We suffer, not because we are basically bad or deserve to be punished, but because of these tragic understandings- First, we expect that what is always changing should be graspable and predictable. Second, we proceed as if we were separate from everything else, as if we were a fixed identity, when our true situation is egoless. Third, we look for happiness in all the wrong places.
When I begin to doubt that I have what it takes to stay present with impermanence, egolessness, and suffering, it uplifts me to remember Trungpa Rinpoche’s cheerful reminder that there is no cure for hot and cold. This teaching on the three marks of existence can motivate us to stop struggling against the nature of reality. There is no cure for the facts of life. We can relax and be fully present for our lives.
~Pema Chodron
these tiny and quiet moments are infrequent at best……
inqiry for today~ you can’t seize this inner realm……you lean into it…..
Like the calm depths of the sea inside, the hub of our wheel of awareness is a place of tranquility, of safety, of openness and curiosity. It is from this safe and open place that we can explore the nature of the mind with equanimity, energy, and concentration. This hub of our mind is always available to us, right now. And it’s from this bub that we enter a compassionate state of connection to ourselves, and feel compassion for others.
The renowned psychologist William James once said, “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will.”
~Daniel Siegel
Make Believe Boutique 