Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Don't Let Go!

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Instructions are given, but few practice them.
Don't let go of the instructions!

~ from page 105 of Lion of Siddhas: The Life
   and Teachings of Padampa Sangye

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

To Get Started

The way to get started is to quit talking, and begin doing. 
~ Walt Disney

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Video: Tai Chi for Better Balance

Tai Chi for Better Balance

Video: Eight Pieces of Silk Brocade

Eight Pieces of Silk Brocade qigong

Video: Shibashi tai chi qigong

Shibashi - 18 movements of tai chi qigong

Your Footsteps Are the Road

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Walker, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more.
Walker, there is no road, the road is made by walking.
Walking you make the road, and turning to look behind
    you see the path you never again will step upon.
Walker, there is no road, only foam trails on the sea.

~ Antonia Machado, Proverbs and Songs
(translated by Willis Barnstone)

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Opinions Are Like Playthings

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Our quaint metaphysical opinions, in an hour of anguish, are like playthings by the bedside of a child deathly sick.

~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Monday, May 9, 2011

Witness

by Denise Levertov

Sometimes the mountain
is hidden from me in veils
of cloud, sometimes
I am hidden from the mountain
in veils of inattention, apathy, fatigue,
when I forget or refuse to go
down to the shore or a few yards
up the road, on a clear day,
to reconfirm
that witnessing presence.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Doubts & Dangers

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The doubts of some are more indicative of a love for truth than the belief of others. 
~ John Ker


The dangers of life are infinite, and among them is safety.
~ Johan Wolfgang von Goethe
.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

A Prayer to Empty the Six Realms

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Countless beings are wandering, trapped in cycles
   of confusion and struggle.
My heart goes out to them!
Through karma gathered from beginningless time,
The force of reactive emotions creates realms of suffering.
There is no refuge but awakened compassion.
May I fully awaken for the benefit of all beings.

Through reaction and habit, the force of anger
   creates the hell realm.
Hot anger and cold hate, attacking and revenge, what torture!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely,
   reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to kindness and harmony.

Through reaction and habit, the force of greed
   creates the hungry ghost realm.
Hunger and thirst, craving and grasping, frustrated misery!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely,
   reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to generosity and gratitude.

Through reaction and habit, the force of instinct
   creates the animal realm.
Fearful hiding, seeking safety and comfort,
   the thick fog of dullness!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely,
   reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to intelligence and creativity.

Through reaction and habit, the force of desire
   creates the human realm.
Restless searching, fleeting pleasure,
   the stress of constant activity!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely,
   reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to contentment and ease.

Through reaction and habit, the force of jealousy
   creates the titan realm.
Stab of envy, furious competition, unjust defeat!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely,
   reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to appreciation and sympathetic joy.

Through reaction and habit, the force of pride
   creates the god realm.
Deluded pleasure of self-absorption,
   the shock of humiliation when it ends!
Opening to this experience, knowing it completely,
   reaction and struggle come to an end.
May we awaken to humility, connection, and service.

In all my lives, may I meet whatever arises
   with awakened compassion.
Opening to the depths of each realm,
   I rest in experience just as it is.
Knowing and freedom arise together;
   may I not take birth in the six realms again.
With a heart open to the cries of others,
   realms are emptied and beings are freed.


From seeds planted, fruit grows. Seeking to escape from pain, we may discover that others are suffering too. Relying on the teachings of Thangtong Gyalpo and Ken McLeod, George Draffan gathered these words to remind himself and others of a way to meet confusion and turmoil.

printable version here

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Emptiness is Full

Sunya: (suna, from sva, swell, akin to English swell): to increase, to become hollow inside.

In a negative sense, no thing is there; in a positive sense, an empty hollow has room for everything -- the fullness of life and everything is experienced as such (suchness, thusness, tathata).

Insight practice is painful or disorienting to the degree that I’m invested and clinging to self and other; it’s a welcome relief to the extent that I can open to the fullness of experience.