Daily Zen

Today's Zen (31 December 2011):

"Inner peace is the key: if you have inner peace, the external problems do not affect your deep sense of peace and tranquility.... Without this inner peace, no matter how comfortable your life is materially, you may still be worried, disturbed, or unhappy because of circumstances."
- Dalai Lama

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (30 December 2011):

"All the way to heaven is heaven."
- St. Catherine of Siena

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (29 December 2011):

"The man who masters his own soul will forever be called conqueror of conquerors."
- Plautus

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (28 December 2011):

"Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is a nobler art of leaving things undone.... The Wisdom of life consists in the elimination of nonessentials."
- Lin Yutang

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (27 December 2011):

"Our true home is in the present moment. To live in the present moment is a miracle. The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green Earth in the present moment, to appreciate the peace and beauty that are available now."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (26 December 2011):

"As a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, the wise are not moved by praise or blame."
- The Dhammapada

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (24/25 December 2011):

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life wold change."
- Buddha

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (23 December 2011):

"Our mind is like a clear glass of water. If we put salt into the water, it becomes salt water; sugar, it becomes sugar water. But originally the water is clear. No thinking, no mind. No mind, no problem."
- Seung Sahn

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (22 December 2011):

"We spend most of our time and energy in a kind of horizontal thinking. We move along the surface or things....but there are times when we stop. We sit still. We lose ourselves in a pile of leaves or its memory. We listen, and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper."
- James Carroll

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (21 December 2011):

"If you are waiting for anything in order to live and love without holding back, then you suffer."
- David Deida

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (20 December 2011):

"There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self."
- Aldous Huxley

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (19 December 2011):

"The effort of the genuine spiritual seeker should be to cultivate love until the mind becomes saturated by it."
- Bhante Y. Wimala

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (17/18 December 2011):

"Where your treasure is,

there will your heart be also."
- Luke 12:34

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (16 December 2011):

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly."
- Buddha

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (15 December 2011):

"The day is always his, who works in it with serenity and great aims."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (14 December 2011):

"Calm Soul of all things! make it mine

To feel, amid the city's jar,

That there abides a place of thine,

Man did not make, and can not mar."
- Matthew Arnold

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (13 December 2011):

"In the root and stem of your own psyche, there is an accumulation of bad habits. If you cannot see through them and act independently of them, you will unavoidably get bogged down along the way."
- Yuansou

Zen from Friday 2 September 2011:

"When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you."
- Lao-tzu

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (12 December 2011):

"We choose our joys and our sorrows long before we experience them."
- Kahlil Gibran

Zen from Thursday 1 September 2011:

"Relaxation and concentration do hand in hand. But too much concentration defeats itself. If you are truly relaxed, and allow the body and the unconscious to do their share, instead of working the conscious mind overtime, concentration can become effortless effort."
- Joe Hyams

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Sat/Sun 10/11 December 2011):

"Wealth and honor are what people want, but if they are the consequence of deviating from the Way, I would have no part in them. Poverty and disgrace are what people deplore, but if they are the consequence of staying on the Way, I would not avoid them."
- Confucius

Zen from Wednesday 31 August 2011:

"Life is not meaningful ... unless it is serving an end beyond itself; unless it is of value to someone else."
- Abraham Joshua Herscel

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (9 December 2011):

"We too should make ourselves empty, that the great soul of the universe may fill us with its breath."
- Lawrence Binyon

Zen from Tuesday 30 August 2011:

"If you choose a job that you like, you will never have to work a day in your life."
- Confucius

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (8 December 2011):

"Enlightenment is understanding that there is nowhere to go, nothing to do, and nobody you have to be except exactly who you're being right now."
- Neale Donald Walsch

Zen from Monday 29 August 2011:

"The wise man knows that it is better to sit on the bans of a remote mountain stream than to be emperor of the whole world."
- Zhuang Tzi

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (7 December 2011):

"Heaven and heart Remain peacefully unmoved,
Yet their life breath is
Unceasing, and is seldom
Known to rest."
- Hung Ying-Ming

Zen from Sat/Sun 27/28 August 2011:

"Live in love
And do your work;
Make amends of your sorrows;
For just as the jasmine
Releases and lets fall its withered flowers,
Let fall willfulness and hatred."
- The Dhammapada

Zen from Sat/Sun 12/13 November 2011:

