WE THINK TOO MUCH & FEEL TOO LITTLE

Κουράζεται κανείς να ζει χωρίς εκείνον που παράφορα αγάπησε. Έρωτας είναι αυτή η κούραση.
Φωτεινή Τσαλίκογλου

Life of the Ocean - Enya

From the pine tree
learn of the pine tree
from the bamboo
learn of the bamboo.

Basho

Jim Croce - Time in a Bottle

"Awe is what moves us forward."
Joseph Campbell

"Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live." 
Norman Cousins

"The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches, but to reveal to him his own."  Benjamin Disraeli

"Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment.  Full effort is full victory."
Mahatma Gandhi

a wintry sonnet - Christina Rossetti

A Robin said: The Spring will never come,
And I shall never care to build again.
A Rosebush said: These frosts are wearisome,
My sap will never stir for sun or rain.
The half Moon said: These nights are fogged and slow,
I neither care to wax nor care to wane.
The Ocean said: I thirst from long ago,
Because earth’s rivers cannot fill the main.

When Springtime came, red Robin built a nest,
And trilled a lover’s song in sheer delight.
Grey hoarfrost vanished, and the Rose with might
Clothed her in leaves and buds of crimson core.
The dim Moon brightened. Ocean sunned his crest,
Dimpled his blue, yet thirsted evermore.

"For twenty seven years
I’ve always sought the Way.
Well, this morning we passed
Like strangers on the road.

- Kokuin (10th century)"

"Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom."

"The most exquisite paradox… as soon as you give it all up, you can have it all. As long as you want power, you can't have it. The minute you don't want power, you'll have more than you ever dreamed possible.."
Ram Dass

"Events, circumstances, etc., have their origin in ourselves.  They spring from seeds which we have sown."  -Henry David Thoreau

"Gentleness is a divine trait.  There is nothing stronger than gentleness.  And there is nothing more gentle than real strength.."
Kabir

"I prefer the errors of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom."
Anatole France

"When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy."
Rumi

“Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.”
Native American Indian proverb

"Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some."
Charles Dickens

Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimum means.
Koichi Kawana

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
Robert Olson

Cors de chasse - Guillaume Apollinaire

Notre histoire est noble et tragique
Comme le masque d'un tyran
Nul drame hasardeux ou magique
Aucun détail indifférent
Ne rend notre amour pathétique

Et Thomas de Quincey buvant
L'opium poison doux et chaste
À sa pauvre Anne allait rêvant
Passons passons puisque tout passe
Je me retournerai souvent

Les souvenirs sont cors de chasse
Dont meurt le bruit parmi le vent

When you seek love with all your heart
you shall find its echoes in the universe.

The simplest things are often the truest.
Richard Bach

Source: etsy.com via Maria Jose on Pinterest

F Mendelsshon Song Without Words

Pink Floyd - Marooned (HD)

Ladybug Picture -- Animal Wallpaper -- National Geographic Photo of the Day

Ladybug Picture -- Animal Wallpaper -- National Geographic Photo of the Day

You and I will be together till the universe dissolves.
Rumi

Life is Short

There's a certain slant of light

There's a certain slant of light,
On winter afternoons,
That oppresses, like the weight
Of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;
We can find no scar,
But internal difference
Where the meanings are.

None may teach it anything,
'Tis the seal, despair,-
An imperial affliction
Sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens,
Shadows hold their breath;
When it goes, 't is like the distance
On the look of death.

-Emily Dickinson

When you're deluded, every statement is an ulcer; when you're enlightened, every word is wisdom.

Light and Shadow Photo, Agra Picture - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Light and Shadow Photo, Agra Picture - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Japanese Maple Picture - Nature Wallpaper - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Japanese Maple Picture - Nature Wallpaper - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Rosa Tamarkina plays Schubert/Liszt: Erstarrung

Rosa Tamarkina plays Schubert/Liszt: Der Müller und der Bach

The Heart Sutra

The Heart Sutra (The Maha Prajna Paramita Great Enlightened Dharani Sutra)
Translated from Sanskrit to Chinese by Master Kumarajiva
Translated from Chinese to English by Mr. Jerry Pevahouse (jpevahouse@comcast.net)

