Equanimity

May I not contract around how things are

Mindfulness Immersed in the Body

"Monks, whoever develops & pursues mindfulness immersed in the body encompasses whatever skillful qualities are on the side of clear knowing. Just as whoever pervades the great ocean with his awareness encompasses whatever rivulets flow down into the ocean, in the same way, whoever develops & pursues mindfulness immersed in the body encompasses whatever skillful qualities are on the side of clear knowing.

"In whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is not developed, not pursued, Mara gains entry, Mara gains a foothold.

"Suppose that a man were to throw a heavy stone ball into a pile of wet clay. What do you think, monks — would the heavy stone ball gain entry into the pile of wet clay?"

"Yes, lord."

"In the same way, in whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is not developed, not pursued, Mara gains entry, Mara gains a foothold.

"Now, suppose that there were a dry, sapless piece of timber, and a man were to come along with an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a fire. I'll produce heat.' What do you think — would he be able to light a fire and produce heat by rubbing the upper fire-stick in the dry, sapless piece of timber?"

"Yes, lord."

"In the same way, in whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is not developed, not pursued, Mara gains entry, Mara gains a foothold.

"Now, suppose that there were an empty, hollow water-pot set on a stand, and a man were to come along carrying a load of water. What do you think — would he get a place to put his water?"

"Yes, lord."

"In the same way, in whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is not developed, not pursued, Mara gains entry, Mara gains a foothold.

"Now, in whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is developed, is pursued, Mara gains no entry, Mara gains no foothold. Suppose that a man were to throw a ball of string against a door panel made entirely of heartwood. What do you think — would that light ball of string gain entry into that door panel made entirely of heartwood?"

"No, lord."

"In the same way, in whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is developed, is pursued, Mara gains no entry, Mara gains no foothold.

"Now, suppose that there were a wet, sappy piece of timber, and a man were to come along with an upper fire-stick, thinking, 'I'll light a fire. I'll produce heat.' What do you think — would he be able to light a fire and produce heat by rubbing the upper fire-stick in the wet, sappy piece of timber?"

"No, lord."

"In the same way, in whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is developed, is pursued, Mara gains no entry, Mara gains no foothold.

"Now, suppose that there were a water-pot set on a stand, full of water up to the brim so that crows could drink out of it, and a man were to come along carrying a load of water. What do you think — would he get a place to put his water?"

"No, lord."

"In the same way, in whomever mindfulness immersed in the body is developed, is pursued, Mara gains no entry, Mara gains no foothold.

"Kayagata-sati Sutta: Mindfulness Immersed in the Body" (MN 119), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 25 September 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/mn/mn.119.than.html . Retrieved on 17 January 2012.

What is truth?

Is there Truth? Perhaps not.

There might however be truth in a given context - the right action or speech for this moment. That which generates wisdom and inner peace.

Are healers of body and soul the only true philosophers?

Knowledge

The trial and error of taking care of plants and vermicomposting is teaching me to adjust the conditions for life to thrive

Substance

What is a beautiful life?
Playing beautiful music with your instrument : your body
--
How do you play beautiful music with your body?
By harmonizing with the cosmos. By pleasure and joy.

May you know your body well. May you play it well.

Craft as Existentialism

Develop skill and muscle memory
Pay close attention and respond appropriately

Yurt

Living Lightly

As a bee — without harming the blossom, its color, its fragrance — takes its nectar & flies away: so should the sage go through a village.

"Pupphavagga: Blossoms" (Dhp IV), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 19 September 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/kn/dhp/dhp.04.than.html.

Digestion

A person is wise when skilled at digesting.

There is a material food, but also spiritual food.

How do you allow your body to process conversations? the movies you watch?

Do you sometimes allow your body to "throw up" what is toxic?

What is your "diet"?

After a feast of music, do you know how to properly rest your "digestive system"?

Please do not hold on to the food you swallowed. Let the opinions you formed go through your intestines. There is absorption and then defecation. Are you constipated?

Know your body. May you digest well.

Plantes en accéléré

vie des plantes par supervielle

Practice

I would summarize my practice the following way :
Iyengar Yoga is adjusting and tuning the antenna.
Zazen is receiving the signal clearly despite interference.

The antenna is the body. The signal the sensations. The interference is stressful mental activity.