"It is proper to doubt. Do not be led by holy scriptures, or by mere logic or inference, or by appearances, or by the authority of religious leaders. But when you realize that something is unwholesome and bad for you, give it up. And when you realize that something is wholesome and good for you, do it."
- Buddha

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (6 December 2011):

"Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Zen from Friday 26 August 2011:

"To the right, books; to the left, a teacup. In front of me, the fireplace. ... There is no greater happiness than this."
- Teiga

Zen from Friday 11 November 2011:

"Consider life and death equal,
And the intellect is not afraid;
Consider change as sameness,
And clarity is not obscured."
- Lao-tzu

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (5 December 2011):

"Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone."
- Louis L'Amour

Zen from Thursday 25 August 2011:

"The practice of forgiveness is our most important contribution to the healing of the world."
- Marianne Williamson

Zen from Thursday 10 November 2011:

"God exists in eternity. The only point where eternity meets time is in the present. The present is the only time there is."
- Marianne Williamson

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (4 December 2011):

"Peace does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul; we may preserve it in the midst of the bitterest pain, if our will remains firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence, not in an exemption from suffering."
- Francis Fenelon

Zen from Wednesday 24 August 2011:

"Friend, hope for the truth while you are alive. Jump into experience while you are alive! What you call 'salvation' belongs to the time before death. If you don't break your ropes while you are alive, do you think ghosts will do it after?"
- Kabir

Zen from Wednesday 9 November 2011:

"It is the spur of ignorance, the consciousness of not understanding, and the curiosity about that which lies beyond that are essential to our progress."
- John Pierce

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (3 December 2011):

"Peace does not dwell in outward things, but within the soul; we may preserve it in the midst of the bitterest pain, if our will remains firm and submissive. Peace in this life springs from acquiescence, not in an exemption from suffering."
- Francis Fenelon

Zen from Tuesday 23 August 2011:

"From the pine tree learn of the pine tree, and from the bamboo learn of the bamboo."
- Basho

Zen from Tuesday 8 November 2011:

"When you do a thing, do it with the whole self. One thing at a time. Now I sit here and I eat. For me nothing exists in the world except this food, this table. I eat with the whole attention. So you must do - in everything."
- George J. Gurdjieff

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (2 December 2011):

"Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed."
- Buddha

Zen from Monday 22 August 2011:

"Walking is Zen,
Sitting, too, is Zen.
If I speak or am silent,
Tarry or hasten:
Everything, in its true nature,
Is stillness."
- Shodoka

Zen from Monday 7 November 2011:

"For it is by giving that one receives; It is by self-forgetting that one finds; It is by forgiving that one is forgiven; It is by dying that one awakens to eternal life."
- St. Francis of Assisi

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (1 December 2011):

"Be the master of mind, rather than mastered by mind."
- Zen saying

Zen from Sat/Sun 20/21 August 2011:

"Waking up this morning, I smile. Twenty-four brand new hours are before me. I vow to live fully in each moment and to look at all beings with eyes of compassion."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Zen from Sat/Sun 5/6 November 2011:

"The only devils in the world are those running in our own hearts. That is where the battle should be fought."
- Gandhi

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (30 November 2011):

"He who has no faith in himself can never have faith in God."
- Vivekananda

Zen from Friday 19 August 2011:

"When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways - either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength."
- Dalai Lama

Zen from Friday 7 October 2011:

"Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well."
- Gandhi

Zen from Friday 4 November 2011:

"The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."
- Marcel Proust

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (29 November 2011):

"Develop a mind that is vast like water, where experiences both pleasant and unpleasant can appear and disappear without conflict, struggle, or harm. Rest in a mind like vast water."
- Buddha

Zen from Thursday 18 August 2011:

"The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there."
- Yasutani Roshi

Zen from Thursday 6 October 2011:

"The art of living ... is neither careless drifting in the one hand nor fearful clinging to the past on the other. It consists in being sensitive to each moment, in regarding it as utterly new and unique, in having the mind open and wholly receptive."
- Alan Watts

Zen from Thursday 3 November 2011:

"The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not our circumstances."
- Martha Washington

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (28 November 2011):

"When we act out our negativity, the effect is like carving it into stone. The imprint remains for a long, long time."
- Genpo Merzel

Zen from Wednesday 17 August 2011:

"Most people think that we live in the actual world while we are alive, and that after we take the last breath we somehow wander into a vague realm of the spirit. It is a great mistake to see two separate realms."
- Soen Nakagawa

Zen from Wednesday 5 October 2011:

"If you want to see the heroic, look at those who can love in return for hatred. If you want to see the brave, look for those who can forgive."
- Bhagavad Gita

Zen from Wednesday 2 November 2011:

"The outward freedom that we shall attain will only be in exact proportion to the inward freedom to which we may have grown at a given moment. And if this is a correct view of freedom, our chief energy must be concentrated on achieving reform from within."
- Gandhi

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (27 November 2011):

"You must learn to be still in the midst of activity, and to be vibrantly alive in repose."

