drink your tea slowly...

"Drink your tea slowly
and reverently,
as if it is the axis
on which
the earth revolves -
slowly, evenly,
without rushing
toward the future.
Live the actual moment.
Only this moment is life."

~Thich Nhat Hanh 
~)(~

Tea Time Train

art print available by TinyRed on etsy 

 

All the elements for your happiness are already here...

"Be yourself. Life is precious as it is.
All the elements for your happiness
are already here.There is no need
to run, strive, search or struggle.
Just Be."
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

~)(~

"Just Be" Poster

available for instant download by Aquartis on etsy 

let go...

~Tilopa

"Don’t recall.
Don’t imagine.
Don’t think.
Don’t examine.
Don’t control.
Rest."

This advice consists of only six words in Tibetan. 

The above translation was developed 

to capture its brevity and directness. 

Some years ago, Michael K. Nisch 

developed the translation shown below, 

which some people prefer:

 

"Let go of what has passed.
Let go of what may come.
Let go of what is happening now.
Don’t try to figure anything out.
Don’t try to make anything happen.
Relax, right now, and rest."

Michael K. Nisch

~)(~

Fine Art Print with Hermann Hesse Quote

 available on etsy by ChezLorraines

In nature every moment is new

"In nature every moment is new;
the past is always swallowed and forgotten;
the coming only is sacred.
Nothing is secure but life, transition and the energizing spirit."

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

~)(~

"Winter Landscape" painting

available on etsy at 1000PaintedTrees 

~)(~

"Winter Snow Geisha" print zafu

 

 available at ZafuChi on etsy

a secret path is there for you that no one knows...

"Whatever happens to you, don’t fall in despair. 

Even if all the doors are closed, a secret path 

will be there for you that no one knows. 

You can’t see it yet but so many paradises 

are at the end of this path. Be grateful! 

It is easy to thank after obtaining what you want, 

thank before having what you want."

~ Shams Tabrizi

~)(~

"Secret Garden"

available on etsy by PattiPettysCards 

 

Let go of how you thought your life should be.

"Just let go. Let go of how you thought your life should be, 

and embrace the life that is trying 

to work its way into your consciousness."
~ Caroline Myss

~)(~

Watercolor Print Dandelion

 

Life is a Balance Between Holding on and Letting go

watercolor artwork available on etsy by KateBoyingtonArt 

balance the polarities...

"All truth is in tai chi:

 to cultivate the mind, body, or spirit, 

simply balance the polarities. 

But forget about understanding and harmonizing 

and making all things one. 

The universe is already a harmonious oneness; 

 just realize it. 

If you scramble about in search of inner peace, 

you will lose your inner peace."

Hua Hu Ching 

(quote and photo posted on facebook) 

 

nirvana is available in the here and now...

"Nirvana is available in the here and now. 

It is not a place to go to when we pass away. 

It is available to all of us when we are alive. 

The word “nirvana" was used by peasant farmers

 in India to describe the cooling down of the ashes 

after the fire is out. The Buddha used “nirvana” 

to describe the cooling of the fire of afflictions - 

namely the cooling of anger, fear, anxiety, 

and so on. With mindfulness, concentration 

and insight, each one of us can refresh our spirit, 

cool our afflictions and touch nirvana 

in the very here and now."

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

~)(~

NIRVANA Necklace

Japanese calligraphy, Hills with forest trees in tan peach cream, 

Heaven, Spiritual art, Gift for him or her

available by HighwayGlass on etsy 

ten thousand things rise and fall...

~)(~

"Empty yourself of everything.
Let the mind become still.
The ten thousand things rise and fall
while the Self watches their return.
They grow and flourish
and then Return to the Source.
Returning to the Source is stillness,
which is the Way of Nature."
~ Lao Tsu

~)(~

Be still, and know... 

meditation cushion available at ZafuChi on etsy

each little gift you offer...

