A nice reminder I think of the connection between creativity and fulfillment and love.

“A man’s work is nothing but this slow trek to rediscover, through the detours of art, those two or three great and simple images in whose presence his heart first opened - Albert Camus

Today I was reminded of a simple idea from the writings of  Richard Bach.   If you haven’t read any of his books you might like to.  “Johnathan Livingston Seagull” and “Illusions” are among my favorites.
Anyway, there’s something about the following quote that seems right.   I hope you enjoy it too.

“True love stories never have endings.” – Richard Bach

This story reminds me of the importance of focus for attaining goals.

A martial arts student approached his teacher with a question. “I’d like to improve my knowledge of the martial arts. In addition to learning from you, I’d like to study with another teacher in order to learn another style. What do you think of this idea?” “The hunter who chases two rabbits,” answered the master, “catches neither one.”

This simple story from the Taoist tradition reminds me of how simply some of our difficulties in life can be solved with a bit of wisdom and common sense.  In this case the wise man simply uses his intelligence to avoid pain.

Once there was a horse tied up on the side of the street. Whenever someone tried to pass, the horse would kick them. Soon a crowd gathered around the horse until a wise man was seen coming close. The people said “This horse will surely kill anyone who tries to pass. What are we going to do?” The wise man looked at the horse, turned and walked down another street.

Here’s a story that I came across recently and really enjoyed.  It says a lot about integrity and leading by example.

A woman once brought her son to visit Mahatma Ghandi, who was always willing to be visited by the people of India. She asked him to please tell her son that he should stop eating sugar. “Come back in three days and I will grant your request,” he said. Three days later, she came back with her son, and Ghandi knelt down beside the boy and, looking him in the eyes, said “You really should stop eating sugar, as your mother wishes.” The boy promised he would stop. The woman, curious, asked Ghandi why he did not do this on their first visit, three days earlier. He replied “Three days ago, I had not stopped eating sugar.”

One of my favorite books in the spiritual field is Dan Millman’s “The Way of The Peaceful Warrior.”  There’s also a really good movie version of the book of the same title that was released a few years back.   They make for positive reading and viewing.

For this “Wisdom Bite” I want to share a video I found of Dan Millman speaking on the nature of  “reality,” how our view of it is distorted and what we can do to find peace.

Several years ago I attended a 10 day silent meditation retreat with my teacher in India.   I remember fondly how much I enjoyed the silence and the opportunity to simply watch my thoughts without giving them verbal form.

I also remember how difficult it was for some of the group (we were about 200 people) to observe silence.

When I came upon this Zen story I had a good laugh. Hope you do too!

The pupils of the Tendai school used to study meditation before Zen entered Japan. Four of them who were intimate friends promised one another to observe seven days of silence. On the first day all were silent. Their meditation had begun auspiciously, but when night came and the oil lamps were growing dim one of the pupils could not help exclaiming to a servant: “Fix those lamps.” The second pupils was surprised to hear the first one talk. “We are not supposed to say a word,” he remarked. “You two are stupid. Why did you talk?” asked the third. “I am the only one who has not talked,” concluded the fourth pupil.

This story comes from the tradition of Zen Buddhist stories.  I’m sharing it here because of how clearly it demonstrates that the real goal of spiritual practice is not to dominate, control or master physical reality on Earth.

Instead, the goal is simply to rest in the fearlessness that comes from the peace of knowing that what you really are could never be threatened by the illusion of death.

Consider how the wise Zen Monk handles the challenge in the story below.   He is an example of one who has reached such a goal.

After winning several archery contests, the young and rather boastful champion challenged a Zen master who was renowned for his skill as an archer. The young man demonstrated remarkable technical proficiency when he hit a distant bull’s eye on his first try, and then split that arrow with his second shot. “There,” he said to the old man, “see if you can match that!”

Undisturbed, the master did not draw his bow, but rather motioned for the young archer to follow him up the mountain. Curious about the old fellow’s intentions, the champion followed him high into the mountain until they reached a deep chasm spanned by a rather flimsy and shaky log. Calmly stepping out onto the middle of the unsteady and certainly perilous bridge, the old master picked a far away tree as a target, drew his bow, and fired a clean, direct hit. “Now it is your turn,” he said as he gracefully stepped back onto the safe ground.

Staring with terror into the seemingly bottomless and beckoning abyss, the young man could not force himself to step out onto the log, no less shoot at a target. “You have much skill with your bow,” the master said, sensing his challenger’s predicament, “but you have little skill with the mind that lets loose the shot.”

I saw this video the other day and it gave me a good laugh.  A reminder to not take things so seriously.

Have a healthy day!

Mark

One of my favorite quotes from Gautama Buddha comes from a text known in Englilsh as the Diamond Sutra.  I like to remember it when I start taking things too seriously.   Interestingly it’s the same teaching of Advaita Vedanta and The Course in Miracles.

“  Regard this fleeting world like this:

Like stars fading and vanishing at dawn,

like bubbles on a fast moving stream,

like morning dewdrops evaporating on blades of grass,

like a candle flickering in a strong wind,

echos, mirages and phantoms,

hallucinations, and like a dream.”