- Indira Gandhi

Zen from Tuesday 16 August 2011:

"I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind. I should not be ungrateful to those teachers."
- Kahlil Gibran

Zen from Tuesday 4 October 2011:

"We all carry within us our places of exile, our crimes, our ravages. Our task is not to unleash them on the world; it is to transform them in ourselves and others."
- Albert Camus

Zen from Tuesday 1 November 2011:

"There are three marks of a superior man: being virtuous, he is free from anxiety; being wise, he is free from perplexity; being brave, he is free from fear."
- Confucius

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (26 November 2011):

"You must learn to be still in the midst of activity, and to be vibrantly alive in repose."
- Indira Gandhi

Zen from Monday 15 August 2011:

"Manifest plainness,
embrace simplicity,
reduce selfishness,
have few desires."
- Lao-tzu

Zen from Monday 3 October 2011:

"The least initial deviation from the truth is multiplied later a thousandfold."
- Aristotle

Zen from Monday 31 October 2011:

"The lesson that life reappears and constantly enforces is 'Look under foot.' You are always nearer to the divine and the true sources of your power than you think."
- John Burroughs

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (25 November 2011):

"WE are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Zen from Sat/Sun 13/14 August 2011:

"The mind is like a mirror through which you can see infinity; but if you put the blackness of hatred over it, you will see nothing."
- Yogi Bhajan

Zen from Sat/Sun 1/2 October 2011:

"There are those who discover they can leave behind destructive reactions and become patient as the earth, unmoved by fires of anger or fear, unshaken as a pillar, unperturbed as a clear and quiet pool."
- The Dhammapada

Zen from Sat/Sun 29/30 October 2011:

"There is only one world, the world pressing against you this minute."
- Storm Jameson

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (24 November 2011):

"Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better."
- Albert Einstein

Zen from Friday 12 August 2011:

"The cloud is free, only to go with the wind.
The rain is free only in falling."
- Wendell Berry

Zen from Friday 30 September 2011:

"If a man speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart. If a man speaks or acts with a pure mind, joy follows him as his own shadow."
- The Dhammapada

Zen from Friday 28 October 2011:

"To see clearly is poetry, philosophy, and religion, all in one."
- John Ruskin

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (23 November 2011):

"When you are guided by compassion and lovingkindness, you are able to look deeply into the heart of reality and see the truth."
-Thich Nhat Hanh

Zen from Thursday 11 August 2011:

"The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are. Do not despise your own place and hour. Every place is under the stars, every place is the center of the world."
- John Burroughs

Zen from Thursday 29 September 2011:

"The deepest waters make the least noise."
- Guatemalan proverb

Zen from Thursday 27 October 2011:

"You hold in your hand an invitation: To remember the transforming power of forgiveness and lovingkindness. To remember that no matter where you are and what you face, within your heart peace is possible."
- Jack Kornfield

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (22 November 2011):

"The only wisdom we can hope to acquire
Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless."
- T.S. Eliot

Zen from Wednesday 10 August 2011:

"The world is not divine sport; it is divine destiny. There is divine meaning in the life of the world; of man, of human persons, of you and me."
- Martin Buber

Zen from Wednesday 28 September 2011:

"Misfortune and experience are lost upon mankind when they produce neither reflection nor reformation."
- Thomas Paine

Zen from Wednesday 26 October 2011:

"True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us."
- Socrates

What is a Quafaie?

Quafaie are fantasy creatures that exist in the fantasywriting of Hugh Kemeny, and are created by him. They are primarily in HughKemeny’s Black Phoenix short stories (at time of posting this, none have beenpublished). 

