What is Mind?

And what is mind
And how is it recognized?
If I clearly draw
In sumi ink, the sound
Of breezes drifting through pine
Is all that is seen.

~ Ikkyu Sojun (1394-1481) ~

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Let Experience In

The practice of compassion means letting experience in. A Japanese poet, a woman named Izumi who lived in the tenth century, wrote:

"Watching the moon at dawn, solitary, mid-sky, I knew myself completely. No part left out."

When we can open to all parts of ourselves and to others in the world, something quite extraordinary happens. We begin to connect with one another.

~ Joseph Goldstein ~

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

Suffering seems real because we don't have a clear understanding of our true nature. Instead, we believe the passing thoughts, such as 'I am no good, 'I am not there yet,' 'I am stuck' or whatever the thought may be. Eventually we understand that we are not those thoughts. Once our real self is pointed out, the suffering loses its grip.

~ John Wheeler ~

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

It's not possible to have a problem without believing a prior thought. To notice this simple truth is the beginning of peace.

~ Byron Katie ~

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

"Forgiveness means giving up all hope for a better past."

~ Lily Tomlin ~

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

"Oh soul,you worry too much.
You have seen your own strength.
You have seen your own beauty.
You have seen your golden wings.
Of anything less, why do you worry?
You are in truth the soul, of the soul, of the soul."

~ Rumi ~

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

"The Way is not something which can be studied. Study leads to the retention of concepts and so the Way is entirely misunderstood. Moreover, the Way is not something specially existing; it is called the Mahayana Mind - Mind which is not to be found inside, outside, or in the middle. Truly it is not located anywhere. The first step is to refrain from knowledge-based concepts. The Way is spiritual Truth and was originally without name or title. It was only because people ignorantly sought for it empirically that the Buddhas appeared and taught them to eradicate this method of approach. Fearing that nobody would understand, they selected the name 'Way.' The Way of the Buddhas and the Way of devils are equally wide of the mark."

~ Huang Po ~

------------ --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- -

For the Sleepwalkers

Tonight I want to say something wonderful
for the sleepwalkers who have so much faith
in their legs, so much faith in the invisible

arrow carved into the carpet, the worn path
that leads to the stairs instead of the window,
the gaping doorway instead of the seamless mirror.

I love the way that sleepwalkers are willing
to step out of their bodies into the night,
to raise their arms and welcome the darkness,

palming the blank spaces, touching everything.
Always they return home safely, like blind men
who know it is morning by feeling shadows.

And always they wake up as themselves again.
That's why I want to say something astonishing
like: Our hearts are leaving our bodies.

Our hearts are thirsty black handkerchiefs
flying through the trees at night, soaking up
the darkest beams of moonlight, the music

of owls, the motion of wind-torn branches.
And now our hearts are thick black fists
flying back to the glove of our chests.

We have to learn to trust our hearts like that.
We have to learn the desperate faith of sleep-
walkers who rise out of their calm beds

and walk through the skin of another life.
We have to drink the stupefying cup of darkness
and wake up to ourselves, nourished and surprised.

~ Edward Hirsch ~