your Buddhist thought for the day -- via Kevin Rose (!)

Started by Darren Dirt, September 07, 2008, 04:47:49 AM

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Darren Dirt

Quote
If while washing dishes, we think only of the cup of tea that awaits us, thus hurrying to get the dishes out of the way as if they were a nuisance, then we are not "washing the dishes to wash the dishes."  What's more, we are not alive during the time we are washing the dishes.  In fact, we are completely incapable of realizing the miracle of life while standing at the sink.  If we can't wash the dishes, the chances are we won't be able to drink our tea either.  While drinking the cup of tea, we will only be thinking of other things, barely aware of the cup in our hands.  Thus we are sucked away into the future and we are incapable of actually living one minute of life."

- Thich Nhat Hanh, "The Miracle of Mindfulness" (1999) (as excertped here, surprisingly enough)



Wow. I just took a moment to really read the excerpt a second time ... if you do the same you'll probably "get it" and understand why I felt compelled to share the quote with the rest of you information/technology/distraction addicts... Don't forget to "live in the now", mkay? ;D


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.

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bonus link discovery! TED Talk:
"Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: She had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness ?- shut down one by one. An astonishing story."  8)
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Strive for progress. Not perfection.
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Mr. Analog

So, Buddha walks into a pizza parlour and says to the man "Make me one with everything!"

ba da bump
By Grabthar's Hammer

Bixby

Quote from: Mr. Analog on September 07, 2008, 10:35:25 AM
So, Buddha walks into a pizza parlour and says to the man "Make me one with everything!"

ba da bump
Gives the guy a $50 bill to pay for it then asks "Where is my Change?"

The pizza owner tells him "Change must come from within".

ba da bump

I have read a couple of Thich Nhat Hahn books. Good stuff.

Mr. Analog

By Grabthar's Hammer