Avalokieteshvara Bodhisattva practicing profound Prajna Paramita clearly saw
the five skandhas to be empty transcending all suffering and difficulties.
Sariputra!
Form is empty therefore no difficulties are to be discerned.
Feeling is empty therefore no feeling.
Thought is empty therefore no knowing.
Volition is empty therefore no doing.
Consciousness is empty therefore no awakening.
Why is this?
Sariputra!
Without form there is no emptiness.
Without emptiness there is no form.
Form is then emptiness. Emptiness is then form.
Feeling, thought, volition and consciousness are also like this.
Sariptura, all these dharmas are phenomena,
No created, not destroyed,
Not defiled, not pure,
Not increasing, not decreasing.
These empty Dharmas are without past, without future, without present.
Therefore in emptiness,
No form, no feeling, thought, volition, consciousness,
No eyes, ears, tongue, body, mind,
No listening, smelling, tasting, touching,
No world to be observed up to no world to be perceived,
No ignorance also no end to ignorance
Up to no old age and death and no end to old age and death,
No suffering, craving, annihilation, path.
No wisdom also no attainment.
Therefore nothing arises which can be attained.
The Bodhisattva relies on Prajna Paramita.
Therefore the mind is without obstructions.
No obstructions therefore no fear, doubt.
Far beyond deluded thinking, suffering and difficulties.
Ultimate Nirvana!
All past, present and future Buddha's rely on Prajna Paramita
Therefore attaining supreme enlightenment.
Therefore know Prajna Paramita is the great-enlightened dharani, the highest
dharani, the unequaled dharani and remover of all suffering.
This is true and real, not false.
Therefore say the Prajna Paramita Dharani saying
"gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi soha"

Maha Prajna Paramita Great Enlightened Dharani Sutra

Η καρδιά χτυπάει, ακόμη κι' όταν έχει ραγίσει.
Κινέζικη παροιμία

“Ten thousand flowers in spring
the moon in autumn,
a cool breeze in summer,
snow in winter.
If your mind isn’t clouded by unnecessary things,
this is the best season of your life.”

Wu-men

Madagascar Picture - Baobab Tree Photo - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Madagascar Picture - Baobab Tree Photo - National Geographic Photo of the Day

Η μόνη ανηθικότητα είναι να μην κάνεις αυτό που πρέπει να κάνεις, όταν πρέπει να το κάνεις.

Jean Anouilh

πικρία - Νίκος Καββαδίας

Ξέχασα κείνο το μικρό κορίτσι από το Αμόι
και τη μουλάτρα που έζεχνε κρασί στην Τενερίφα,
τον έρωτα, που αποτιμάει σε ξύλινο χαμόι,
και τη γριά που μέτραγε με πόντους τη ταρίφα.

Το βυσσινί του Τισιανού και του περμαγγανάτου,
και τα κρεβάτια ξέχασα τα σαραβαλιασμένα
με τα λερά σεντόνια τους τα πολυκαιρισμένα,
για το κορμί σου, που έδιωχνε το φόβο του θανάτου.

Ό,τι αγαπούσα αρνήθηκα για το πικρό σου αχείλι:
τον τρόμο που δοκίμαζα πηδώντας στο κατάρτι,
το μπούσουλα, τη βάρδια μου και τη πορεία στο χάρτη,
για ένα δυσεύρετο, μικρό, θαλασσινό κοχύλι.

Τον πυρετό στους Τροπικούς, του Rio τη μαλαφράντζα,
την πυρκαγιά που ανάψαμε μια νύχτα στο Μανάο.
Τη μαχαιριά που μου 'δώσε ο Μαγιάρος στην Κωστάντζα
και "Σε πονάει με τη νοτιά;" - Όχι, απ' αλλού πονάω.

Του τρατολόγου το καημό, του ναύτη την ορφάνια,
του καραβιού που κάθισε την πλώρη τη σπασμένη.
Τις ξεβαμμένες στάμπες μου, που 'χα για περηφάνια,
για σένα, που σαλπάρισες, γολέτα αρματωμένη.

Τι να σου τάξω, ατίθασο παιδί, να σε κρατήσω;
Παρηγοριά μου ο σάκος μου, σ' Αμερική κι Ασία.
Σύρμα που εκόπηκε στα δυο και πως να το ματίσω;
Κατακαημένε, η θάλασσα μισάει τη προδοσία.

