Comfort - OR - Authenticity?

"There are risks and costs to a program of action. But they are far less than the long-range risks and costs of comfortable inaction."                  John F. Kennedy  


"and the day came
when the risk to remain
tight in a bud
was more painful than the risk
it took to blossom"                                                           anais nin


"Waking up to who you are
requires letting go of who
you imagine yourself to be."                                            Alan Watts

Dancing

      “An old Zen master said ‘Three or four times I’ve had the great death’ - which in Zen refers to great awakening - ‘but my life is lived in the million small moments that make one dance.’ And right there is the marriage of the absolute and the relative. Great moments of breaking through into the timeless. And then the greatest state of realization coming into, and embodying itself into human experience.”                                                         Adyashanti

 

Spirituality & Social Activism

     “In this era, to become a spiritual inquirer without social consciousness is a luxury that we can ill afford, and to be a social activist without a scientific understanding of the inner workings of the mind is the worst folly. Neither approach in isolation has had any significant success. There is no question now that an inquirer will have to make an effort to be socially conscious or that an activist will have to be persuaded of the moral crisis in the human psyche, the significance of being attentive to the inner life. The challenge awaiting us is to go much deeper as human beings, to abandon superficial prejudices and preferences, to expand understanding to a global scale, integrating the totality of living, and to become aware of the wholeness of which we are a manifestation.”

       Vimala Thakar (1921-2009) Indian social activist and spiritual teacher
       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vimala_Thakar

To Be, or Not to Be ...

     "Being is that which disturbs our insistence on remaining in the life-numbing realm of our secret desperation. It is the itch that cannot be scratched, the whisper that will not be denied. To be, to truly be, is not a given.

     Most of us live in a state where our being has long ago been exiled to the shadow realm of our silent anguish. At times being will break through the fabric of our unconsciousness to remind us that we are not living the life we could be living, the life that truly matters. At other times being will recede into the back-ground silently waiting for our devoted attention. But make no mistake: being — your being — is the central issue of life."

        Adyashanti "The Way of Liberation" 2012 ebook,

        which may be downloaded: http://www.adyashanti.org/library/The_Way_of_Liberation_Ebook.pdf

Upside Down

     At some level, every single one of us knows what the mystics, sages and saints have embodied throughout the ages - that all of us, everything, is a manifestation of the great heart of perfect wisdom.

     But there's a mysterious divide between what we know, and what we pretend is true.
     Much of our life is lived in painful pretense - why? - we can choose to live authentically.

Actualizing Perfect Freedom

     "In the famous book Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind, Richard Baker Roshi describes his teacher Suzuki Roshi, a Zen master, as: 
     'a person who has actualized that perfect freedom that is the potential for all human beings. The flow of his consciousness is not the fixed repetitive pattern of our usual self-centered consciousness, but rather arises spontaneously & naturally from the circumstances of the present. The results of this, in terms of the quality of life, are extraordinary: buoyancy, vigor, straight-forwardness, simplicity, humility, serenity, joyousness, uncanny perspicacity, and unfathomable compassion. His whole being testifies to what it means to live in the reality of the present. Without anything said or done, just the impact of meeting a person so developed, is enough change another's whole way of life.'

     At their best, our teachers become mirrors to us. ... To be in the presence of a wise teacher reminds us that we're not the limited beings that we take ourselves to be."


       Jack Kornfield "Transmission - Receiving the Living Wisdom of Spiritual Teachers - In-depth reflections and teachings on the student-teacher relationship."           www.soundstrue.com

Freedom

     In his superb Sounds True CD set "Transmission - Receiving the Living Wisdom of Spiritual Teachers - In-depth reflections and teachings on the student-teacher relationship." Jack Kornfield uses the phrase "unshakable freedom of heart."                    http://www.soundstrue.com

 

Photo: P. Michael Lovas

Work a Concentration Meditation; Retirement an Open Awareness Meditation?

     There are interresting parallels between the relatively narrow focus of working life and concentration forms of meditation; and then a broader opening up to life in general when one retires (or is on a retreat) and open awareness forms of meditation.
     If one can sense the totality of life as one living organism, and resonates with Valera's understanding http://www.johnlovas.com/2014/06/appropriate-behavior-health-depend-on.html that communication between all parts of this one massive Self is essential, then we can appreciate the relative tunnel vision of work-life to be potentially problematic. Also, after a lifetime of specialized work, when (if) people retire, they may well find it challenging to open their mind-hearts to the big picture.
     The capacity, indeed the seamless, effortless ease of connecting deeply & being congruent with LIFE is always, throughout life, critical, IF we are to perform our small, individual, specialized roles in harmony with the one orchestra.

