Listening Attitude to Life

     "Listening is an interesting attitude. Just stopping and listening - there's something very profound about that. It takes effort to listen, but it's not willful in the sense of trying to do something, to become something. Listening is a form of empathy. You're allowing the experience of sound to come into you and then understanding it, not intellectually, not as an idea, but as a felt experience. You can apply that same quality of inner listening to your fears and desires, hopes and expectations, and disappointments - to your personality and all the rest of the business of being human."

       Ajahn Viradhammo, Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly, Summer 2013
http://tisarana.ca/

     More on listening: http://www.johnlovas.com/search?q=listening

Vittorio Fracassi   http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/

One Mind-Body

     “The whole life attitude of a human being appears in his posture, in the relationship of tension and relaxation, and in breathing. Posture, tension and relaxation, and breath can never be exclusively physical factors. They are integral functions of the person manifesting himself analogously on the psychological and spiritual levels. For this reason it is possible to begin the work on the whole (person) with them.” 

       Durckheim KG. "Hara: The Vital Center of Man." Inner Traditions, Rochester VT, 2004.

     “It is only when the mind is open and receptive that learning and seeing and change can occur. In practicing mindfulness you will have to bring your whole being to the process.” 
       Kabat-Zinn J. “Full catastrophe living. Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain and illness”. Dell Publishing, NY, 1990.

Photo: Daro31   www.preview.com