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Alice Hoffman, Incantation (via panatmansam)

Adyashanti (via hollygonowhere)

 Steve Maraboli (via purplebuddhaproject)

Because our social rules forbid us from questioning marital relationships, married people assume that they should feel happy. And because research tells us that marriage makes most people happy, unhappy marrieds conclude that they must be outliers. But a lot of this marital happiness stems from our matrimonialism, our setting up of a society that values marriage. Married people get social approval and all its attendant benefits, so they feel that their relationship should have value, regardless of whether or not they’re personally happy. —Hallie Lieberman

Jaron Lanier (via fifidunks)

Comparing yourself to another person is an act of violence. It is an act of self harm. Even if you compare yourself favorably to one person or group of people, you are building a house of cards that will collapse as you try to stand on it. Self-comparisons are hard to avoid. If we do not compare...

Ajahn Sumedho (via echoshaman)

The purpose of a Zen practice is to find peace of mind. Buddha’s great insight is that through working with your mind you can find peace. The flip side of that insight is that the reason that you do not have peace of mind is because of your thought habits. Zen is a tradition of practitioners coming to realize what the Buddha realized. In the two and a half thousand years since Buddha, Zen has picked up a lot of baggage. It has travelled from India, through China into Japan, Korea, Vietnam and throughout the world. Zen has developed distinct practices in every country and in every practitioner. That is all baggage. The realization that Buddha had is the same simple realization today as it was when he had it. Put down all of your baggage and experience your essential nature.The problem we encounter when we try to put down our baggage is that we don’t know how. When we feel the weight of our baggage and go to put it down, we can’t tell what is us and what is our baggage. We have spent a whole lifetime accumulating baggage and we can’t imagine ourselves without it. When we suffer from anxiety and depression, we become so identified with our baggage that we may think we don’t like ourselves. What we don’t like is our baggage. We don’t even know ourselves. If we knew ourselves apart from our baggage, we would not only like ourselves, we would love ourselves.To put down our baggage, we practice meditation. That is the most basic Zen practice. The Zen devices that are designed to help practitioners put down their baggage, the koans, the robes, the shaved heads, the tea, the chanting, the paradox can become baggage too. Baggage is complicated that way. To cut through the complication of baggage, simplify things. Put all your baggage down. Don’t worry if you accidentally put yourself down in the process. Don’t worry.Anytime you feel the weight of your worry, reorient yourself to your surroundings. You can take an hour, or three seconds, depending on how eager you are to pick your baggage up again. Simply breathe in and out and be absolutely perfect in that moment, no baggage. You will find peace right there in your mind. Even in your mind.

Alan Watts (via stardust-seedling)

Zen is not about learning.

Thich Nhat Hanh (via thecalminside)

Thich Nhat Hanh (via thecalminside)

Ken Kesey (via newspeedwayboogie)