Happiness

The moments of Happiness
we enjoy take us by surprise,
It is not that we seize them
but that they seize us

( Ashley Montagu )

Bhajan

Serve, Love, Give, Purify, Meditate, Realize
Be Good, Do Good, Be Kind, Be Compassionate
Adapt, Adjust, Accomodate
Bear Insult, Bear Injury Higest Sadhana
Bear Insult, Bear Injury Highest Yoga
Enquire ' who am I ? ' , know thyself and be free
Om Tat Sat Om Tat Sat Om Tat Sat Om
Om Peace Om Peace Om Shalom Om

( Swami Wishnu Devananda )

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
You must lose things,
Feel the future dissolve in a moment
Like salt in a weakened broth
What you held in your hand
What you counted and carefully saved
All this must go so you know
How desolate the landscape can be
Between the regions of kindness
How you ride and ride
Thinking the bus will never stop
The passengers eating maize and chincken
Will stare out the window forever
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
You must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
Lies dead by the side of the road
You must see how this could be you
How he too was someone
Who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive
Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
You must know sorrow as the other deepest thing
You must wake up with sorrow
You must speak to it till your voice
Catches thread of all sorrow
and you see the size of the cloth
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore
Only kindness that ties your shoes
And sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread
Only kindness that raises its head
From the crowd of the world to say,
' It is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you everywhere,
Like a shadow or a friend..

( Naomi Shihab Nye )

The Song of Zazen

All beings by nature are Buddha
As Ice by nature is water
Apart from water there is no ice
Apart from being, no Buddha
How sad that people ignore the near
and search for truth afar;
Like someone in the midst of water crying out in thirst
Like a child of a wealthy home lost among the poor
Wandering through the six worlds
From dark path to dark path
Lost in the darkness of ignorance
When shall we be freed from birth and death?

When you trully turn your eyes inwards
And bear witness to self nature,
Self nature that is no - nature
You will have gone beyond not two and not three
Entering the form of no - form
Your going and coming is nowhere else;
Entering the thought of no - thought,
Your singing and dancing is the voice of Dharma
How boundless and free is the sky of Dharma
How bright the moon of the fourfold wisdom!
At this moment what are you seeking?
Nirvana is right there before your eyes
This very place is the Lotus Land
This very body, the Buddha.

( Hakuin Zenji )

IF I HAD MY CHILD TO RAISE ALL OVER AGAIN

If I had my child to raise all over again,
I ' d build self esteem first, and the house later
I ' d finger paint more, and paint the finger less
I would do less correcting and more connecting
I'd take my eyes off my watch, and watch more with my eyes
I would care to know less and know to care more
I' d take more hikes and fly more kites
I ' d stop play serious and seriously play
I would run through more fields and gaze at more stars
I ' d do more hugging and less tugging
I ' d see the oak tree and acorn more often
I would be firm less often and affirm much more
I ' d model less and more about the power of love

( anonim )

I LOVE WHAT I SEE IN ME

As I moved through the layers of other people believes and opinions
I see within my self a magnificent being, wise and beautiful
I love what I see in me, that I AM part of all I see..