Thursday, April 1, 2010

Be Like the Earth


Hilton Head Island, 2009


OBSTACLES 

can arise from good as well as bad circumstances,

BUT

they should never deter or overpower you.

Be like the EARTH which supports all living creatures indiscriminately, without distinguishing good from bad.

The earth is simply

THERE.

Your practice should be strengthened by the difficult situations you encounter, just as a bonfire in a strong wind is not blown out, but

BLAZES

even brighter.


-- Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche (from the article "In Transition" in the Winter 1991 issue of Tricycle Magazine)

10 comments:

  1. Beautiful...and beautiful blog header...

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  2. Blog header- religious art. I'm not kidding.
    Now. As to that quote. I would love to be the sort of person who believes that in my heart. Unfortunately, I am the sort of person who thinks that difficult situations suck really badly. Perhaps my blaze does not burn strongly enough. Sigh.

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  3. i'm blazing over here, elizabeth. although i'm shining nowhere nearly as bright as your beautiful sophie.

    xo

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  4. okay, okay.

    brightly.

    and the word verification is 'strife'. no lie.

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  5. tell Sophie that she makes me want to be a better person.

    I want to touch that light. I want to blaze.

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  6. Thanks, Elizabeth. This the sort of thing I need today. Sometimes life is overwhelming--or often it is, I might say.

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  7. I love this, but it's still hard to practice, sometimes. (As if I need to tell you that.)

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  8. Ms. Moon and Karen -- I hear you. I, myself, feel more like a pile of ashes most of the time than a blazing fire.

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