enlighten me

apparently i'm in a thinking, spiritual, introspective kind of funk lately. starting with the north shore trip, i've been interested in reading agian. so i've submerged myself in books on solitude, compassion and spirituality. i have no idea where this came from, but i decided to break my rule about finishing a 'classic' book before i can read one for fun. i'm sure i'll get back into the classics again, but i figure if i'm forcing myself to read something, i won't ever read it, like i'm back in college again. instead i got a book called DRINKING THE RAIN, an elightening memoir about a woman around 50 years old who retreats from her crazy life in new york to live off-grid just off the coast of maine. i loved it.

i also read a newer collection of meditative thoughts by the amazing vietnamese scholar and buddhist master Thich Nhat Hanh (tick-naught-han). the book is called TAMING THE TIGER WITHIN. i promised my sister i would share one of my favorite quotes on the blog, so here goes:

"in a time of anger or despair, even if we feel overwhelmed, our love is still there. our capacity to communicate, to forgive, to be compassionate is still there. you have to believe this. we are more than our anger, we are more than our suffering. we must recognize that we do have within us the capacity to love, to understand, to be compassionate, always."

i read that page and immediately dog-eared it. those of you that know me will understand what a bold thing that is since i'm emphatically anti-dogearing. but, what a powerful statement about us as human beings.... we are more than our anger.

well, who knows when this funk will leave. maybe you will all be forced to read quotes from buddha masters and bits of writtings by thoreau and the dalai lama... we'll see what i find.

namaste......... just kidding. peace out!!!