Embracing Tao, you become embraced.
Supple, breathing gently, you become reborn.
Clearing your vision, you become clear.
Nurturing your beloved, you become impartial.
Opening your heart, you become accepted.
Accepting the World, you embrace Tao.
Bearing and nurturing,
Creating but not owning,
Giving without demanding,
Controlling without authority,
This is love.
― Laozi
If you are not able to believe resolutely that this mind is the Buddha but attempt spiritual training while attached to characteristics, your quest for spiritual efficacy will be entirely based on false thoughts and contrary to the enlightenment of Buddhahood. This mind is the Buddha; there is neither any separate Buddha nor any separate mind.
- Huang Po (857)
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whirling with the dervish
stripped of the illusion
atop a cloudclad mountaintop
laughing at hurled derision
I am not a victim of others, but rather a victim of my expectations, choices and dishonesty. When I expect others to be what I want them to be and not who they are, when they fail to meet my expectations, I am hurt. When my choices are based on self-centeredness, I find I am lonely and distrustful. I gain confidence in myself, however, when I practice honesty in all my affairs. When I search my motives and am honest and trusting, I am aware of the capacity for harm in situations and can avoid those that are harmful.
From the book Daily Reflections
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does this apply to me?
I brought along just a basket of books,
And sit reading all day long in the deserted woods.
Whenever I see the monks about their business,
The mind of serenity arises within.
Empty pavilion—cloud-slivers moor here;
Slanting pathways—tree roots invade.
It's not really that far from the city walls:
If you have a moment's leisure,
Come chant poems with me.
- Weng Chuan (d 1214)
Man (is) placed in the midst of this ever-changing world yet appreciates and seeks for constancy somewhere.
He does not know that he must develop the nature of constancy in himself; it is the nature of the soul to value that which is dependable.
But is there anything in the world on which one can depend, which is above change and destruction?
All that is born, all that is made, must one day face destruction.
All that has a beginning has also an end; but if there is anything one can depend upon it is hidden in the heart of man, it is the divine spark, the true philosopher's stone, the real gold, which is the innermost being of man.
Through motion and change, life becomes intelligible; we live a life of change, but it is constancy we seek.
It is this innate desire of the soul that leads man to God.
Bowl of Saki, June 25, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Clear dawn enters the ancient temple.
First sun brightens the lofty grove.
Winding paths: lead off toward secret places.
Chan chamber: Flowers deep among the trees.
Mountain light: joy, the bird's nature.
Pool shadows: empty, the hearts of people.
All sounds, here fall to silence.
All that remains, the bell stone's tone.
- Chang Jian (708-765)