If you listen to the traffic with a clear mind, without any concepts, it is not noisy, it is only what it is. Stephen Mitchell, Dropping Ashes on the Buddha: The Teaching of Zen Master Seung Sahn ..read more

When you get up in the morning, let the world wait. Defy it a little. First learn something to inspire you. Take a few moments to meditate upon it. And then you may plunge ahead into the darkness, full of light with which to illuminate it. Tzvi Freeman, Canadian rabbi and author ..read more

The washing never gets done. The furnace never gets heated. Books never get read. Life is never completed. Life is like a ball which one must continually catch and hit so that it won’t fall. When the fence is repaired at one end, it collapses at the other. The roof leaks, the kitchen door won’t close, there are cracks in the foundation, the torn knees of children’s pants . . . One can’t keep everything in mind. The wonder is that beside all this one can notice the spring which is so full of everything continuing in all directions – into evening clouds, into the redwing’s song and into every d ..read more

I do not live happily or comfortably with the cleverness of our times. The talk is all about computers, the news is all about bombs and blood. This morning, in the fresh field, I came upon a hidden nest. It held four warm, speckled eggs. I touched them. Then went away softly, having felt something more wonderful Than all the electricity of New York City. Mary Oliver, With Thanks to the Field Sparrow Whose Voice is So Delicate and Humble ..read more

Here’s my new favorite meditation: Load up your washing machine, press the buttons, and then sit by the magical cube as it does its magic. When it roars and sloshes, hear the echo of your fear, anger, and despair. When it spins, recognize your own times of confusion, of apparently pointless repetition. When it seems to have finished, only to rev up again, think of the times you’ve had to start over. And realize that all this bashing and crashing is your soul being cleaned, renewed, and made fresh again. Once you relax into the process, you’ll learn the great secret: It is through doing the la ..read more

Let its weight fall back into the earth; for heavy are the mountains, heavy the seas. The trees you planted in childhood have grown too heavy. You cannot bring them along. Give yourselves to the air, to what you cannot hold. Rilke, Part I, Sonnet IV ..read more

We have so many allies in this world, including just the colour blue in the sky.  David Whyte ..read more

I have a room all to myself; it is nature.  Henry David Thoreau  ..read more

Lovingkindness is a feeling that blesses others and oneself with the simple wish, “Be happy.” The Japanese poet Issa [1763–1828] expresses this open-hearted feeling so well: “In the cherry blossoms’ shade, there’s no such thing as a stranger.” Joseph Goldstein, Triumph of the Heart ..read more

Surrender to the way things want to happen next, even though this often involves a vast and terrifying loss of control. Trust the magic that was born into your soul. Martha Beck ..read more