Quafaie are similar to some definition of elves, however inHugh Kemeny’s work they bear no relationship to Elves. Before describing theQuafaie, first a brief definition of Elves and Dwarfs in Hugh Kemeny’s BlackPhoenix world:

Elves are based on the typical fantasy Elf that J.R.R.Tolkien popularized in his Middle Earth (The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings, etc).They stand about the same height of humans, being no less than 1.67 m (5.5 ft)tall. They are mostly forest folk and great archers.  (More on the Elves in the Black Phoenix worldlater.)

Dwarfs are also based on the typical fantasy Dwarf, alsopopularized by J.R.R. Tolkien. As adults they reach an average height of 1.25 m(4 ft). They generally all have long beards (including the female dwarfs), liveand work in mines and underground, and have a deep sense of metallurgy – includingrelated magic. 

Quafaie are slightly smaller than Dwarfs. Quafaie grow to between1 m and 1.25 m (average height of Dwarfs), though with any peoples, there areexceptions. Unlike Dwarfs they have no facial or body hair (similar to somedefinitions of elves). The hair they have on their head is almost moss like,with colour ranging in the earth tones (primarily brown, but with hints ofgreen). 

Unlike Dwarfs who live underground, Quafaie live aboveground. They are close to nature and the earth, understanding the soil, water,and to some extent animals. Like both Elves and Dwarfs they have some innatemagic. They can sense when curses or blessings have been placed on the land,find water and know the best places to plant for fruitful crops.

Quafaie are only able to procreate once a year. This goesfor both male and female Quafaie, so although they can mate with other peoples(Dwarfs, Elves, Humans), it is quite rare. 

Since they appear androgynous, and only procreate once ayear, they do not use masculine or feminine personal pronouns, instead theyhave their own – see below:

Third-person Singular	Subject	Objective	Reflective	Possessive
Masculine	He	Him	Himself	His
Feminine	She	Her	Herself	Hers
Neutral	It	It	Itself	Its
Quafaie	Quie	Quir	Quirself	Quirs

Note: the plural of Quafaie is Quafiae (one Quafaie, manyQuafaie)

Quafaie reach sexual maturity at 20 years of age. Aroundthis time, usually the year leading up to their 20^th birthday, theyare sent out of the community to learn more about themselves and the world atlarge. When they reach sexual maturity they go through a rite of passage inwhich they choose their adult name – which they discovered while out in theworld. 

They live to about 200 years old, almost as long as Dwarfs(which live to about 250 years). Both male and female Quafaie reach a form of menopauseat the age of about 150; the last 50 years of their life is generally helpingthe community, usually teaching, as they are considered wise elders at thatpoint in life.

More about Quafaie and other creatures of Hugh Kemeny’sinvention in other posts.  

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (21 November 2011):

"Zen opens a man's eyes to the greatest mystery as it is daily and hourly performed; it enlarges the heart to embrace eternity of time and infinity of space in its every palpitation; it makes us live in the world as if walking in the garden of Eden."
- D.T. Suzuki

Zen from Tuesday 9 August 2011:

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world."
- Gandhi

Zen from Tuesday 27 September 2011:

"Possessions, outward success, publicity, luxury - to me these have always been contemptible. I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best for both the body and the mind."
- Albert Einstein

Zen from Tuesday 25 October 2011:

"I claim to be no more than the average person with less than average ability. I have not the shadow of doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she would make the same effort and cultivate the same hope and faith."
- Gandhi

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (19/20 November 2011):

"If you fail to achieve freedom in this life, when do you expect to achieve it?"
- Wu-hsin

Zen from Monday 8 August 2011:

"To be great, be whole; exclude
Nothing, exaggerate nothing that is you.
Be whole in everything. Put all you are
Into the smallest thing you do.
The whole moon gleams in every pool,
It rides so high."
- Fernando Pessoa

Zen from Monday 26 September 2011:

"When I am tired of being closed in, suddenly I come upon a clearing, and the mind is at peace."
- Wang Wei

Zen from Monday 24 October 2011:

"Meet this transient world with neither grasping nor fear; trust the unfolding of life, and you will attain true serenity."
- Bhagavad Gita

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (19/20 November 2011):

"If you fail to achieve freedom in this life, when do you expect to achieve it?"
- Wu-hsin

Zen from Sat/Sun 6/7 August 2011:

"Without accepting the fact that everything changes, we cannot find perfect composure. But unfortunately, although it is true, it is difficult for us to accept it. Because we cannot accept the truth of transience, we suffer."
- D.T. Suzuki

Zen from Sat/Sun 24/25 September 2011:

"Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf."
- Native American Indian proverb

