Monday, July 1, 2013

Everything fresh and new

Speaking of his teacher, Dipa Ma, in Bringing Home the Dharma, Jack Kornfield writes: "Asked whether life was boring and gray after getting rid of desire, anger and passion, Dipa Ma burst out laughing. 'Once greed, hatred, and delusion are gone, you can see everything fresh and new all the time.  Every moment is new.  Life was dull before.  Now every day, every moment is full of taste and zest.' "

We all know people who are easily bored, who consistently seek, attract, or create drama in order "to keep life interesting."  But if they could set aside their need to be catered to or entertained and seek instead to be fully present to what is, they might, like Dipa Ma, find each present moment to be fully endowed with infinite joy and glory -- which brings me back again to that wonderful quote from Gilead: "Wherever you turn your eyes, the world can shine like transfiguration.You don't have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see."

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