Love Abounds from Miguel

Practice is what we are

Our lives, like the ocean, constantly change, and we will naturally face great storms and dreary lulls. How, then, to put our minds in a space where practice is always there, whether tumultuous or in the doldrums? It requires a completely radical view of practice: practice is not something we do; it is something we are. We are not separate from our practice, and so no matter what, our practice is present. An ocean swimmer is loose and flows with the current and moves through the tide. When tossed upside-down in the surf, unable to discern which way is up and which is down, the natural swimmer just lets go, breathing out, and follows the bubbles to the surface.

–Sensei Pat Enkyo O'Hara, from “Like a Dragon in Water,”

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Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.

~The Buddha
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Giving up is a good thing

The practice of seeing clearly is what finally moves us toward kindness. Seeing, again and again, the infinite variety of traps we create for seducing the mind into struggle, seeing the endless rounds of meaningless suffering over lusts and aversions (which, although seemingly urgent, are essentially empty), we feel compassion for ourselves. And then, quite naturally, we feel compassion for everyone else. We know as we have never known before that we are stuck, all of us, with bodies and minds and instincts and impulses, all in a tug-of-war with our basic heart nature that yearns to relax into love. Then we surrender. We love. We laugh. We appreciate.

– Sylvia Boorstein, from “On the Cushion,”

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Arguing with "this"

In this moment there is nothing that "should" or "should not" be happening. When we act on the idea that something "should" be happening that isn't or something is happening that "shouldn't" be we move away from this moment and we feel incomplete. When we can go beyond should and shouldn't we rest in this moment, there is just "this".

Namaste, and have a most glorious weekend, Love from my heart to yours, Miguel