That one mind can reach out from its lonely cave of bone and touch another, express its joys and sorrows to another – this is the great miracle of being alive together. The object of human communication is not the exchange of information but the exchange of understanding. If we are lucky enough, if we are attentive enough, communication then becomes a system for the transfer of tenderness. That we have invented so many forms of it - the language of words, the language of music, the language of flowers – is a testament to our elemental need for this exchange.
- Maria Popova, The Marginalian, www.themarginalian.org The renewable quality - the sacredness of every living thing, that which connects human beings to the place they inhabit - that quality is the single most liberating aspect of our environment. Life is renewable and all the things that support life are renewable, and they are renewed by a force greater than any government's, greater than any living or historical thing. A consciousness of the web that holds all things together, the spiritual element that connects us to reality and the manifestation of that power to renew that is present in the existence of an eagle or a mountain snow fall...
- Chief Oren Lyons, John Mohawk, Jose Barreiro, from Basic Call to Consciousness The gleaming stars all about the shining moon
Hide their bright faces, when full-orbed and splendid In the sky she floats, flooding the shadowed earth With clear silver light - Sappho, Archaic Greek poet known for her lyric poetry The procedure of focusing feels good. The moment it doesn't, back up a little bit and see what it is that doesn't feel good. Don't push yourself across barriers. Instead, focus on the immediate felt barrier. What is the whole feel of that? There may be bad or scary feelings to focus on, but the focusing itself always feels good and makes the feeling less bad or scary. When it opens, your body releases and again that feels better. Your guide in focusing is toward these ways of feeling better, localizing and opening, releasing, fresh air. You will feel better, whatever you find down inside yourself, when you let it name itself and be localized.
- Eugene T. Gendlin, PH.D., an American philosopher who developed ways of thinking about and working with living process, the bodily felt sense and the "philosophy of the implicit" Love is the only answer to hatred.
- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, Tibetan Buddhist, scholar, poet, and teacher. Of earth and sky, Homo sapiens creating themselves,
following the mode and model of the creator’s creation, particle by particle, quest by quest, witness by witness, even though the unknown far away and the unknown nearby be seen and not seen… let there be goodwill and accounting, let there be praise resounding. - Pattiann Rogers, American poet Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through Become inclined to watch the way of rain When it falls slow and free Imitate the habit of twighlight Taking time to open the well of color That fostered the brightness of the day Draw alongside the silence of stone Until it's calmness can claim you Be excessively gentle with yourself... - John O'Donohue, Irish poet Always we hope
Someone else has the answer Some other place will be better, Some other time it will all turn out. This is it. No one else has the answer No other place will be better, And it has already turned out. At the center of your being You have the answer, You know who you are And you know what you want. There is no need To run outside For better seeing. Nor to peer from a window. Rather abide at the center of your being; For the more you leave it, the less you learn. Search your heart And see The way to do Is to be. - Lao Tzu, Chinese philosopher When life becomes complicated pause and look for what keeps your inner light burning. Take a walk in the woods or a park or sit by the window and contemplate. Clarity and inspiration abound in Nature. The plants would tell you that by sitting still, you can follow your inner guidance and flower. The river would tell you to go with the flow. Animals might tell you not to make the hunt for nourishment so complicated, follow your instinct, use your senses, and honor the blessing of your meal. Wherever you look, you will see life’s poetry reflected to you. Nature works, Life works, and so do you.
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