We are all fellow wayfarers

"Love, embracing all beings, knowing well that we are all fellow wayfarers through this round of existence - that we are all overcome by the same law of suffering."

-Nyanaponika Thera, The Four Sublime States

Find out for yourself what is real

Don't blindly believe what I say. Don't believe me because others convince you of my words.

Don't believe anything you see, read, or hear from others, whether of authority, religious teachers or texts.

Don't rely on logic alone, nor speculation. Don't infer or be deceived by appearances.

Do not give up your authority and follow blindly the will of others. This way will lead to only delusion.

Find out for yourself what is truth, what is real. Discover that there are virtuous things and there are non-virtuous things. Once you have discovered for yourself give up the bad and embrace the good.

-The Buddha

Trust each other to love

"If we want a path forward out of an oppressive society, we have to learn to trust that as human beings we are capable of being good and kind and loving to one another even when given full autonomy and freedom."

-Angi Becker Stevens

Be curious

"There's something in our heart that really wants union, that wants to connect with people, with life, with the world around us in a deep way. […] openness then, the first part of Right Attitude, is this process of discovery, of seeing what's here and opening to it, not trying to change it but seeing what's here and opening to it, not trying to change it but seeing clearly with mindfulness, without judging out fear, loneliness, aggression, joy, happiness, love, sorrow; our body, how we use it […] we learn about the forces of desire, of fear, of wanting, of love, that makes the whole world go round, and really runs our lives."

-Jack Kornfield, Eightfold Path for the Householder

Not knowing is the most intimate

“Relationship is not an event isolated from our spiritual practice. We're involved in a relationship because we're on our path. We have a practice and somehow our relationship has become part of our practice. It’s not something different from our practice. It’s not this thing over there that makes me happy so I can have a practice over here. It’s not the other thing that pays the rent or gets me laid. It’s part of practice.” 

-John Tarrant for Lion's Roar

Restore peace within yourself

"The object of your practice should first of all be yourself. Your love for the other person, your ability to love the other person, depends on your ability to love yourself."

-Thich Nhat Hahn

Give

"Give more than you think you can, trusting you are richer than you think. […] sharing the fullness of your being, your best self, your enthusiasm, your vitality, your spirit, your trust, your openness, above all, your presence." 

- Jon Kabat-Zinn

Sunset

You become the company you keep

As a flood sweeps away a slumbering village, death sweeps away those who spend their lives gathering flowers. Death sweeps them away while they are still gathering, caught in the pursuit of pleasure. But the wise live without injuring nature, as the bee drinks nectar without harming the flower.

If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone. There is no companionship with the immature. [...] The immature who know they are immature have a little wisdom. But the immature who look on themselves as wise are utterly foolish.

Better to live in strength and wisdom for one day than to lead a weak and idle life for a hundred  years.

As irrigators guide water to their fields, as archers aim arrows, as carpenters carve wood, the wise shape their lives.

-from the Dhammapada

We are all longing

"We are all longing to go home to some place we have never been — a place half-remembered and half-envisioned - we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free."

-Starhawk, Building Community

Blessed are those

Blessed are those who yearn for deepening more than escape; who are not afraid to grow in spirit.

Blessed are those who take seriously the bonds of community; who regularly join in celebration and learning; who come as much to care for others as to receive care for themselves.

Blessed are those who bring their children; who invite their friends to come along, to join in fellowship, service, learning, and growth.

Blessed are those who support their community and its work by their regular, sustained, and generous giving; and who give of themselves no less than their money.

Blessed are those who know that the world is often imperfect, yet rather than harbor feelings of anger or disappointment, remain mindful, honest, and open with others in their concerns and needs.

Blessed are those who when asked to serve, do it gladly; who realize that change is brought about through human meeting, who share in the work that needs to be done, and stay till the end.

Blessed are those who speak their minds while remaining open-minded, who can take and give criticism; who keep alive their sense of humor.

Blessed are those who know that the work of each individual, each relationship, and each community, is the transformation of society; who have a vision within and transcending the present, and who do not shrink for controversy, sacrifice, or change.

Blessed are they indeed.


-adapted from John Buehrens "Blessed are those", Unitarian Universalist Responsive Reading #728

Stay the Course

We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a  private chart of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities.

—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Gifts to our beloved

The best gift we can offer our beloved is our true presence, our true listening. We can ask our beloved one,
"Darling, do you think I understand you enough? Please tell me how you are really doing. Please open your heart and help me to understand your joys and difficulties, so I can understand you and truly love you."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

Whole Against the Sky

"Once the realization is accepted that even between the closest human beings infinite distances continue to exist, a wonderful living side by side can grow up, if they succeed in loving the distance between them which makes it possible for each to see the other whole against the sky."

