With every thought that comes by
Comment
August 22, 2015
When sitting in meditation, say, “That’s not my business!” with every thought that comes by. ~Ajahn Chah
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Carrying a Rock
Comment August 22, 2015“Letting go” actually means this: It’s as if we’re carrying a heavy rock. As we carry it, we feel weighed down but we don’t know what to do with it, so we keep on carrying it. As soon as someone tells us to throw it away, we think, “Eh? If I throw it away, I won’t have anything left.” So we keep on carrying it. We aren’t willing to throw it away.
Even if someone tells us, “Come on. Throw it away. It’ll be good like this, and you’ll benefit like that,” we’re still not willing to throw it away because we’re afraid we won’t have anything left. So we keep on carrying it until we’re so thoroughly weak and tired that we can’t carry it anymore. That’s when we let it go.
Only when we let it go do we understand letting go. We feel at ease. And we can sense within ourselves how heavy it felt to carry the rock. But while we were carrying it, we didn’t know at all how useful letting go could be. ~Ajahn Chah
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The moon shines by night
Comment August 22, 2015The sun shines by day, the moon shines by night. The warrior shines in armor, the holy man shines in meditation. But the Buddha shines resplendent all day and all night. Because he has discarded evil, he is called a holy man.
Because he is serene in conduct, he is called a recluse. And because he has renounced his impurities, he is called a renunciate. ~Buddha, The Dhammapada
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When suffering arises
Comment August 22, 2015Whenever we feel that we are definitely right, so much so that we refuse to open up to anything or anybody else, right there we are wrong. It becomes wrong view. When suffering arises, where does it arise from? The cause is wrong view, the fruit of that being suffering. If it was right view it wouldn’t cause suffering. ~Ajahn Chah
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Making Healthy Relationships Possible
Comment August 22, 2015It is clear that faults never lie exclusively on one side of a relationship. For this reason, if we are serious about forging relationships that work, we must also recognize our own faulty attitudes, and work on them. When we commit to identifying our own faults and transforming our own mind, then and only then are healthy relationships possible. ~ 17th Karmapa
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A single rose can be my garden
Comment August 22, 2015Some people are always grumbling because roses have thorns; I am thankful that thorns have roses.
~Alphonse Karr
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It’s not who you are to the world
Comment August 21, 2015It’s not who you are to the world, it’s who you are to me. It’s not how many times I say I love you… it’s how much I really do. ~Mary Ann
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Kitty and the toy
Comment August 21, 2015
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Caring for the elderly
Comment August 21, 2015Observe how your mother has become your child. Before you were her child, now she has become yours. She has become older and older until she has become a child again. Her memory goes, her eyes don’t see well and her ears aren’t so good. Sometimes she garbles her words. Don’t let it upset you. You who are nursing the sick must know how to let go also. Don’t hold onto things, just let her have her own way. When a young child is disobedient sometimes the parents let it have its own way just to keep the peace, just to make it happy. Now your mother is just like that child. Her memories and perceptions are confused. Sometimes she muddles up your names, or asks you to bring a cup when she wants a plate. It’s normal, don’t be upset by it. ~Ajahn Chah
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Mr Monkey and Sir Crocodile (Good Manners)
Comment August 21, 2015
Once upon a time, Mr. Monkey was living by himself near a riverbank. He was very strong, and he was a great jumper.In the middle of the river there was a beautiful island covered with mango, jackfruit and other fruit trees. There happened to be a rock sticking out of the water halfway between the bank and the island. Although it looked impossible, Mr. Monkey was used to jumping from the riverbank to the rock, and from the rock to the island. He would eat fruits all day and then return home by the same route each evening.
A high-class couple was living next to the same river – Sir Crocodile and Lady Crocodile. They were expecting their first brood of baby crocks. Because she was pregnant Lady Crocodile sometimes wished for strange things to eat. So she made unusual demands on her faithful husband.
Lady Crocodile had been amazed, just like the other animals, by the way Mr. Monkey jumped back and forth to the island. One day she developed a sudden craving to eat the heart of Mr. Monkey! She told Sir Crocodile about her desire. To please her, he promised to get Mr. Monkey’s heart for her in time for dinner.
Sir Crocodile went and laid himself down on the rock between the riverbank and the island. He waited for Mr. Monkey to return that evening, planning to catch him.
As usual, Mr. Monkey spent the rest of the day on the island. When it was time to return to his home on the riverbank, he noticed that the rock seemed to have grown. It was higher above water than he remembered it. He investigated and saw that the river level was the same as in the morning, yet the rock was definitely higher. Immediately he suspected the cunning Sir Crocodile.
To find out for sure, he called out in the direction of the rock, “Hi there, Mr. Rock! How are you?” He yelled this three times. Then he shouted, “You used to answer me when I spoke to you. But today you say nothing. What’s wrong with you, Mr. Rock?”
Sir Crocodile thought, “No doubt on other days this rock used to talk to the monkey. I can’t wait any longer for this dumb rock to speak! I will just have to speak for the rock, and trick the monkey.” So he shouted, “I’m fine, Mr. Monkey. What do you want?”
Mr. Monkey asked, “Who are you?”
Without thinking, the crocodile replied, “I’m Sir Crocodile.”
“Why are you lying there?” asked the monkey.
Sir Crocodile said, “I’m expecting to take your heart! There’s no escape for you, Mr. Monkey.”
The clever monkey thought, “Aha! He’s right – there’s no other way back to the riverbank. So I will have to trick him.”
Then he yelled, “Sir Crocodile my friend, it looks like you’ve got me. So I’ll give you my heart. Open your mouth and take it when I come your way.” Continue reading
