“In the spiritual life, you must take one step forward each day in a vertical line, from the bottom up.” Pio of Pietrelcina
Vertically Challenged
Tag: Mindfulness
Monkey Mind
The Buddha said that we all have monkey minds, with dozens of monkeys all clamoring for attention. Fear and anxiety are very loud monkeys, pointing out all the things we should be wary of and everything that could go wrong.
Daniel B. Smith, author of the book Monkey Mind writes: “Admit the anxiety as an essential part of yourself and in exchange that anxiety will be converted into energy, unstable but manageable. Stop with the self-flagellating and become yourself, with scars and tics.”
In other words, everybody’s got something to hide, except for me and my monkeys.
Reflected Appraisal
“Know the white, yet keep to the black; be a pattern for the world. If you are a pattern for the world, the Tao will be strong inside you and there will be nothing you can’t do.” Lao Tzu
The Color Purple
“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it. People think pleasing God is all God cares about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.” Alice Walker, The Color Purple
Stillness Speaks
Eckhart Tolle: “All artists, whether they know it or not create from a place of inner stillness, a place of no mind.”
Me: “I have so many things on my mind right now its hard to even think!”
ET: “When you lose touch with inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself.”
Me: “It’s too much trouble to set up my tripod so I’ll try to hold myself still.”
ET: “True intelligence operates silently. Stillness is where creativity and solutions to problems are found.”
Me: “I wish that damn bulldozer would finish up so I can concentrate.”
ET: “Surrender comes when you no longer ask, “Why is this happening to me?”
Me: “These mayflies are driving me crazy, why is this happening to me?”
ET: “Whenever you are immersed in compulsive thinking, you are avoiding what is. You don’t want to be where you are. Here, Now.”
Me: “I should have gone to the Shoe House instead of here in Wrightsville, I’d love a shoe brownie right now.”
ET: “Become at ease with the state of not knowing.”
Me: “I have no idea if this will look good in black and white, I just don’t know.”
ET: “Whenever you deeply accept this moment as it is-no matter what form it takes-you are still, you are at peace.”
Me: “Man its hot out here-it must be ninety degrees already and as humid as a rainforest.”
ET: “Suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary.”
Me: “Put a fork in me I’m done, I’m gonna go home, crank up the AC and watch cartoons like a normal unemployed 58 year old man.
ET: “Here is a new spiritual practice for you: don’t take your thoughts too seriously.”
Me: “I think I have a few Rick and Mortys on the DVR, that should get my mind right, I hope so, I’m so confused!”
Mushrooms: An Inquiry Into Values
“Mushrooms, growing in the deep forest. What do you hope to achieve?” Marty Rubin
“To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain which sustain life, not the top. Here’s where things grow.” Robert M. Pirsig
