...

i am all things
i am no things
the contradiction is my bliss

The question clear
The answer deep,
Each particle,
Each instant a reality,
A bird call shrills
Through mountain dawn:
Look where the old master sits,
A rock, in Zen.

- Sodo (1841-1920)

An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

I
Have
Learned
So much from God
That I can no longer
Call
Myself
A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim,
A Buddhist, a Jew.
The Truth has shared so much of Itself
With me
That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel
Or even
A pure
Soul.
Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me
Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known.

a lesson for rookie
~~~~~~~~
If you remain silent and don't speak
What will your descendants say?
If you hide in a forest or a bamboo grove,
How will your wisdom shine through?
A withered tree is not protected,
Wind and frost cause disease.
If you plow a gravel field with an ox,
How will you ever harvest rice?

- Han shan

What's the need to bow and pray,
To beg for long life?
Clearly the original spirit
Is thoroughly pure.
Shatter space
To become completely free,
And wishing jewels and relics
Are all empty names.

- Fan Yunqiao (3rd c)

Always remember you are braver than you believe,
stronger than you seem,
smarter than you think
and twice as beautiful as you'd ever imagined.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise, so I am changing myself

Rumi

@rookie54 said
Always remember you are braver than you believe,
stronger than you seem,
smarter than you think
and twice as beautiful as you'd ever imagined.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world.
Today I am wise, so I am changing myself

Rumi

Sixty years a poor recluse alone
In a hut near a cliff-side shrine.
Night rains fall and carve the cliff.
On my sill, my candle sputters in the wind.

- Ryokan (1758-1831)

“In the depth of winter I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer” - Albert Camus

Why in the world would anybody put chains on me
I've paid my dues to make it
Everybody wants me to be
What they want me to be
I'm not happy when I try to fake it!
No!

Lionel Richie

Heart's mirror clearly reflects
Beyond fetters.
The void stripped clean,
Innumerable worlds.
All things in their mystery,
Shadowed and seen there.
The single gleaming jewel:
Not within, not without.

- Hsuan Chueh (665-713)

Man mistakes when he begins to cultivate the heart by wanting to sow the seed himself, instead of leaving the sowing to God.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

@divegeester said
Why in the world would anybody put chains on me
I've paid my dues to make it
Everybody wants me to be
What they want me to be
I'm not happy when I try to fake it!
No!

Lionel Richie

Wear your ego like a loose-fitting garment.

Buddha