Κατέβηκε ο Πολύγυρος και γίνηκε λιμάνι.
Λιμάνι κατασκότεινο, στενό, χωρίς φανάρια,
απόψε που αγκαλιάστηκαν Εβραίοι και Μουσουλμάνοι
και ταψιδέψαν τα νησιά στο πόντο, τα Κανάρια.

Γέρο, σου πρέπει μοναχά το σίδερο στα πόδια,
δυο μέτρα καραβόπανο, και αριστερά τιμόνι.
Μια μέδουσα σε αντίκρισε, γαλάζια και σιμώνει
κι ένας βυθός που βόσκουνε σαλάχια και χταπόδια.

“Never apologize for showing feelings. When you do so, you apologize for the truth.”
Benjamin Disraeli

J'ai eu le courage de regarder en arrière

J'ai eu le courage de regarder en arrière
Les cadavres de mes jours
Marquent ma route et je les pleure
Les uns pourrissent dans les églises italiennes
Ou bien dans de petits bois de citronniers
Qui fleurissent et fructifient
En même temps et en toute saison
D'autres jours ont pleuré avant de mourir dans des tavernes
Où d'ardents bouquets rouaient
Aux yeux d'une mulâtresse qui inventait la poésie
Et les roses de l'électricité s'ouvrent encore
Dans le jardin de ma mémoire

Guillaume Apollinaire

Beauty of whatever kind, in its supreme development, invariably excites the sensitive soul to tears.
Edgar Allan Poe

Kisses are better fate than wisdom.
ee cummings

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

ee cummings

‎


"Θα δοθώ ολάκαιρος στην άμεση Ενέργεια... Τώρα ταχτοποιώ εδώ τα γραφτά μου, σαν να πρόκειται να φύγω ή να πεθάνω". 
Νίκος Καζαντζάκης

And if our hands should meet in another dream, we shall build another tower in the sky. 
Khalil Gibran

It matters not who you Love, where you Love, why you Love, when you Love, or how you Love. It matters only that you Love.
John Lennon

The ego treats the present moment in three ways: 
1. As a means to an end. 
2. As an obstacle. 
3. As an enemy. 

Eckhart Tolle

No mirror ever became iron again;
No bread ever became wheat;
No ripened grape ever became sour fruit.
Mature yourself and be secure
from a change for the worse.
Become the light.
- Rumi

"Ο δίκαιος είναι ο πιο ατάραχος άνθρωπος, ενώ ο άδικος ζει γεμάτος ταραχή. "
Επίκουρος

To know Tao - Loy Ching Yuen

“To know Tao
Meditate
And still the mind.
Knowledge comes with perseverance.
The Way is neither full nor empty;
A modest and quiet nature understands this.
The empty vessel, the uncarved block;
Nothing is more mysterious.
When enlightenment arrives
Don’t talk too much about it;
Just live it in your own way.
With humility and depth, rewards come naturally.
The fragrance of blossoms soon passes;
The ripeness of fruit is gone in a twinkling.
Our time in this world is so short,
Better to avoid regret;
Miss no opportunity to savor the ineffable.
Like a golden beacon signaling on a moonless night,
Tao guides our passage through this transitory realm.
In moments of darkness and pain
Remember all is cyclical.
Sit quietly behind your wooden door:
Spring will come again.”

so you want to be a writer? - Charles Bukowski

΄

if it doesn't come bursting out of you
in spite of everything,
don't do it.
unless it comes unasked out of your
heart and your mind and your mouth
and your gut,
don't do it.
if you have to sit for hours
staring at your computer screen
or hunched over your
typewriter
searching for words,
don't do it.
if you're doing it for money or
fame,
don't do it.
if you're doing it because you want
women in your bed,
don't do it.
if you have to sit there and
rewrite it again and again,
don't do it.
if it's hard work just thinking about doing it,
don't do it.
if you're trying to write like somebody
else,
forget about it.


if you have to wait for it to roar out of
you,
then wait patiently.
if it never does roar out of you,
do something else.

if you first have to read it to your wife
or your girlfriend or your boyfriend
or your parents or to anybody at all,
you're not ready.

don't be like so many writers,
don't be like so many thousands of
people who call themselves writers,
don't be dull and boring and
pretentious, don't be consumed with self-
love.
the libraries of the world have
yawned themselves to
sleep
over your kind.
don't add to that.
don't do it.
unless it comes out of
your soul like a rocket,
unless being still would
drive you to madness or
suicide or murder,
don't do it.
unless the sun inside you is
burning your gut,
don't do it.

when it is truly time,
and if you have been chosen,
it will do it by
itself and it will keep on doing it
until you die or it dies in you.

there is no other way.

and there never was.

