) which organizes world-wide congresses every two years.

The Law of Good

The Law of Good is flowing through me.
I am one with the rhythm of Life.
There is nothing to be afraid of.
There is nothing to be uncertain about.
Spirit is over all, in all, and through all.
Spirit is right where I am.
I am at peace with myself.
I am at peace with everyone around me.
I am at peace with the world in which I live.
I am at home with the Divine Spirit in which
I am immersed.

Adapted from This Thing Called You by Ernest Holmes

Kindness

The true essence of humankind is kindness. There are other qualities which come from education or knowledge, but it is essential, if one wishes to be a genuine human being and impart satisfying meaning to one’s existence, to have a good heart.

The 14th Dalai Lama

Contentment

There is good around us—lots of it, be it in the form of a pleasant breeze or hanging out with friends. Recognizing this abundant goodness depends a lot upon the eyes and heart of the beholder. Feelings of contentment can be elusive, but this quotation, from an anonymous source, reminds us of a simple solution.

Contentment is not the fulfillment
of what you want, but the realization
of how much you already have.

Ruby

The ruby has been the world's most valued gemstone for thousands of years. It was said to be the most precious of the twelve stones God created when he created all things and this "lord of gems" was placed on Aaron's neck by God's command. The Bible says that wisdom is "more precious than rubies," that is to say very valuable indeed. In the ancient language of Sanskrit, the ruby is called ratnaraj, or "king of precious stones" and ratnanayaka, "leader of precious stones." In fact, rubies are today still more valuable and rare than even the top quality colorless diamonds.

The following quotation is from Kabir: Ecstatic Poems, versions by Robert Bly.

The small ruby everyone wants has fallen out on the road.
Some think it is east of us, others west of us. Some say, “among the primitive earth rocks,” others, “in the deep waters.”
Kabir’s instinct told him it was inside, and what it was worth, and he wrapped it up carefully in his heart cloth.

Water

Nothing in the world is weaker or more yielding than water; yet nothing is its equal in wearing away the hard and strong. There is nothing quite like it.

Thus, the weak can overpower the strong, the flexible can overcome the rigid. The whole world can perceive this, but does not often put it into practice.

(adapted from The Book of Tao translated 1962 by Frank J. MacHovec)

One

I am light, I am love, I am peace,

I am beauty, I am joy.

I am one with the universe.

I am one with the earth.

I am one with everyone within the reach of my voice.

And, in this togetherness, we ask the Divine Intelligence

to eradicate all negatives from our hearts, from our minds,

from our words, and from our actions.

And so be it.

Adapted from Dr. Babatunde Olatunji (1927-2003), a Nigerian drummer, composer, educator, social activist, and recording artist.

More Zen Tenets

Here are a few more Zen tenets from Zen Art for Meditation, the book I quoted from yesterday.

.

The realities of life are most truly seen in everyday things and actions.
•
Everything exists according to its own nature. Our individual perceptions of worth, correctness, beauty, size, and value exist inside our heads, not outside them.
•
The self and the rest of the universe are not separate entities but one functioning whole.
•
One can live only in the present moment.

Collaboration

Humankind arises from nature and gets along most effectively by collaborating with nature, rather than trying to master it.

Adapted from Zen Tenet 5 in Zen Art for Meditation, by Stewart W. Holmes and Chimyo Horioka.

Holding Hands

These otters are at the Vancouver Aquarium in British Columbia.

Let Me Walk in Beauty

Oh, Great Spirit,
whose voice I hear in the winds
and whose breath gives life to all the world, hear me.
I need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty and let my eyes
ever behold the red and purple sunset.
Let my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Let me learn the lessons you have hidden
in every leaf and rock.

Let me always be ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes,
so when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit will come to you
without shame.

Adapted from a Lakota prayer
attributed to Chief Yellow Lark, 1887

Completeness

In the one, there is the all.

In the all, there is the one.

If you know this

You will never worry about being incomplete.

Seng Ts'an (third century BCE) is said to have been the Third Patriarch of Ch'an Buddhism, which passed into Japan as Zen. This translation, by Stephen Ruppenthal, is from the web site of Blue Mountain Center for Meditation.

The Soft and Supple Will Prevail

People are born soft and supple;
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
Dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
Is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
Is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

----

Adapted from Tao Te Ching
translated 1988 by Stephen Mitchell

Live the Present Moment

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, and not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

The Buddha

Quietude and Sincerity

Speak few words,
but say them with quietude and sincerity,
and they will be long lasting,
for a raging wind cannot blow all morning,
nor an unexpected rain shower last throughout the day.

Adapted from Tao Te Ching, an ancient Chinese book of philosophy, thought to have been written around the 6th century BCE.

Duck in a Truck

My friend Suzanne Sandidge alerted me to this YouTube video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.