"Life is a journey from hypocrisy to sincerity,
from self-centeredness to other-centeredness and love,
from self-deception, ignorance and illusion to self-honesty clarity and truth.
As long as people are content not to look,
not to embrace their ultimate vocation to become deified beings,
they will chase after every distraction
that comes along as a substitute for a life of depth."
~Wayne Teasdale, The Mystic Heart
~)(~

 

breathing with awareness is needful...

~)(~

"Sometimes, we just need
to hear ourselves breathe."
~ Jeff Foster

 ~)(~

 

Meditation Cushion. 

 Machine stitched reeds

~)(~

 "People think happiness is a faraway thing," thought Francie, 

"something complicated and hard to get. 

Yet, what little things can make it up; 

a place of shelter when it rains - 

a cup of strong hot coffee when you’re blue; 

for a man, a cigarette for contentment; 

a book to read when you’re alone -

 just to be with someone you love. 

Those things make happiness."
~ Betty Smith
 A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

~)(~

music is love in search of a word...

~)(~

At the core of the world

 and at the core of the soul 

is silence that ripples 

with the music of beauty 

 and the whisperings 

of the eternal.

~ John O'Donohue

~)(~

Music is Love...

Original Watercolor Painting

artwork available by worDSMITHstudios on etsy 

what makes our souls soar...

~)(~

"In the midst of our lives..
we must find the magic that makes our souls soar."

~ Anonymous

 ~)(~

 Magic Lamp

Aladdin Illustrated Watercolor Quote

artwork available by MaggieBodle on etsy 

 

In Between Somewhere and Nowhere is You and I...

~)(~ 

"…I stand among you as one who offers a small message of hope, that first, there are always people who dare to seek on the margin of society, who are not dependent on social acceptance, not dependent on social routine, and prefer a kind of free-floating existence under a state of risk. And among these people, if they are faithful to their own calling, to their own vocation, and to their own message from God, communication on the deepest level is possible. And the deepest level of communication is not communication, but communion. It is wordless. It is beyond words, and it is beyond speech and beyond concept."

~The Asian Journal of Thomas Merton

~)(~

"In Between Somewhere and Nowhere is You and I"

 

 

 

 

print available by BrownBearStudio on etsy
 

truth is too simple for words...

~)(~

"truth is too simple for words
before thought gets tangled up 

in nouns and verbs
there is a wordless sound
a deep breathless sigh
of overwhelming relief
to find the end of fiction
in this ordinary
yet extraordinary moment
when words are recognized
as words
and truth is recognized
as everything else."

~Nirmala

~)(~

"Magical Forest"

artwork available by ARTEQUALSJOY on etsy  

Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don't tiptoe

~)(~

"Everywhere people are tiptoeing through life, 

just to arrive at death safely. 

But dear children, do not tiptoe. 

Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don't tiptoe." 

~ Shane Claiborne

~)(~

"Mowgli and Baloo Dancing"

available by gingerkidsart on etsy 

 ~)(~

 

where there is love...

~)(~

"Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance. 

Where there is patience and humility, there is neither anger nor vexation. 

 Where there is poverty and joy, there is neither greed nor avarice. 

Where there is peace and meditation, there is neither anxiety nor doubt."

~ St Francis of Assisi

~)(~

"St. Francis of Assisi & Friends" Print

artwork available by MoonLightCookieArt on etsy 

 

go easy, be filled with Light, and shine...

"... never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."

~Mary Oliver

~)(~

"Sun Embraced Trees"

artwork by LightAdoringART - available on etsy 

cast solemnity to the winds...

~)(~

"We are invited to forget ourselves on purpose,
cast our awful solemnity to the winds
and join in the general dance."
~Thomas Merton

~)(~

"Throw caution to the wind"

Boho Dancer Print in watercolor

available on etsy by ArtyMigglet

create some space - inhale exhale...

The fullness of joy is to
behold God in everything.
~ Julian of Norwich

~)(~

 

"Inhale/inspiration, exhale/expiration. 

Give "God" some space to work with."

;-)