Yoga is union/connection as opposed to alienation/disconnection.

May you be peaceful.

I Beg You

I beg you…to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without ever noticing it, live your way into the answer…

-Rainer Maria Rilke

Content

And how is a monk content? Just as a bird, wherever it goes, flies with its wings as its only burden; so too is he content with a set of robes to provide for his body and almsfood to provide for his hunger. Wherever he goes, he takes only his barest necessities along. This is how a monk is content.

"Kevatta (Kevaddha) Sutta: To Kevatta" (DN 11), translated from the Pali by Thanissaro Bhikkhu. Access to Insight, 8 June 2010, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.11.0.than.html.

Virtue

Protecting oneself one protects others;
Protecting others one protects oneself.
And how does one, in protecting oneself, protect others?
By the repeated and frequent practice of mindfulness.
And how does one, in protecting others, protect oneself?
By patience and forbearance, by a non-violent and harmless life,
By loving-kindness and compassion.

Samyutta Nikaya

L'Invitation au voyage

Mon enfant, ma soeur,
Songe à la douceur
D'aller là-bas vivre ensemble!
Aimer à loisir,
Aimer et mourir
Au pays qui te ressemble!
Les soleils mouillés
De ces ciels brouillés
Pour mon esprit ont les charmes
Si mystérieux
De tes traîtres yeux,
Brillant à travers leurs larmes.

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

Des meubles luisants,
Polis par les ans,
Décoreraient notre chambre;
Les plus rares fleurs
Mêlant leurs odeurs
Aux vagues senteurs de l'ambre,
Les riches plafonds,
Les miroirs profonds,
La splendeur orientale,
Tout y parlerait
À l'âme en secret
Sa douce langue natale.

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

Vois sur ces canaux
Dormir ces vaisseaux
Dont l'humeur est vagabonde;
C'est pour assouvir
Ton moindre désir
Qu'ils viennent du bout du monde.
— Les soleils couchants
Revêtent les champs,
Les canaux, la ville entière,
D'hyacinthe et d'or;
Le monde s'endort
Dans une chaude lumière.

Là, tout n'est qu'ordre et beauté,
Luxe, calme et volupté.

— Charles Baudelaire

Why do people feel they have to be in love when they can simply love?

Questions

Are you becoming a person who is less in conflict with the world or with yourself?
Are you becoming more loving? more accepting?
Are you no longer getting in the way of reality flowing through you?
Are you becoming more concentrated?
Are you becoming freer? Are you becoming wiser?

Duck

Thank you Acouphene

Please Call Me by My True Names

Don't say that I will depart tomorrow --
even today I am still arriving.

Look deeply: every second I am arriving
to be a bud on a Spring branch,
to be a tiny bird, with still-fragile wings,
learning to sing in my new nest,
to be a caterpillar in the heart of a flower,
to be a jewel hiding itself in a stone.

I still arrive, in order to laugh and to cry,
to fear and to hope.

The rhythm of my heart is the birth and death
of all that is alive.

I am the mayfly metamorphosing
on the surface of the river.
And I am the bird
that swoops down to swallow the mayfly.

I am the frog swimming happily
in the clear water of a pond.
And I am the grass-snake
that silently feeds itself on the frog.

I am the child in Uganda, all skin and bones,
my legs as thin as bamboo sticks.
And I am the arms merchant,
selling deadly weapons to Uganda.

I am the twelve-year-old girl,
refugee on a small boat,
who throws herself into the ocean
after being raped by a sea pirate.
And I am the pirate,
my heart not yet capable
of seeing and loving.

I am a member of the politburo,
with plenty of power in my hands.
And I am the man who has to pay
his "debt of blood" to my people
dying slowly in a forced-labor camp.

My joy is like Spring, so warm
it makes flowers bloom all over the Earth.
My pain is like a river of tears,
so vast it fills the four oceans.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can hear all my cries and my laughter at once,
so I can see that my joy and pain are one.

Please call me by my true names,
so I can wake up,
and so the door of my heart
can be left open,
the door of compassion.

-Thich Nhat Hanh

A man who is willing to undertake the discipline and the difficulty of mending his own ways is worth more to the conservation movement than a hundred who are insisting merely that the government and the industries mend their ways.
Wendell Berry