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Community Work

"I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live." - George Bernard Shaw

Spiritual Warrior

"Only as a warrior, a spiritual warrior, can one withstand the path of knowledge. A spiritual warrior cannot complain or regret anything. His life is an endless challenge and challenges cannot possibly be good or bad. The basic difference between an ordinary person and a warrior is that a warrior takes everything as a challenge while an ordinary person takes everything as a blessing or a curse."

Love does not shirk from pain

From Nisargadatta Maharaj

Endless speech

We go "la, la, la" and someone else goes "la, la, la" and we're on automatic, and we're making friends or passing the time, or whatever, and not waking up enough - not so much to others but to ourselves. Why do we do that? Why do we talk so much? When the inner and the outer dialogue is going on, it hides our loneliness, it keeps us from being bored, doesn't it? It keeps us from feeling afraid. It fills up all that space that's empty, that's scary. It also blocks our heart from opening in some way and from the width of growing. We grow when things get quieter and we can look.

~Jack Kornfield

Near enemy of love

"The near enemy of love is attachment. It masquerades like love, it feels like it, but it's separate. It says, 'I love you but really I'm attached to you. I need you to make me whole." Rather, the sense of love is honoring and seeing our connection." ~ Jack Kornfield

Sight

  "We only need to open our eyes, and we see every kind of form and color - the blue sky, the beautiful hills, the trees, the clouds, the rivers, the children, the butterflies. Just sitting here and enjoying these colors and shapes, we can be extremely happy." - Thich Naht Hahn

Spring poem

I am happy barefooted
Listening to the pot simmer, proteins changing
Gnawing on a mango pit
A monkey in the honeysuckle vines
And knowing I am loved
I am loved
I am loved
Not because the words were said, but because all of this allows.

Thoreau on being lonely

"This whole earth which we inhabit is but a point in space. How far apart, think you, dwell the two most distant inhabitants of yonder star, the breadth of whose disk cannot be appreciated by our instruments? Why should I ever feel lonely? Is not our planet in the Milky Way? This which you put seems to me not to be the most important question. What sort of space is that which separates a man from his fellows and makes him solitary? I have found that no exertion of the legs can bring two minds much nearer to one another. What do we want most to dwell near to? Not to many men surely ... but to the perennial source of our life ... This will vary with different natures, but this is the place where a wise man will dig his cellar..."

Mantra

As long as I keep breathing I won't die.

Quote on love

Love withers under constraint; its very essence is liberty. It is compatible neither with obedience, jealousy nor fear. It is there most pure, perfect, and unlimited when its votaries live in confidence, equality and unreserve.

Percy Byshe Shelley

Resolutions

(Started on New Years Day)

This is the time of the year when people promise to do better, to be better. When they declare, at this arbitrary place on the continuum of time, that things will be improved henceforth. So far as I can tell, there is only one resolution to ever be made, not just annually, but daily, hourly, with each breath. That is to love more.

Love yourself more, and you'll know you are worthwhile and deserving of happiness. You'll take the time to figure out the things in your life that you need to do in order to be happy and healthy. You will exercise like you know you should. You'll feed your body healthy foods and drinks, and avoid the toxins you know will harm you. You'll give yourself a break, consider and honor your feelings, and get enough sleep. You'll save your money, meditate, go to church, walk outside, go to school. You'll stop biting your nails. You'll pay down your debts. You'll surround yourself with loving people, and remove from your life those that harm you.

Love those around you more, and the love will come back to you multiplied. You will call your family and friends to catch up and make sure they are okay. You will show your gratitude for the nice things people do. You will smile, you will hug, you will make a routine of being helpful and compassionate. You will listen with an open heart and refrain from judging. You won't be so angry. You won't yell. You'll forgive. You'll be present, aware, and honest, because in loving others more you'll recognize that they deserve it.

Love your art more, and you will do it. You will write. You will paint. You will dance. You will make music. And it will all be better for the love you put into it.

Love your work more, and you'll find the small joys in your tasks. You won't procrastinate. You'll organize, be a better leader, learn a new skill. You'll quit if that's what you need. You'll follow your passion. You'll be committed, you'll arrive on time, you will succeed.

Love your world more, and you'll have a better world to live in. You will respect your things. You will do your dishes and wash your clothes and take care of your home. You will recycle, learn to be more environmentally friendly where you can, and be better about conservation. You will volunteer, donate, and pay-it-forward.

Love more, and it will shine like a light within you and touch everything within your reality. Just love. You don't need a list of promises you won't keep and ideals you can't uphold. You simply need to try your best to make every moment a little more loving.

Forever

Sometimes I think that I'm bigger than the sound.