An earnest seeker should be deeply concerned each time he is confronted with his rebellious mind, with its lazy habits, instability, attachments, elusiveness, and slovenly ways of working. These he will have to study and try intelligently to contend with, both during his meditation and when he is engaged in doing his various spiritual … Read the rest >
If we were well accustomed to the
exercise of the presence of God, all bodily diseases would be much
alleviated thereby. God often permits that whe should suffer a little to
purify our souls and oblige us to continue with Him.
Take courage; offer Him your pains
incessantly; pray to Him for strength to … Read the rest >
On a meditation retreat several years
ago, late one evening after the Dharma talk, a woman raised her hand and
asked one last question: “Is enlightenment just a myth?” When we
teachers went back to our evening meeting, we asked each other this
question. We exchanged stories about the creative freedom of Ajahn Chah,
… Read the rest >
(1) “If those who lead you say to you: ‘Look, the kingdom is in the sky!’
then the birds of the sky will precede you.
(2) If they say to you: ‘It is in the sea,’
then the fishes will precede you.
(3) Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and outside of you.”… Read the rest >
Can someone become a high officer by
merely once seeing such an officer ? He may become one if he strives and
equips himself for the position. Similarly, can the ego, which is in
bondage as the mind, become the divine Self, simply because it has once
glimpsed that it is the Self ? … Read the rest >
As in a game of chess, the dying person sees at that fateful moment how every one of his actions unleashed a chain of events that made his life what it was as well as the turn it took, whether fruitful or sterile; he also sees in what manner and to what extent he … Read the rest >
Eighth Letter: Concerning Wandering Thoughts in Praye
You tell me nothing new; you are not
the only one that is troubled with wandering thoughts. Our mind is
extremely roving; but, as the will is mistress of all our faculties, she
must recall them, and carry them to God as their last end.
When the … Read the rest >
To whatever person or object an aspirant, either consciously or unconsciously, allows his thoughts to drift and dwell upon, he is unknowingly connecting himself to that person or object. By so doing, he will subtly begin to receive certain impressions and feelings from these thoughts that will affect and color his being to a … Read the rest >
Sitting in zazen, I become nothing and everything become nothing, that is to say I and everything melt into One. So when I see a flower, the flower is I, when I see the moon, the moon is I. All things become I. There is no greater love than this.
