Blog Archives

Allowing for Softness

9/29/2013

Human beings are

soft and supple when alive,

stiff and straight when dead.

The myriad creatures, the grasses and trees are

soft and fragile when alive

dry and withered when dead.

Therefore, it is said:

The rigid person is a disciple of death;

The soft, supple, and delicate are lovers of life.

An army that is inflexible will not conquer;

A tree that is inflexible will snap.

The unyielding and might shall be brought low;

The soft, supple, and delicate will be set above.

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching 41

The Nature of Perception

9/22/2013

The Science and Nonduality Conference will be on the Nature of Perception. Such an interesting topic this year.

Creating a Space - the Container

9/15/2013

Thirty spokes converge on a single hub,

but it is in the space where there is nothing

that the usefulness of the cart lies.

Clay is molded to make a pot,

but it is in the space where there is nothing

that the usefulness of the clay pot lies.

Cut out doors and windows to make a room,

but it is in the spaces where there is nothing

that the usefulness of the room lies.

Therefore,

Benefit may be derived from something,

but it is in nothing that we find usefulness.

Lao Tzu. Tao Te Ching 55

When we sit still we’re doing two things. First, sitting becomes a container; whatever has happened, we sit still and feel it. The other side of sitting still is the stillness of non-reactivity. We feel all that anger without doing anything to anybody. The feeling becomes our own responsibility. Instead of our attention being directed, as it usually is, to making somebody else treat us differently, the way we want to be treated, we come back to experiencing what is at stake in being treated this way, what the hurt is really all about, and who we think we are that we can be hurt.

Barry Magid. Ending the Pursuit of Happiness; A Zen Guide.

Allowing for Softness

The Nature of Perception

Creating a Space - the Container

Dr. Caivano

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