6.29.26

Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell. This is the first, the wildest and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness.

― Mary Oliver, 12 Things I Know

6.22.26

When we really see other people as they are without taking it personally, we can never be hurt by what they say or do. Even if others lie to you, it is okay. They are lying to you because they are afraid. They are afraid you will discover that they are not perfect. It is painful to take that social mask off. If others say one thing, but do another, you are lying to yourself if you don’t listen to their actions. But if you are truthful with yourself, you will save yourself a lot of emotional pain. Telling yourself the truth about it may hurt, but you don’t need to be attached to the pain. Healing is on the way, and it is just a matter of time before things will be better for you. 

― Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements 

6.15.26

We need the vision of interbeing—we belong to each other; we cannot cut reality into pieces. The well-being of 'this' is the well-being of 'that.' We cannot just be, we can only inter-be.

― Thich Nhat Hanh, Peace Is Every Step 

6.8.26

From the Taoist point of view, while the scholarly intellect may be useful for analyzing certain things, deeper and broader matters are beyond its limited reach. The Taoist writer Chuang-tse worded it this way:

A well frog cannot imagine the ocean, nor can a summer insect conceive of ice. How then can a scholar understand the Tao? He is restricted by his own learning.

–Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

6.1.26

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them.

― Alan Watts, The Wisdom of Insecurity

5.25.26

If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.

― Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth 

5.18.26

Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think the point is to pass the test or overcome the problem, but the truth is that things don't really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy.

― Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart 

5.11.26

We desperately need to retrieve our capacity for reverence. Each day that is given to you is full of the shy graciousness of divine tenderness. Each day is a secret story woven around the radiant heart of wonder.

–John O'Donohue, Eternal Echoes