Infinitesimally Small

“Think of the whole universe of matter and how small your share. Think about the expanse of time and how brief—almost momentary—the part marked for you. Think of the workings of fate and how infinitesimal your role.” – MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 5.24”

Can’t match a mountain home free of dust…(Zen)

My zen hut leans at the summit. Clouds sail back and forth. A waterfall hangs in front. A mountain ridge crests in back. On a rock wall I sketched three buddhas. For incense there’s a plum branch in a jar. The fields below might be level. But can’t match a mountain home free of dust.

The Chain Method

“If you don’t wish to be a hot-head, don’t feed your habit. Try as a first step to remain calm and count the days you haven’t been angry. I used to be angry every day, now every other day, then every third or fourth . . . if you make it as far as 30 days, thank God! …

Truth has never harmed…

“If anyone can prove and show to me that I think and act in error, I will gladly change it—for I seek the truth, by which no one has ever been harmed. The one who is harmed is the one who abides in deceit and ignorance.”—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6.21

The color of your thoughts…

“Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.”—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 5.16

The Cause…

“The cause of my irritation is not in this person but in me.” – Anthony de Mello

Anger

There is no more stupefying thing than anger, nothing more bent on its own strength. If successful, none more arrogant, if foiled, none more insane—since it’s not driven back by weariness even in defeat, when fortune removes its adversary it turns its teeth on itself.—SENECA, ON ANGER, 3.1.5