The  Gentlest and Greatest Friend
of
Moon and Winds


Basho (1644 - 1694)


Many years ago there went wandering through Japan, sometimes on
the back of a horse,sometimes afoot, in poor pilgrim's clothes, the
kindest, most simple hearted of men...Basho, friend of moon and winds.
Though Basho was born of one of the noblest classes in Japan, and might
have been welcome in palaces, he chose to wander, and to be comrade
and teacher of men and women, boys and girls in all different stations of
life,from the lowest to the highest.  Basho bathed in the running brooks,
rested in shady valleys, sought shelter from sudden rains under some tree
on the moor, and sighed with the country folk as he watched the cherry
blossoms in their last pink shower, fluttering down from the trees.  Now
he slept at some country inn, stumbling in at its door at nightfall,
wearied from long hours of travelling, yet never too tired to note the
lovely wisteria vine, drooping its delicate lavender blossoms over the
veranda.  Sometimes he slept in the poor hut of a peasant, but most often
his bed was out-of-doors, and his pillow a stone.

When Basho came upon a little violet hiding shyly in the grass on a
mountain pathway, it whispered its secret to him.  "Modesty, gentleness,
and simplicity!" it said.  "These are the truly beautiful things."

Glistening drops of dew on the petal of a flower had  voice and a song
for him likewise. "Purity," they sang, "is the loveliest thing in life.

The pine tree, fresh and ever green amid winter's harshest storms,
spoke staunchly of hardy manhood;  the mountains had their message
of patience, the moon its song of glory!  Rivers, forests, waterfalls,
all told their secrets to Basho, and these secrets that Nature revealed
to him, he loved to show to others, for the whole of living of life was
to him one great poem, as of some holy service in the shadow of a temple.

"Real poetry," said Basho, "is to lead a beautiful life.  To live poetry
is better than to write it."  And whenever he saw one of his young
students being rude, in a fit of anger, or otherwise acting unworthily,
he would gently lay his hand on the arm of the youth and say; "But this
is not poetry! This is not poetry."


Note:
This story is from a children's book titled
Little Pictures of Japan, edited by author
Olive Beaupré Miller and beautifully
illustrated by Katharine Sturges. It was originally published in 1925.  

(ένα αντίο)

"Καλύτερα ένα άθλιο τέλος παρά μια αθλιότητα χωρίς τέλος."

Καρλ Μαρξ

Οι κούφιοι άνθρωποι - T.S. Eliot

Είμαστε οι κούφιοι άνθρωποι
Είμαστε οι παραγεμισμένοι άνθρωποι
Που σκύβουνε μαζί.
Καύκαλα μ' άχερα γεμάτα, αλίμονο!
Οι στεγνές μας φωνές
Σαν ψιθυρίζουμε μαζί
Εϊναι ήσυχες κι' ασήμαντες
Σαν τον αγέρα στο ξερό χορτάρι
Η σε σπασμένα γυαλικά των ποντικών το ποδάρι
Μες στο ξερό μας το κελάρι

Μορφή χωρίς σχήμα, σκιά χωρίς χρώμα
Παραλυμένη δύναμη, γνέψιμο χωρίς κίνηση

Εκείνοι που ταξίδεψαν
Με ίσιες ματιές στου θανάτου την άλλη Βασιλεία
Μας θυμούνται - α θυμούνται - όχι σα να' μαστε χαμένες
Παράφορες ψυχές, μα μοναχά
Οι κούφιοι άνθρωποι
Οι παραγεμισμένοι άνθρωποι.

Μάτια που δεν μπορώ ν' αντικρίσω στα όνειρα
Στου θανάτου τη βασιλεία των ονείρων
Αυτά δεν φανερώνονται:
Εκεί, στα μάτια είναι
Ηλιος σε σπασμένη στήλη
Εκεί ένα δέντρο σείεται
Κι' οι φωνές είναι
Στου αγέρα το τραγούδισμα
Πιό απόμακρες, πιό επίσημες
Από τ' άστρο που σβήνει.

