Reflections From the Cushion

                                                          
                                                            

Meditation Revelation

 
The moon and Venus,
the candle and me.
 

 Gladness bubbles out of me
in puddles, while star and moon hang
placid, inscrutable,
benign celestial beings.

My candle flame puckers into a heart
again and again.

Laughing, I get it –
Turn on your heart light!

Join the bringers of light
that sweeten and gladden like the dawn
after that dark night.

My calling.

                                                           ---------   K. MacDuffee,  Dec.17, 2019


















November 24, 2018

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair grows in me

and I awake in the middle of the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things 

who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.

I come into the presence of still water

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting for their light.  For a time

I rest in the grace of the world and am free.

                                                              -- Wendell Berry

January 31, 2016

5 steps to HAPPINESS

Smile more

Think less

Be present

Give more

Expect less

                                                                Winter Solstice 2015

There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking

and the things you are doing are right for you.

The criterion is:

Have they brought you inner peace? 

-- Mildre Lisette Norman -- 1908-1981, Peace Activist

October 23/15


On Meditation
“When a thought comes, you say hello, and then you say good-bye right away. When other thoughts come, just say hello and say good-bye again. Don’t fight. Don’t say, ‘Oh, I’m so bad, I think of so many things!’ You don’t need to think like that. You just say hi and bye, relax and let go. You bring your mind to the present moment and rest in awareness of your body. It’s like soaking mung beans in water. You don’t need to force the water to enter the mung bean. You let the mung bean be in the water, and slowly, slowly, it goes in. Gradually the mung bean gets saturated, swollen and tender. The same is true for you. Letting go, the tension will be released slowly, slowly, slowly. And you will become more relaxed and more peaceful. The training is to just keep bringing your mind back to the present moment with your body.”
—Thich Nhat Hanh

 






February 24/15

If you want to fly,

take yourself lightly,

and give 
up
everything
that
weighs
you
down.