One definition of the word "inspire" means to breathe in, to fill the lungs with air. We cannot live without breathing in, without inspiring and being inspired. In Qigong, becoming conscious of one's breath is a great starting place in connecting to one's body and the present moment. I'd like to share some of my inspirations here, people, places and words that continue to inspire and sustain me, keep me breathing in (and out!) and living as fully as I can in each moment, nudging me to aspire to inspire others and pay it forward.
Center of your being
This is it
Always we hope
someone else has the answer
some other place will be better
some other time it will all turn out.
This is it.
No one else has the answer.
No other place will be better.
And it has already turned out.
At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are, and you know what you want.
There is no need to run outside for better seeing.
Nor to peer from a window.
Rather abide at the center of your being;
for the more you leave it, the less you learn.
Search your heart and see
the way to do
is to be.
~M.J.Ryan~ inspired by verse 47 of the Tao de Ching and the beatles
Wisdom and Love
"Our practice is to simply be aware of what is happening as is happening. The fruits of our practice are a clear mind and an open heart. Wisdom and Love. Wisdom and Love. Wisdom sees things as they are. Love realizes the connectedness of all things. We are no more separate from the world than a drop of water is from the ocean. To realize this even for an instant is to know inconceivable joy. What prevents us from knowing this is fear. Fear of the pain of our own history and fear of the pain of the universe. Fear of dropping into that pain. It takes a warrior’s courage to face and hold such pain. We can avoid the experience of this pain but it is at the cost of inconceivable love and joy."
~Eric Kolvig~
Eric Kolvig, my first meditation teacher and Kalyana Mitta. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, 2015, at the last retreat before he retired.
"Start where you are." ~ Pema Chdron
"Let the flower of your life force bloom." ~ Katagiri Roshi
"Simplicity is the final achievement. After one has played a vast quantity of notes and more notes, it is simplicity that emerges as the crowning reward of art." ~ Frédéric Chopin
Featuring my sensei Zorrie
Wild Geese
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things