Zen from Sat/Sun 22/23 October 2011:

"If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should see sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (18 November 2011):

"Events and hopes seldom agree.
Who can step back does not worry.
We blossom and fade like flowers,
Gather and part like clouds.
Worldly thoughts I forgot long ago,
Relaxing all day on a peak."
- Stonehouse

Zen from Friday 5 August 2011:

"Root out the violence in your life, and learn to live compassionately and mindfully. Seek peace. When you have peace within, real peace with others will be possible."
- Thich Nhat Hanh

Zen from Friday 23 September 2011:

"How could drops of water know themselves to be a river? Yet the river flows on."
- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Zen from Friday 21 October 2011:

"Do not be afraid to take a chance on peace, to teach peace, to live peace.... Peace will be the last word of history."
- John Paul II

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (17 November 2011):

"Worldly ups and downs
Should be treated
As lightly as clouds
Gathering and breaking up."
- Anonymous

Zen from Thursday 4 August 2011:

"...to Look life in the face, always to look life in the cace, and to know what it is, to love it for what it is. At lase to know it. To love it for what it is. And then to put it away."
- Virginia Woolf

Zen from Thursday 22 September 2011:

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it as someone else; you are the one who gets burned."
- Buddha

Zen from Thursday 20 October 2011:

"We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather around us, that they may see their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer perhaps even fiercer life because of our quiet."
- William Butler Yeats

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (16 November 2011):

"Delight in meditation and in solitude. Compose yourself, be happy. You are a seeker"
- The Dhammapada

Zen from Wednesday 3 August 2011:

"If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete."
- Buddha

Zen from Wednesday 21 September 2011:

"My mind remains wide,
So my place is naturally remote."
- Tao Yuan Ming

Zen from Wednesday 19 October 2011:

"To live here and now you must train yourself: In the seen there will be just the seen, in the heard just the heard, in the sensed just the sensed, in the thought just the thought. That is the end of sorrow."
- Buddha

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (15 November 2011):

"Those who have strong passions are never able to perceive the Way. It is like stirring up clear water with your hands; you may come wishing to find a reflection of your face, but you'll never see clearly in disturbed waters. A mind troubled and vexed with passions is never able to see the Way."
- Sutra of Forth-two Chapters

Zen from Tuesday 2 August 2011:

"The essence of man is not what he is, but in what he is able to be."
- Abraham Joshua Herschel

Zen from Tuesday 20 September 2011:

"Nothing is more simple than greatness; indeed, to be simple is to be great."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Zen from Tuesday 18 October 2011:

"Once we recognize that thoughts are empty, the mind will no longer habe the power to deceive us."
- Khyetse Rinpoche

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (14 November 2011):

"We have long forgotten that activities can be simple and precise. Every act of our lives can contain simplicity and precision and thus can have tremendous beauty and dignity."
- Chogyam Trungpa

Zen from Monday 1 August 2011:

"But do not ask me where I am going,
As I travel in this limitles world,
Where every step I take is my home."
- Dogen

Zen from Monday 19 September 2011:

"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Zen from Sat/Sun 15/16 October 2011:

"If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset."
- Krishnamurti

Zen from Monday 17 October 2011:

"To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to the violence of our times."
- Thomas Merton

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Sat/Sun 15/16 October 2011):

"If your eyes are blinded with your worries, you cannot see the beauty of the sunset."
- Krishnamurti

Zen from Sat/Sun 30/31 July 2011:

"Reason is our soul's left hand,
faith her right;
By these we reach divinity."
- John Donne

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Friday 14 October 2011):

"Doubt everything. Find your own light."
- Buddha

Zen from Friday 29 July 2011:

"Life is like music for its own sake. We are living in an external now, and when we listen to music we are not listening to the past, we are not listening to the future, we are listening to an expanded present."
- Alan Watts

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Thursday 13 October 2011):

"Peace requires us to surrender our illusions of control. We can love and care for others but we cannot possess our children, lovers, family, or friends. We can assist them, pray for them, and wish them well, yet in the end their happiness and suffering depend on their thoughts and actions, not on our wishes."
- Jack Kornfield

Zen from Thursday 28 July 2011:

"The past is already past. Don't try to regain it. The present does not stay. Don't try to touch it from moment to moment. The future has not come. Don't think about it beforehand."
- Layman P'ang

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Wednesday 12 October 2011):

