In Any Balm or Beauty of the Earth

Vineyards near San Luis Obisbo, California

Yosemite National Park, California

"What is divinity if it can come
Only in silent shadows and in dreams?
Shall she not find in comforts of the sun,
In pungent fruit and bright, green wings, or else
In any balm or beauty of the earth,
Things to be cherished like the thought of heaven?
Divinity must live within herself:
Passions of rain, or moods in falling snow;
Grievings in loneliness, or unsubdued
Elations when the forest blooms; gusty
Emotions on wet roads on autumn nights;
All pleasures and all pains, remembering
The bough of summer and the winter branch,
These are the measures destined for her soul."    
-  Wallace Stevens, Sunday Morning, 1915


"The point in life is to know what's enough - why envy those otherwold immortals?  With the happiness held in one inch-square heart you can fill the whole space between heaven and earth."
-   Gensei (1623-1668), Poem Without a Category
    The Enlightened Heart, Edited by Stephen Mitchell, p. 86 


"The secret of beginning a life of deep awareness and sensitivity lies in our willingness to pay attention. Our growth as conscious, awake human beings is marked not so much by grand gestures and visible renunciations as by extending loving attention to the minutest particulars of our lives. Every relationship, every thought, every gesture is blessed with meaning through the wholehearted attention we bring to it. In the complexities of our minds and lives we easily forget the power of attention, yet without attention we live only on the surface of existence. It is just simple attention that allows us truly to listen to the song of a bird, to see deeply the glory of an autumn leaf, to touch the heart of another and be touched. We need to be fully present in order to love a single thing wholeheartedly. We need to be fully awake in this moment if we are to receive and respond to the learning inherent in it."
-  Christina Feldman and Jack Kornfield, Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart



"A virtuous person comes into being only according to the Tao.
Tao is something which is obscure and indistinct.
Indistinct and obscure —
yet there is an appearance.
Obscure and indistinct —
yet there is a substance.
Vague and dim —
yet there is an essence within it.
This essence is genuine.
There is truth within it."
- Tao Te Ching, Chapter 21

Virtue Ethics

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons


From a 2015 post to the Cloud Hands Blog.