I need to read the same
thing from multiple sources before it finally occurs to me to put it all
together and internalize the message. So in a marvelous coming together of resources,
nearly every book I’ve read recently is saying the same basic thing in different
ways.
See if you can detect the
pattern:
“All we need to do is pay
attention. We don’t have to decide if something is good or bad, right or
wrong. We don’t need to have
judgments about what kind of person we are because we have certain kinds of thoughts
of thoughts or feelings or reactions. That is the road to suffering. Our job is
quite different: Just notice. What is happening right now? We notice this, then
this, then that, then that… We pay attention to all of it. Where is the
suffering?”
– Suffering is Optional, by Cheri Huber
“The Indian philosopher J.
Krishnamurti once remarked that observing without evaluating is the highest
form of human intelligence. When I first read this statement, the thought,
“What nonsense!” shot through my mind before I realized that I had just made an
evaluation. For most of us, it is difficult to make observations, especially of
people and their behavior, that are free of judgment, criticism, or other forms
of analysis.”
– Nonviolent Communication, by Marshall Rosenberg
“In a Zen kitchen, you do
not compare or judge one apple as better than another. Every piece of food is
unique unto itself, and every item of food is to be cherished without
comparison.” – The Mystic Cookbook,
by Denise Linn and Meadow Linn
“The Great Way is not
difficult;
It only avoids picking and
choosing.
When love and hate are both
absent,
Everything becomes clear and
undisguised.
Make the smallest
distinction, however,
And heaven and earth are set
infinitely apart.
If you wish to see the truth,
Then hold no opinions for or
against anything.
To set up what you like
against what you dislike
Is a disease of the mind.
When the deep meaning of
things is not understood,
The mind’s essential peace
is disturbed to no avail.
The Way is perfect like vast
space,
Where nothing is lacking and
nothing is in excess
Indeed, it is due to our
choosing to accept or reject
That we do not see the true
nature of things.
Live neither in the
entanglements of outer things
Nor in inner feelings of
emptiness.
Be serene in the oneness of
things
And such erroneous views
will disappear by themselves.
To deny the reality of
things
Is to miss their reality;
To assert the emptiness of
things
Is to miss their reality.
The more you talk and think
about it,
The further astray you
wander from the truth.
Stop talking and thinking
And there is nothing that
you will not be able to know.
So continuing in this theme,
I will neither comment nor judge the preceding quotes. I simply present them to
you, to make of what you will.
