Joosepi jutud

"The wise sages of ancient Asia—the Zen masters and Taoist sages—did not concern themselves with future events. Instead, they cultivated their minds to be able to adapt to any situation by remaining open, present, calm, and attentive. They practiced so that they were always available to whatever the moment presented. They did not resist situations or events, but accepted them fully, and thus flowed with them effortlessly. Knowing that all things are constantly changing, and that nothing is certain, the wise masters focused their energy on the one thing they could control—themselves and their relationship to life. For them, life was not about reaching a future goal or destination, as many of us aspire to today, it was about learning how to travel well.

As the Zen Master Basho said “Every day is a journey, and the journey itself is home.”  

Or as the Taoist sage Lao Tzu said, “A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving. A good artist lets his intuitionlead him wherever it wants.A good scientist has freed himself of conceptsand keeps his mind open to what is.Thus the Master is available to all peopleand doesn't reject anyone.He is ready to use all situationsand doesn't waste anything.”  

Ikkyu, another revered master, said that “Having no destination,I am never lost.” 
And perhaps one of my favorite quotes from these great teachers comes from the Taoist sage Daochun Li, “Truly if one can be balanced and harmonious in oneself, then the being which is fundamentally so is clear and aware, awake in quietude, accurate in action; thus one can respond to the endless changes in the world.” 
We can see from the words of these teachers that their mindset was one of continual awareness, openness, and presence to the immediate experience of reality. Whatever they experienced they surrendered to it. Their minds weren’t hard, rigid or fixed, they were soft, fluid and flexible. They practiced keeping the mind empty, and the heart full, thus they were able to act spontaneously in any moment, trusting their intuition and inner intelligence. I think we can learn a lot from these ancient masters. The wisdom they left us is more valuable than gold.

“Don’t keep searching for the truth. Just let go of your opinions... The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences. When love and hate are both absent everything becomes clear and undisguised. Make the smallest distinction, however, and heaven and earth are set infinitely apart. If you wish to see the truth then hold no opinion for or against. The struggle of what one likes and what one dislikes is the disease of the mind."

Tekst minu lemmikpoisilt Instagramis - Joseph P. Kauffman @ josephpkauffman