augustus 2017

de natuur is

Gepubliceerdop aug 26, 2017

I would warn you that I do not attribute to nature either beauty or deformity, order or confusion.

Only in relation to our imagination can things be called beautiful or ugly, well-ordered or confused.

Baruch Spinoza (1632 – 1677)

hoop

Gepubliceerdop aug 24, 2017

In een tijd, waarin ‘de dingen in het zadel zitten en de mensheid rijden’ als nooit tevoren – waarin de spanningen van angst, bezorgdheid en vervreemding de geesten der moderne mensen verwoesten – biedt het feit, dat gewone mensen door verlichting zowel zin en vreugde in het leven kunnen ontdekken, alsook een gevoel van hun eigen uniek zijn en solidariteit met de gehele mensheid kunnen verkrijgen, zeker hoop aan mensen overal ter wereld.

Philip Kapleau, 1965

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verlicht huishouden

Gepubliceerdop aug 23, 2017

Happiness needs things, so she [Dhammā] wasn’t happy. At first she had thought being happy was what she’d heeded and could never have. But to her surprise, her slow and growing and then vast surprise, she found that she didn’t need to be happy. Enlightenment, which is tranquility itself, isn’t happiness. Her housework and chores became the rules by which she governed her life. Step by step, she turned ownership into austerity. She examined her mind carefully and slowly, slowly, turned complexity into unity, too many choices and decisions into discipline. Her life was often tedious, so she worked at turning boredom into concentration. When she secretly resented her husband, she tried to turn the anger into energy and strength. When she was envious of others, she worked at turning it into generosity. When Dhammā stopped trying to be happy, stopped needing to have nothing to need, she found herself relaxing into peace. She found herself not happy but completely at peace.

Sally Tisdale

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goudsijsjes

Gepubliceerdop aug 20, 2017

Goldfinches

In the fields
we let them have-
in the fields
we don’t want yet-

where thistles rise
out of the marshlands of spring, and spring open-
each bud
a settlement of riches-

a coin of reddish fire-
the finches
wait for midsummer,
for the long days,

for the brass heat,
for the seeds to begin to form in the hardening thistles,
dazzling as the teeth of mice,
but black,

filling the face of every flower.
Then they drop from the sky.
A buttery gold,
they swing on the thistles, they gather

the silvery down, they carry it
in their finchy beaks
to the edges of the fields,
to the trees,

as though their minds were on fire
with the flower of one perfect idea-
and there they build their nests
and lay their pale-blue eggs,

every year,
and every year
the hatchlings wake in the swaying branches,
in the silver baskets,

and love the world.
Is it necessary to say any more?
Have you heard them singing in the wind, above the final fields?
Have you ever been so happy in your life?

 

Mary Oliver

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Buddhism’s call to action

Gepubliceerdop aug 17, 2017

“Science and technology alone cannot stop continuing warfare, racism, and environmental destruction. The illusion of separation that fuels global consumerism and greed, fear, and ignorance needs to be transformed by the realization of interdependence, by the illumination of wisdom and compassion. Each of us must find our own way to contribute to this with the wisdom of our practice and our own unique capacities. …

Find a way to quiet your mind and open your heart. Meditate, turn off the news, turn on Mozart, walk through the trees or the mountains, and make yourself a zone of peace and compassion. You can get swept up in a frightened, barricaded society—or you can respond calmly, with both prudent action and a fearless steady heart. Thich Nhat Hanh explains, ‘When the crowded refugee boats met with storms or pirates, if every one panicked, all would be lost. But if even one person stayed calm, it was enough. It showed the way for everyone to survive.'”

Jack Kornfield

excerpt, full article on Lion’s Roar

doe niets

Gepubliceerdop aug 14, 2017

Je huidige bezigheden verschillen niet van die van de patriarchen-boeddha’s. Je gelooft dit alleen niet en blijft buiten zoeken. Vergis je niet! Buiten is er geen dharma; binnen is er niets te verkrijgen. Het is beter rustig aan en niets te doen dan de woorden uit mijn mond te proberen te vatten. Wijd gedachten niet uit die al opgekomen zijn en laat die nog niet opgekomen zijn niet aangewakkerd worden. Slechts dit zal veel meer waard zijn dan een tienjarige pelgrimstocht.

Linji Yi Hsuan

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de reflectie van de maan rimpelloos

Gepubliceerdop aug 11, 2017

The reflection of the moon in a deep lake is not disturbed by the echo from the sound of a bell on a quiet night; and though it appears to remain unscattered when in contact with large and small waves, still it is on the riverbanks of life and death.

Hsuan-sha Shih-pei (835–908)
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