Some lives have very strong internal observers: the parent, critic, authority figure or imagined public.
The glory of God is a human being fully alive
Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book IV, 20.7
I lived so carefully,
thinking someone was watching.
But the stage was empty;
the audience never came.
Attributed to Osamu Dazai, modern Japanese author of No Longer Human
Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it,
We will have to learn to live with it –
just as we have learned to live with storms.
Paulo Coelho
Most of us were raised: to prioritize future benefits over current enjoyments.
But ultimately it backfires.
It wrenches us out of the present, leading to a life spent leaning into the future, worrying about whether things will work out,
experiencing everything in terms of some later, hoped-for benefit, so that peace of mind never quite arrives
Oliver Burkeman,, Four Thousand Weeks
Nothing is enough for the person
to whom enough is too little.
Alain de Botton, The Consolations of Philosophy (quoting Epicurus)
When you encounter difficulties, the feelings and stories that arise in reaction are just that, feelings and stories.
They are whirlwinds of confusion, based not in what is happening now but in deeply held beliefs about you and your relationship to the world.
Let them swirl- leaves in the wind.
Sometimes you fall back into them and lose touch with the present, but a moment of recognition always comes. Right then, come back to your body, come back to your breath, and rest. The confusion, the stories and the feelings are still there.
They continue to swirl, but you are not lost in them.
Ken McLeod, Reflections on Silver River, teachings on Tokmé Zongpo’s 37 Practices of a Bodhisattva’
When a rainbow appears vividly in the sky, you can see its beautiful colors, yet you could not wear it as clothing or put it on as an ornament. It arises through the conjunction of various factors, but there is nothing about it that can be grasped.
Likewise, thoughts that arise in the mind have no tangible existence or intrinsic solidity.
There is no logical reason why thoughts, which have no substance, should have so much power over you,
nor is there any reason why you should become their slave
Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche, The Heart of Compassion: The Thirty-Seven Verses on the Practice of a Bodhisattva
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