Here’s the latest….

Writings mktdaf

Writings: When will you ever learn?

There’s my math teacher, so many years ago, noticing me make the same mistake on three straight exams:
When will you ever learn?

There’s my exasperated dad, showing me for tenth time how to not grind the clutch:
When will you ever learn?

There’s the fourth or fifth tough breakup, and the voice in my head:
When will you ever learn?

There’s the song’s line, that stays with you echoing after we wonder “Where have all the flowers/soldiers/husbands/graveyeards gone?”….
When will you ever learn?

And today as the lessons pile up, the practice continues, and the crowd of teachers in my life watch the pace I keep, I wonder if they’re thinking that, too:
When will you ever learn?

Gotta say – thanks for asking. I’m as interested as you in finding out.

Let me know how it’s going with you, too.

Much love – 
Brother Ian

 

Art by Tara Turner:
https://tara-turner.pixels.com

Thoughts Writings mktdaf

Writings: Keeping it simple, anyway

 

It’s simple, really.
One of the reasons there are so many books in libraries & bookstore is that there are a LOT of ways to say things.
One of the reasons we have a lot of songs is that there are a LOT of ways to tell stories of the heart.
One of the reasons it’s cool we have different days is that each day is different, in a LOT of ways – love that.

But when it comes down to figuring out what to do next, it’s easy.
Just one formula (if you wanna call it that.)
Just one rule (if you insist on calling it that.)
Just one mission statement (if you need that.)

Share & heal.

Then go read your book & sing your song & watch the sunrise – knowing it’s really that simple.

Thoughts mktdaf

Thoughts: The day which begins with this, is brighter already

Today is the feast day of St Francis!
Lord, make me a channel of your peace.
That where there is hatred, I may bring love.
That where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness,
That where there is discord, I may bring harmony,
That where there is error, I may bring truth,
That where there is doubt, I may bring faith,
That where there is despair, I may bring hope,
That where there are shadows, I may bring light,
That where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort, than to be comforted,
To understand than to be understood,
To love than to be loved.
For it is by forgetting self that one finds.
It is by forgiving that one is forgiven,
And it is by dying that one awakens to eternal life.
Amen.
According to Bob Holmes, *this is the version of the St Francis Prayer that Mother Teresa prayed.
Thoughts mktdaf

Thoughts: Peace….

“Peaceful coexistence on this beautiful planet we share cannot be achieved by warfare. It cannot be achieved by power. And it cannot be achieved by ignoring each others’ suffering. We cannot kill our way to peace, oppress others to create to peace, or close our eyes to achieve peace.

“Peace is the only path to peace. Our humanity is indelibly linked to our treatment of one another.”
― L.R. Knost
Art by Isaac Murdoch

Thoughts Writings mktdaf

Thoughts: Empty time & your heart

You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken for the race of days.

At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.
Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.

Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.

Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time.

~ John O’Donohue, “For One Who Is Exhausted, a Blessing.”
[Image: Konsta Punkka]
Writings mktdaf

Every once in a while…

It actually doesn’t matter where you have been swimming, or where you’re going to, but it does better where you’re swimming right now. It is only when we identify what grows in this moment that we have the chance to live fully.

Before & after – this leads to growth in our heads. Now – this leads to growth in our hearts.

It is within this mode of operating that we can grow and grow and grow.We find this by living each moment fully. That creates moments that are more memorable & a future that is more attainable.

You just watch.

Thoughts mktdaf

The flower – keep your eyes wide…

One day the Buddha held up a flower in front of an audience of 1,250 monks and nuns. He did not say anything for quite a long time. The audience was perfectly silent. Everyone seemed to be thinking hard, trying to see the meaning behind the Buddha’s gesture.

Then, suddenly, the Buddha smiled. He smiled because someone in the audience smiled at him and at the flower. The name of that monk was Mahakashyapa. He was the only person who smiled, and the Buddha smiled back and said, “I have a treasure of insight, and I have transmitted it to Mahakashyapa.”

That story has been discussed by many generations of Zen students, and people continue to look for its meaning. To me the meaning is quite simple. When someone holds up a flower and shows it to you, he wants you to see it. If you keep thinking, you miss the flower. The person who was not thinking, who was just himself, was able to encounter the flower in depth, and he smiled.

That is the problem of life. If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything. When a child presents himself to you with his smile, if you are not really there—thinking about the future or the past, or preoccupied with other problems—then the child is not really there for you. The technique of being alive is to go back to yourself in order for the child to appear like a marvelous reality. Then you can see him smile and you can embrace him in your arms.

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

Thought for the day…


"Man learns through experience, and the spiritual path is full of different kinds of experiences. He will encounter many difficulties and obstacles, and they are the very experiences he needs to encourage and complete the cleansing process. "
-- Sai Baba

About Brother Ian

brother ian in actionOver the centuries, Brother Ian has been collecting stories & information & discourses for the purpose of elevating the human condition as needed, dissecting it when necessary, and building the case for hope.

In the spirit of noting that organized crime, organized baseball, organized labour, and organized religion tend to engender controversy & occasional discord, I promise to be neither organized or critical of those who are.

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