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Spiritwalk Thoughts & Readings
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The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.
When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction however and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart.
~ Seng-Tsan, the Third Zen Patriarch
Be awake
Love yourself and be awake ~
today, tomorrow, always.
First establish yourself in the way,
then teach others,
and so defeat sorrow.
To straighten the crooked
you must first do a harder thing ~
straighten yourself.
You are the only master.
who else?
Subdue yourself,
and discover your master.
~ from the Dhammapada
Words of the Buddha
Live in Joy,
In love,
Even among those who hate.
Live in joy,
In health,
Even among the afflicted.
Live in joy,
In peace,
Even among the troubled.
Look within.
Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
~
There is no fire like greed
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger of heart,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.
Look within.
Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
~ from the Dhammapada
Words of the Buddha
The Art of Peace
All life is a manifestation of the spirit,
the manifestation of love…
All things, material and spiritual, originate from one source
and are related as if they were one family.
The past, present and future are all contained in the life force.
The universe emerged and developed from one source,
and we evolved through the optimal process
of unification and harmonization…
All the principles of heaven and earth are living inside of you.
Life itself is the truth, and this will never change.
Everything in heaven and earth breathes.
Breath is the thread that ties creation together…
Now and again, it is necessary to seclude yourself
among deep mountain and hidden valleys
to restore your link to the source of life.
Breathe in and let yourself soar to the ends of the universe;
Breathe out and bring the cosmos back inside.
Next, breathe up all the fecundity and vibrancy of the earth.
Finally, blend the breath of heaven with that of your own
becoming the Breath of Life itself.
~ Morihei Ueshiba
The non-action of the wise man is not inaction.
It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything.
The sage is quiet because he is not moved,
Not because he wills to be quiet.
Still water is like glass.
You can look in it and see the bristles on your chin.
It is a perfect level,
How much more the spirit of man?
The heart of the wise man is tranquil.
It is the mirror of heaven and earth ~
the glass of everything.
Emptiness, stillness, tranquillity, tastelessness,
Silence, non-action: this is the level of heaven and earth.
This is the perfect tao.
Wise men find here their resting place.
Resting, they are empty.
From emptiness comes the unconditioned.
From this, the conditioned, the individual things.
So from the sage's emptiness, stillness arises:
From stillness, action. From action, attainment.
From their stillness comes their non-action, which is also action
And is, therefore, their attainment.
For stillness is joy. Joy is free from care
Fruitful in long years.
Joy does all things without concern:
For emptiness, stillness, tranquillity, tastelessness,
Silence and non-action
Are the root of all things.
~ Chuang Tzu
Interpreted by Thomas Merton
Buddha: "Be Awake;" from the Dhammapada found in
Jack Kornfield, Teachings of the Buddha, Shambala, 1993, p.65
Chuang Tzu: "Action and Non-action" found in Thomas Merton, The Way of Chuang Tzu
Seng T`san: "No Preferences;" from "Hsin Hsin Ming: Verses on the Faith Mind" found in Jack
Kornfield, Teachings of the Buddha; Shambala, 1993, p.144
Ueshiba, Morihei: " The Art of Peace" Compiled from Morihei Ueshiba, The Art of Peace; Shambala,
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