Venice, Italy, June 2014

Our Physical Journey towards Wholeness

     I keep being amazed at how we, as individuals & as a species, seem to have to physically experience & process & integrate the myriad mysteries of life - "the full catastrophe", from wondrous to horrific, and with mountains of sand to shovel in between. It seems akin to each of us being presented with a plate of food to eat, digest & incorporate into every cell in our bodies & thus become transformed. 
     May we do this work of a lifetime as mind-heartfully as possible.

Samsara by Wolfgang Weinhardt   http://www.viewpointgallery.ca/

Congruence

     noticing & accepting "things as they is"
     the myriad of ways deep silence pours forth into symphony & cacophony
     I look deeply within
     silence, stillness, emptiness
     connecting directly with essential being
     that my behavior might be more & more in tune

bkob   www.dpreview.com

Wisdom Is as Wisdom Does - Walking the Talk

     "Behavior is the outward expression of one's inner understanding ... when wisdom has truly sunk in deeply enough to be transformative, one is incapable of misbehavior."

       Andrew Olendzki, Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, Summer 2013

Jeremy Wilson   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/

Know it or Not, You ARE Loved, You DO Belong, You DO Matter

Keep walking toward the light,
it's there awaiting to embrace you, 
it's always there embracing you.

giofkos   www.dpreview.com

Sculpting the Self - Finding Buddha

     What we choose to do, each moment, is our best shot at survival, avoidance of suffering, and grabbing a bit of happiness. The choice is not necessarily wise ie well-reasoned with respect to our own and everyone else's long-term best interests, but it's the best we can do for now.

     ‘The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.’                   Michelangelo

     Wisdom traditions suggest that perfection - Buddhanature - is within each of us amazing spirits walking around in rags. Through mindfulness practices, we learn to take the rags less and less seriously, and live more and more from what's inside.

"Yeh, yeh - I get it"

     "Those who say they know, don't."            Buddhist saying

      Some intellectual grasp of Buddhism is easy. But we don't really get it, until we ARE it. And becoming it - living an integrated, congruent life - is a lifelong transformational process - not merely comprehending an idea. Those who are well on their way, may not even be consciously aware of the extent of their own transformation - are fish aware of water?
 
     On the other hand, even long-time meditators retain plenty of "rough edges." A great deal of humility, honesty, patience and perseverance is required to see ourselves objectively - without a "halo effect". Our family and loved ones are the ones most acutely aware of our remaining foibles.
 
     “... the development of the genuine individual, who can embody and express the larger dimensions of being in his or her person. ... integrate our spiritual realization into the whole fabric of our personal life and waking up to our ultimate spiritual nature, ... to grow up – to ripen into a mature, fully developed person.” 
     Welwood J. “Toward a psychology of awakening. Buddhism, psychotherapy, and the path of personal and spiritual transformation.” Shambhala, Boston, 2002.
 
     And then there's the small matter of the Bodhisattva vow ...

Bob Frager PhD 2012 interview

Successful aging

     “The easy path of aging is to become a thick-skinned, unbudging curmudgeon, a battle-axe. To grow soft and sweet is the harder way.”                                                                 James Hillman

     "Aging is inevitable; becoming wiser with age is not. Researchers, theorists, and clinicians have noted that older adults approach their lives in one of two ways: Either they draw on their strengths and live life to the fullest, or they magnify their weaknesses and restrict their lives to succumb to life's inevitable end.
     Rigidity is a tendency to resist change, while flexibility is the ability to adapt to change. The conscious aging theory espouses late life as a period of deeper meaning and personal growth.
     As long as one remains engaged late in life, personality continues to develop. One's sense of self changes as one negotiates the conflicts proposed at each stage (of psychological development). The conflict assigned to 'old age' is that of integrity versus despair."

       Giblin JC. J Psychosoc Nurs Ment Health Serv 2011; 49(3): 23-6.

kate t. parker, National Geographic   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com