“Zenfully Quool Quotes”
Currently featuring “The Art of Living”
By Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh
Every desire has its root in our original, fundamental desire to survive.
In Buddhism we don’t speak of original sin.
We speak of that original fear and desire that manifested in us
during our birth and in the precarious moment we took our first,
painful breath.
Our mother could no longer breathe for us.
It was difficult to inhale;
we first had to expel water from our lungs.
But if we couldn’t breathe on our own, we would die.
We made it; we were born.
And with that birth,
our fear of dying was born along with the desire to survive.
And as infants, that fear stayed with us.
We knew that in order to survive,
we had to get someone to take care of us.
We may have felt powerless,
and we found all sorts of ways to figure out
how to get someone else to protect us, take care of us,
and ensure our survival.
Even though we have grown into adults,
our original fear and desire are still alive.
We fear being alone or abandoned; we fear getting old.
We crave connection and someone to take care of us.
If we work nonstop,
it may be because of our original fear that otherwise we cannot survive.
And our own fear and desire may come from
our ancestors’ original fear and desire.
They suffered from hunger, wars, exile, and so on,
and over thousands of years
have endured countless difficulties where survival was touch and go.
When fear, craving, or desire comes up,
we need to be able to recognize it with mindfulness
and smile to it with compassion.
“Hello, fear; hello, craving. Hello, little child; hello, ancestors.”
Following our breathing,
and in the safe island of the present moment,
we transmit the energy of stability, compassion,
and non-fear to our inner child and our ancestors.
Mindfulness can only help reduce our stress and tension
if it provides us with insight.
Meditation isn’t just a temporary place of refuge
to help you stop suffering for a while.
It’s much more than that.
Your spiritual practice has the power to transform the roots of your suffering
and transform the way you live your daily life.
It is insight that helps us calm our restlessness, stress, and craving.
Perhaps we can start to speak of “insight-based stress reduction.”
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Zenfully Quool Quotes Quommentary – by rog
In the deep end of one’s ‘sadhana’… Spiritual Path…
When an earnest meditation practice transcends from one of much effort…
To an ‘effortless’ meditation…
The act of surrendering… becomes the last action…
The action of ‘non-action’.
No thoughts arise, no movement…
In fact you can’t move, you are so blissfully peaceful you don’t want to move.
But,
Unlike when this occurs when heavy sleep takes over…
This Jhana ‘Insight’ meditation, your awareness becomes very clear.
To explain how this feels…
It’s like how you feel when you are in love.
The love for a lover… has it’s flavor…
The love for your parents is another flavor…
The love for a pet you adore is another flavor…
But,
They all have a common feeling.
It’s wordless, yet
Blissful, peaceful and joyful.
During this bliss…
The roots of ‘Insights’ grow.
You experiencially ‘know’ things…
Without thinking or mental contemplation.
It’s only after the afterglow of Parvastha fades…
And this may take several hours or even days…
Can the analytical mind even begin to contemplate
the wordless Wisdoms gained during these deep meditations.
When this type of Jhana ‘Insight’ meditation is allowed to
deepen towards its full fruition…
They ‘after glow’ never stops.
It becomes your Natural State.
You become fully ‘Absorbed’ into the ‘Absolute’.
Full Enlightenment is not far from this perspective.
Craving and desire will have no place in your perspectives…
Wether you live or die, or your body suffers …
There is no difference in your Bliss.
Equanimity, Love, Joy, Bliss and boundless Peacefulness becomes
unperturbable.