"You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that wil dazzle the world. Show that God's creative principle works in you."
- Paramahansa Yogananda

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Tuesday 27 July 2011:

"Enthusiasm is a supernatural serenity."
- Henry David Thoreau

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Tuesday 11 October 2011):

"As a mountain is unshaken by the wind, so the heart of a wise person is unmoved by all the changes on this earth."
- Buddha

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Tuesday 26 July 2011:

"To live only for some future goal is shallow. It's the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top."
-Robert M. Pirsig

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Monday 10 October 2011):

"He who things to reach God by running away from the world, when and where does he expect to meet him? We are reaching him here in this very spot, now at this very moment."
- Rabindranath Tagore

Zen from Monday 25 July 2011:

"Why do you so earnestly see the truth in distant places? Look for delusion and truth in the bottom of your own heart."
- Ryokan

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Sat/Sun 8/9 October 2011):

"The first step to the knowledge of the wonder and mystery of life is the recognition of the monstrous nature of the earthly human realm as well as its glory, the realization that this is just how it is and that it cannot and will not be changed. Those who think they know how the universe could have been had they created it, without pain, are unfit for illumination."
- Joseph Campbell

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Sat/sun 23/24 July 2011:

"God is the experience of looking at a tree and saying, 'Ah!'"."
- Joseph Campbell

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Monday 19 September 2011):

"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."
- Robert Louis Stevenson

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Friday 22 July 2011:

"The real differences around the world today are not between Jews and Arabs; Protestants and Catholics; Muslims, Croats, and Serbs. The real differences are between those who embrace peace and those who would destroy it. Between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past. Between those who open their arms and those who are determined to clench their fists."
- William Jefferson Clinton

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Sat/Sun 17/18 September 2011):

"It is a puzzling thing. The truth knocks on the door and you say, 'Go away, I'm looking for the truth,' and so it goes away. Puzzling."
- Robert M. Pirsig

Zen from Thursday 21 July 2011:

"No thought, no reflection, no analysis, no cultivation, no intention; let it settle itself.."
- Tilopa

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Friday 16 September 2011):

"My mind is my own church."
- Thomas Paine

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Wednesday 20 July 2011:

"Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
- Buddha

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Thursday 15 September 2011):

"From the passions arise worry, and from worry arises fear. Away with the passions, and no fear, no worry."
- Sutra of Forty-two Chapters

Zen from Tuesday 19 July 2011:

"The truth of Zen, just a little bit of it, is what turns one's humdrum life, a life of monotonous, uninspiring commonplaceness, into one of art, full of genuine inner creativity."
- D. T. Suzuki

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Wednesday 14 September 2011):

"Many lifetimes of misunderstanding come from distrust, hindrance, and screens of confusion that we create in a scenario of isolation."
- Hongzhi Zhengjue

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Monday 18 July 2011:

"Do, or do not. There is no try."
- Yoda

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Tuesday 13 September 2011):

"Nature teaches more than she preaches. There are no sermons in stones. It is easer to get a spark out of a stone than a moral."
- John Burroughs

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Sat/Sun 16/17 July 2011:

"Only one who bursts with enthusiasm do I instruct; only one who bubbles with excitement do I enlighten."
- Confucius

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Monday 12 September 2011):

"The sage looks at the unity which
Belongs to all things,
And does not perceive where
They have suffered loss."
- Chuang Tzu

Zen from Friday 15 July 2011:

"Right thoughts produces right actions and right actions produce work that will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all."
- Robert M. Pirsig

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Sat/Sun 10/11 September 2011):

"Vow to achieve the perfect understanding that the illusory body is like dew and lightning."
- Hsu Yun

Zen from Thursday 14 July 2011:

"Our existence seesaws between animality and divinity, between that which is more and that which is less than humanity."
- Abraham Joshua Heschel

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Friday 9 September 2011):

"There seems no plan because it is all plan;
there seems no center because it is all center."
- C. S. Lewis

Zen from Wednesday 13 July 2011:

"There is no way to peace; peace is the way."
- A.J. Muste

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Thursday 8 September 2011):

"You should withdraw inwardly and search for the ground upon which you stand; thereby you will find out what Truth is."
- Yun-men Wen-yen

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Tuesday 12 July 2011:

"Our task must be to free ourselves from out prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all humanity and the whole of nature in its beauty."
- Albert Einstein

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Wednesday 7 September 2011):

"For a deed to be totally pure, it must be done without any thought of reward, whether worldly or divine."
- Thich Thien-An

