Buddha - May all beings be at ease!

Verses of Kindness & Compassion

 

In gladness and in safety
May all beings be at ease.
Whatever living beings there may be,
Whether they are weak or strong,
omitting none,
The great or the mighty,
medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born,
May all beings be at ease!
Let none deceive another,
or despise any being in any state,
Let none through anger or ill-will
wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
should one cherish all living beings,
Radiating kindness over the entire world,
Spreading upwards to the skies,
and downwards to the depths,
Outwards and unbounded,
freed from hatred and ill-will.
Whether standing or walking,
seated or lying down,
One should sustain this recollection.

~ from the Buddha’s Metta Sutta

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Tibet © Norbulingka Institute

Jean Klein - Grace

It is important to live this directionlessness, 

this not-knowing, this waiting without waiting for anything. 

It acts on your cells, on your psychosomatic body, 

bringing them to dilation and harmony. 

All that remains is your directionless awareness. 

Live in this absolute absence of yourself. 

It is the threshold. You are in complete openness,
open to nothing, free from all ideas, free from all hope. 

And when you are completely transparent, 

open to openness,
you are taken by Truth, by Grace. 

That is certain.

Jean Klein - The Book of Listening

Veronica A. Shoffstall - After A While

After a while you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn’t mean leaning
and company doesn’t always mean security.
And you begin to learn
that kisses aren’t contracts and
presents aren’t promises
and you begin to accept your defeats
with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of a woman
not the grief of a child
and you learn
to build all your roads on today
because tomorrow’s ground is
too uncertain for plans
and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
After a while you learn
that even sunshines burns if you get too much
so you plant your own garden
and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting
for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn
that you really can endure
that you really are strong
that you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn
with every goodbye you learn.

Rumi ♡ No face

come and see me
today i am away
out of this world
hidden away
from me and i

i grabbed a dagger
made slices of
me from myself
since i belong
not to me
not to anyone

i am so sorry
for not having done
this cutting away before
it was my soul's mind
and not mine

i have no idea
how my inner fire
is burning today
my tongue
is on a different flame

i see myself
with a hundred faces
and to each one
i swear it is me

surely i must have
a hundred faces
i confess none is mine
i have no face

ghazal number 1519, translated by Nader Khalili

Scott Kiloby - Reflections

If the story of you is a thought-based, time-bound illusion, the natural tendency is to devise ways to be free of it. Many spiritual practices are undertaken in the name of getting rid of the ego. But only the story of you would be interested in getting rid of the story of you. The entire movement to “get rid of” or “be free of” ego is a movement towards future. Whenever there is effort towards future, the time-bound story is running the show. The cycle of seeking continues….

In discovering that the movement towards future awakening is just more bondage to the time-bound ego, the possibility for a timeless seeing arises. This timeless seeing emanates from awareness, which cannot be sought in the future because it is what is awake right now. Future is merely a thought arising in it. It can be quite a blow to the time-bound story to realize that all its grand plans for future enlightenment are just self-centered thought patterns. In those patterns, the underlying plot is, “When will my enlightenment arrive?”

‘Your’ enlightenment will never arrive. No time-bound story ever reaches enlightenment. Enlightenment is realized to be the timeless awareness that sees the time-bound story arising and falling. In that effortless noticing, the story is seen to be a dream that was never real. There is nothing to get rid of. Only that seeing is needed.

~ Scott Kiloby | Read more: http://bit.ly/1zvNEAh

Eric Gross - Enlightenment: You’re Already Here

Enlightenment: before you know it (aka think about it), you’ve already arrived.

Wanting or needing to be enlightened is always a response to suffering. We suffer and we want something to reduce our suffering or, even better, end our suffering forever.

So in marches Buddhism with its complex dogma and philosophy and it’s requirement to meditate an hour a day (at least). In marches Christianity with all of its rules that, if followed, you get an eternity in heaven.

The only reason religion exists is to deal with our fears.

But once you’re fearless, you don’t need religion. The issue was never about suffering, per se, it was always about fear.

Fear is so powerful in our psyches and is so deeply embedded in our “self-structure” that we are no longer aware of its constant presence. Underneath all of our striving lies fear.

Fear is like a bad smell. We notice it at first, but after a while, we don’t notice it at all. This existential fear, this bad smell, rules our lives.

So instead of resolving the only issue that matters, to discover what we truly are, we have rules. Rules how to be a good little boy and girl. Rules about how to meditate. Rules about how to get to heaven. Rules and more rules. You just can’t have enough rules. The more rules the better.

So we get to work on this broken down self by following a whole book of rules (many books actually) and if we just work hard enough we’ll finally get this self thing in good shape. It’s a matter of work and diligence. This is the message of fear. It is our constant boss.

But it “don’t” work that way.

We are already perfect. We are always perfect and if that doesn’t sound correct to you, then you’re confused about who and what you are.

Sailor Bob Adamson said, “What’s wrong with right now, unless you think about it?” I began this post with my own take on his phrase, “You’ve already arrived before you know (think) about it.” Feel that now. See that you’ve arrived. You’re here before you can realize it!

This is really a very simple, but persistent problem. Since we think we are the “me” thought, the only tool that is available to our search is more thought. Thought loves thought. And this is why seeking ultimately hits a totally dead-end. It can’t be resolved by thought. Thinking can only take one so far.

We need to take a leap of faith and depart the vessel of thought (which is also a thought).

Just notice that you’re already here and what is already here is what you already are. What could be simpler than that?

There’s just no getting around here. The “me” thought will say, “but, but, but, but, but …”. But all of those “buts” arise here and here is what you and I are.

http://www.trustliberation.org/