we are both, wave and sea...

"We are connected with one another. Our lives are tied together, and there is a link in which we can see one current running through all. There are many globes and lamps, and yet one current is running through all. The mystic seeks to realize this constantly and to impress it on his mind in whatever he may see. What, for him, are the waves of the sea? Are they not the sea itself?"

~ Inayat Khan

Siesta Key Beach at sunrise, Sarasota Fl.

the gift of solitude...

Flower of Life Meditation Zafu

 ~ Thomas Merton
 "Today more than ever,

we need to recognize

 that the gift of solitude
is not ordered to the acquisition 

of strange contemplative powers,
but first of all 

to the recovery of one's deep self,
and to the renewal of an authenticity
which is twisted out of shape
by the pretentious routines 

of a disordered togetherness."

 ‘A Thousand Names for Joy’

 ~ Byron Katie (excerpt)

 "A stuck mind is the only death—death by torture.

The unquestioned mind, believing what it thinks, lives in dead ends—frustrated, hopeless, forever trying to find a way out, only to experience another dead end. And each time the problem is solved, another problem pops up. That's how the unquestioned mind has to live. It's stuck in the oldest stories, like a dinosaur still chewing on the same old grass.

When I woke up to reality in 1986, I noticed stories arising inside me that had been troubling mankind forever. I felt absolutely committed to undoing every stressful story that had ever been told. I was the mind of the world, and each
time one of the stories was seen for what it really was and thus undone in me, it was undone in the whole world, because there is only one thinker."

Amethyst/Jasper/Rhodonite Mala

  ○°○KnotByKnot Malas 

by ZARDENIA○°○

  $70 + shipping

●•●Amethyst, African Turquoise (Jasper) and Rhodonite●•●

Safari Print Bolster Pillow

Bolster. Neck Roll. Home decor pillow. Safari Print Pillowcase Buckwheat filled insert.

 Zippered. 15" x 5". Handmade, USA.

Meditation Cushion-Zafu

Meditation Cushion. Zafu. Floor Pillow. Natural, Embroidered Floral, Linen Fabric. 15x5. Buckwheat hulls. 6" L. Side Zipper. Handmade, USA.

 

 

 

 

yes, this....

nourish your spirit...

weavings.org

Rose Quartz Mala Necklace 

KnotByKnot malas by ZARDENIA
$62 +shipping
Cherry Quartz + Snowflake Obsidian + Rose Quartz
*Cherry Quartz - New Hope*
*Snowflake Obsidian - Manifestation*
*Rose Quartz - Unconditional Love*

what am I? what is the real me?

Siesta Key beach, Sarasota Fl.

You have experienced moments in your life, whether or not you are aware of them, when you momentarily forgot the "I" with which you have been identified. It can happen spontaneously at a beautiful sight, or it can occur from egoic forgetfulness. People usually discount these moments.
After experiencing the "nice moment," you then reconstitute your familiar sense of identity. But actually these opportunities are like little peepholes through which the truth is experienced. If you start to watch for them, you will notice them. All of a sudden the mind will stop thinking of its story.

You might notice that your separate identity or sense of a me just took a break, and whatever you truly are didn't disappear. Then ask yourself, "What is the real me? If my identity can take a break and I don't disappear, what am I then?" or rather, "What am I when I do disappear?"
- Adyashanti, Emptiness Dancing
 
~posted by the owner and sewist behind zafuChi - an online source of USA made zafu meditation cushions

be alert to what is in the mind...

~ Acharya Shri Prashant:

made in the usa, zafu cushions

🔥Here and now does not really pertain to an objective reality because there is no objective reality. Here and now pertains to the state of mind that the mind is in. All that here and now means is that when the mind is in a particular state, then that state is all that there is. Mind is in temptation; then temptation is all that there is. Mind is anger; anger is all that there is.
🔥Here and now is meaningless. Even though we all are sitting in this physical location right now yet here and now means different things to all of us.
🔥Here and now simply means that, 'be alert to what is in the mind'. That's it.
🔥And whatever is in the mind, that is in the mind. Now do not try to suppress it and do not try to find justifications for it. Just know that this is what is there in the mind and that we said in the beginning is the appropriate mental activity.
🔥The mind is the machine, well tuned, nicely designed for both analysis and observation. Use it for observation. You use it only for analysis and comparisons. And if the observation is honest then the object of observation will drop.

let the sun of awareness shine in you...

sunrise at Siesta Key Beach - Sarasota, Fl.

"To meditate does not mean to fight with a problem.
To meditate means to observe.
Your smile proves it.
It proves that you are being gentle with yourself,
that the sun of awareness is shining in you,
that you have control of your situation.
You are yourself,
and you have acquired some peace."

~Thich Nhat Hanh

posted by the sewist and maker of zafu meditation cushions behind the face of zafuChi

"You do not attain God, you dissolve and all that remains is God."

"begonia blossoms"

🔥 Somebody roams around for ten years, twenty years, thirty years, somebody goes to ten masters, twenty masters, and then we are told that there is an event called ‘Enlightenment’. That’s what your story is. How do you know that what you call as ‘Enlightenment’ is the effect of the cause called ‘wandering’ or ‘seeking’ or ‘searching’?

🔥 When you don’t know anything about Enlightenment, when Enlightenment is something that by its definition cannot be thought of, cannot be conceptualized, cannot be put in images, then how can the Buddha be searching for it?

🔥It pleases us greatly, there is deep ego in this assumption, and mankind will hold this assumption close to itself, that God is within my reach. ‘It was not due to His grace, but due to my effort,my effort yields enlightenment.’

🔥Enlightenment is returning to the source, and the source is outside all cause-effect. You do not get there by doing something, you do not get there as a result of some sadhana. Twelve years or twelve thousand years, nothing will suffice. How can time lead to the timeless?

🔥You do not attain God, you dissolve and all that remains is God. Buddha did not attain Enlightenment, buddha dissolved and all that remained was Enlightenment. That dissolution can happen in a fraction of a second, it is instantaneous, or it may never happen.

~ Acharya Shri Prashant

~)(~

posted by zafuChi - purveyor of USA made zafu meditation cushions

The power of now cannot be a spiritual utterance...

   The Present is not the now. The now is a point in the stream of time. The now is that which is preceded and followed by the past and the future. The Present is that in which the past, the now and the future, simultaneously co-exist. The now is a point in the stream; the Present is the vast infinite land, in which that stream is flowing.

   There are as many streams of time as there are minds. The past is not one object, the future too, is not one object; even with the so-called person, the past and future keep changing. So, infinite rivers of time keep flowing in this vast land called the Present. The Present is that which is Present; it is the Truth.

   The word power is meaningful only in the presence of something else against which the power may be used and applied. Present has no power. The Present is so absolutely powerful, that the word power does not apply to it. Against whom will the Present apply its power? How to say that it is powerful? It is meaningless.

   But the ego is searching for power all the time. Have you noticed that? Who wants power? – The ego. So, it becomes a very catchy thing to say, ‘The power of now’. This cannot be a spiritual utterance. No spiritual mind looks for power. It’s only the ego that is insecure, and hence looking for power.

~ Acharya Shri Prashant

Acharya Shri Prashant

 posted by owner of zafuChi - online sales of zafu meditation cushions

How can I keep from singing?

"My life goes on in endless song
Above earth's lamentations...
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.

Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear it's music ringing...
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?"
~~Author Unknown~~

posted by ZafuChi - a source for U.S.A. handmade zafu meditation cushions