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Friday 8 July 2011:

"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness."
- Dalai Lama

Daily Zen

Today's Zen (Tuesday 6 September 2011):

"Careful! Even moonlit dewdrops,
If you're lured to watch
Are a wall before the truth."
- Sogyo

Zen from Sat/Sun 9/10 July 2011:

"To know what you know And to Know What you don't Know, That is real wisdom."
- Confucius

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Monday 5 September 2011):

"My hours are peaceful centuries."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Friday 8 July 2011:

"There is only one good, that is, knowledge; and only one evil, that is, ignorance."
- Socrates

Daily Inspiration

Today's Zen (Sat/Sun 3/4 September 2011):

"When we are not bored with here and longing to be there, when the life of things is breathed in and breathed out with every breath we take, when we live with the past of our world and into the unborn future without desiring to undo what is done, or avoid what must be, then we live in a timeless life now, a placeless life here."
- R.H. Blyth

Today's Tarot
1) Card of the day (the important aspects of the day ahead)
2) Attend to this (personal issues that will require attention)
3) What to look out for (feelings, desires or reactions that could arise)

Zen from Thursday 7 July 2011:

"The experience of eternity right here and now is the function of life. Heaven is not the place to have the experience; here is the place to have the experience."
- Joseph Campbell

Blocked??

Sometimes I don't understand people. Ok, probably most of the time, but it is more some of the things people do that I don't fully understand. So, anyone reading my blog who can help me understand this following scenario, I would appreciate it....

A few years ago I met a guy in the summer. We seemed to hit it off. However, at the end of the summer we were heading to different parts of the country for school (university). When we parted we agreed to be friends. We stayed in touch periodically.
The following summer we got together a couple times. We never had anything sexual, just, what to me felt like a deep connection, spiritual almost.
Over the rest of that year we again stayed in periodic contact (again opposite ends of the country).
In January of the next year (5-6 months after we last saw each other), he replied to a note I had on Facebook that I would make something for the first 5 people that replied to the note.
It took me a year and I finally got something made for him.
Over the course of that year however, he started to not reply to my simple "how is it going?" emails / messages. I didn't even get a reply on where to send the item I had made for him (so I sent it to an address I had for someone I was sure he was still in contact with).
It was also around that time I happened to notice that we were no longer friends on Facebook - I initially thought perhaps some server broke the connection (it had happened before to me with other friends - several years ago). I asked to be his friend again, but never did get a reply.
Before the disappearing of Facebook friendship, I noticed he had a boyfriend. I thought that was great for him - there was, in my opinion, nothing more than what I hoped would be a good friendship.
Needless to say, after sending the gift off, and no reply to my friend request, I took some time to purge my strong emotions for him, but still hoped to be / stay friends - this was in about February.

The other day I messaged him with the following (edited only for personal info - names, places, etc):
I'm in [town] for a few days for family stuff. If you're free on Monday, or possibly Tuesday, to meet up for tea and catch up on stuff, it would be nice to see you again.
I can best be reached on my mobile (call or text): [number given].
If you don't have time to meet, I hope life is treating you you well.

Today I happened to notice that his name was greyed out in my message center on Facebook, and can't see his profile. To me it looks like he probably blocked me... I just don't fully understand why.

This why is where if anyone can help me understand I'd appreciate it....
I was not pestering him - my last message was in January, before that in December. There were a few in August and September last year - all along the lines of "hey how was your summer / haven't heard from you in a while, hope all is well."
I never received a message from him to say that he didn't want contact with me. In fact his last message to me (April last year), was (edited for some content - what he was doing, and other stuff that seemed irrelevant to the context of his message related to this post):
As much as I want to see you i just doesn't seem very possible both timing wise and for the kinda of state i am in right now. It has kind of been an emotional roller coaster with [work]. I am barely getting by as it is, and i feel i want to be able to actually connect rather than you see me in my emotional and tired state. I hope you understand, I am really sorry. its all been a bit overwhelming.
with love,

Unless I am mistaken, that message sounds to me like he cared about me. So why the silent treatment? why the unfriending (if that was him)? why the Facebook block? why not say something to let me know not to contact him if he does not want to be contacted?


Ok, that helped purge the little emotional attachment I still have for him. Though the unknown is still going to bother me a little - as I will still be wondering if there was hope for us to stay in contact, and possibly have something in the future.

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