Ας μην έρθω κοντύτερα
Στου θανάτου την βασιλεία των ονείρων
Κι' ας φορέσω ακόμη
Τέτοια μελετημένα μασκαρέματα
Ποντικιού τομάρι, κόρακα πετσί, σταυρωτά ραβδιά
Σ' ένα χωράφι
Κάνοντας όπως κάνει ο άνεμος
Οχι κοντύτερα

Οχι το τελευταίο τούτο συναπάντημα
Στη δειλινή βασιλεία
Τούτη είναι η παθιασμένη χώρα
Τούτη είναι του κάκτου η χώρα
Εδώ τα πέτρινα ομοιώματα
Υψώνουνται, εδώ που δέχουνται
Την ικεσία του χεριού ενός πεθαμένου
Κάτω απ' το παίξιμο του άστρου που σβήνει.

Ετσι είναι τα πράγματα
Στου θανάτου την άλλη βασιλεία
Ξυπνάς μοναχός
Την ώρα εκείνη
Που τρέμεις τρυφερός
Χείλια που θα φιλούσαν
Λεν προσευχές στη σπασμένη πέτρα.

Δεν είναι εδώ τα μάτια
Εδώ δεν είναι τα μάτια
Στο λαγκάδι των άστρων που πεθαίνουν
Στο κούφιο αυτό λαγκάδι
Τούτη η σπασμένη σιαγών απ' τις χαμένες βασιλείες μας

Στο τελευταίο τούτο συναπάντημα
Μαζί ψηλαφούμε
Κι' αποφεύγουμε τα λόγια
Μαζεμένοι στην άκρη του φουσκωμένου ποταμού

Χωρίς βλέμμα, εκτός
Αν ξαναφανούν τα μάτια
Σαν τ' άστρο το αιώνιο
Το εκατόφυλλο ρόδο
Της δειλινής βασιλείας του θανάτου
Η ελπίδα μόνο
Αδειων ανθρώπων.

Γύρω-γύρω όλοι
Στην μέση το φραγκόσυκο φραγκόσυκο
Γύρω-γύρω όλοι
Στις πέντε την αυγή.

Ανάμεσα στην ιδέα
Και στο γεγονός
Ανάμεσα στην κίνηση
Και στην πράξη
Η Σκιά πέφτει

Οτι Σου εστίν η Βασιλεία

Ανάμεσα στη σύλληψη
Και στη δημιουργία
Ανάμεσα στη συγκίνηση
Και στην ανταπόκριση
Η Σκιά πέφτει

Είναι η ζωή μακριά πολύ

Ανάμεσα στον πόθο
Και στο σπασμό
Ανάμεσα στη δύναμη
Και στην ύπαρξη
Ανάμεσα στην Ουσία
Και στην κάθοδο
Η Σκιά πέφτει

Οτι Σου εστίν η Βασιλεία

Οτι Σου εστίν
Είναι η ζωή
Οτι σου εστίν ή

Ετσι τελειώνει ο κόσμος
Ετσι τελειώνει ο κόσμος
Ετσι τελειώνει ο κόσμος
Οχι μ' ένα βρόντο μα μ' ένα λυγμό.


μετάφραση Γιώργου Σεφέρη

Matsuo Basho - Five Haiku

Joy is a return to the deep harmony of body, mind, and spirit that was yours at birth and that can be yours again.That openness to love, that capacity for wholeness with the world around you, is still within you.
Deepak Chopra

Pain makes the soul sincere.
Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan

Don' t seek, don' t search, don' t ask, don' t knock, do'n t demand; relax. If you relax, it comes. If you relax, it is there. If you relax, you start vibrating with it.
Osho

An Illusion - Judy Garland

How strange when an illusion dies
It's as though you've lost a child
Whom you've cherished and protected
Against the wilds of the storms and hurts
In this frightening world.
Your child is dead.
An hysterical frenzy possesses you
Your precious, virtuous dream has been taken,
Torn from your defensive, guarding breast.
Next a morose loneliness descends
You're a pitiful stumbling creature
Lost in the woods of despair.
Suddenly you see a light.
You straighten, and walk with steady footsteps into the sun
Time has done her work.
Your dream is gone - yes -
And you light a candle in your heart
In a rememberance of something never to be recovered,
But deep in your soul, in its embryonic state,
another illusion is maturing
Waiting to grow strong and radiant
Only to be crushed and join the other.

« Le silence est l'âme des choses. »
Proverbe français