Tag: suffering
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Love, faith and compassion: unconditionally
I don’t care whether someone Believes in God, or not Whether they have faith In science or metaphysics Reason or religion Or some mish-mash of them all. What I care about is if they believe in love Have faith in themselves, and others Compassion for others, and themselves Unconditionally Un.con.di.tion.al.ly Because that is the only…
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Happiness and Unhappiness: Mind Games
The mind is the source of happiness and unhappiness. ~ The Buddha Mmmmm…. Buddha. Buddha quotes and their subtleties. Some might believe from this quote that being a happy person is a matter of thinking happy thoughts, of believing in being happy. However, Buddha also said happiness of the mind is nice for the moment,…
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Within the Teacher Lies the Lesson
Within the broken lies beauty Within the lost lies discovery Within the weary lies resolve Within the abandoned lies self-reliance Within the battered lies strength Within the suffering lies wisdom Within the humiliated lies humility And so it goes, on and on, The teacher and the lesson. When I originally posted this, the image —…
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The Crucible of Suffering: Pain
If you feel hatred, feel the anger that powers it. If you feel anger, feel the fear that motivates it. If you feel fear, feel the pain that underlies it. If you feel pain, heal the part of you that feels it. Pain is the crucible in which all suffering is smelted Extinguish the…
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Choose Love
When I choose to live in my fear, my anger, my hate I see the world through eyes that fear I hear the song of anger in every note I taste hatred as if all sustenance were the bitterest root In my mind I place the world of power, control and duplicity Above the world…
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Helpless in our anger
Helpless in our anger Courage borne of anger Delivers none from sorrow. Anger begets violence Upon body, mind and spirit. Violence begets harm. Harm begets sorrow. On victim and Instigator alike. Ever so, this cycle of suffering, Helpless in our anger.
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Before and After ~ Stephen Mitchell’s Second Book of the Dao
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in Books, Insight, Love, Non-Fiction, Perfection, Peter’s Poems, Poems, Poetry, Spirituality, SynonymsI was digging into Stephen Mitchell‘s The Second Book of the Dao one day back in January (over a lovely Red Snapper Soup @ Granville Island) when a passage in the second chapter inspired the following poem. Before and After Before sorrow, longing Before longing, anger Before anger, pain Before pain, injury Before injury, fear…
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The trick … is not minding that it hurts ~ Lawrence of Arabia
I’ve always loved this scene introducing Peter O’Toole in David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia. In a film rife with extraordinary storytelling and wisdom, it remains my favourite. In hindsight perhaps it’s the spiritual undertone of Lawrence’s statement that’s always intrigued me most because, of course, Lawrence isn’t only talking about physical pain here. There’s plenty…

