PeaceRoom

“When I stand on the mountaintop, the world unfolds before me. When I walk through the marketplace, I carry the mountaintop under my robes"

“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”

Franz Kafka

For October peace reading I choose a vision.....Ashes and Snow (please watch the enhanced version

I live my life in growing orbits

which move out over the things of the world.

...........I am circling around God, around the ancient tower,

and I have been circling for a thousand years,

And I still don’t know if I’m a falcon,

or a storm,

or a great song.

Rainer Marie Rilke

In an extraordinary state of visionary absorption, Black Elk saw the spiritual essences of the world and the spiritual beings who guard it. He found himself “standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit,...And I saw that it was holy.” After the vision Black Elk, who at this time was only nine years old, found himself alone on the plain with the spotted eagle, and he came to his own teepee in which his own body had lain still for twelve days--and he awoke and sat up. But the vision’s force reverberated throughout the rest of his life, so that “I did not have to remember these things; they remembered themselves all these years.”

...........excerpt from “Sacred Earth:The Spiritual Landscape of Native America by

Arthur Versluis

Verses from “Thousands”

Better than a thousand meaningless statements

Is one meaningful word,

Which, having been heard,

Brings Peace.

Better than a thousand meaningless verses

Is one meaningful line of verse

Which, having been heard,

Brings peace.

Better than reciting a hundred meaningless verses

Is one line of Dharma

Which, having been heard,

Brings peace.

For the person who shows respect

And always reveres worthy people,

Four things increase:

Life span, beauty, happiness, and strength.

Better than one hundred years lived

With an unsettled mind,

Devoid of virtue,

Is one day lived

Virtuous and absorbed in meditation.

Better than one hundred years lived

Without seeing the arising and passing of things

Is one day lived

Seeing their arising and passing.........

........The Dhamamapada

Meditation Practice

“The changes that occur through spiritual practice are not really your business. If you make them your business, you will try to change your life directly. If you try to change your life directly, no matter how long you work at it, you will not satisfy yourself. So, if you truly want to change your life, you should just form the routine of doing small things, day by day. Then your life will be changed beyond your expectations. If you practice continuously, day after day, you will become a peaceful, gentle, and harmonious person. There is no explanation for this.........

Living in vow is like taking a trip down the Mississippi river. If you go to the center of the river, there is no need for any extra effort. If you go to the center of your life, the river of your life will carry you. If you practice in this way, you will find a natural rhythm to your life. Start with taking care of the little things in your life on an everyday basis, and eventually you will get to the middle of the river”.......Living in Vow by Dainin Katagiri