Mathieu Ricard - Pensée de la semaine - Simplify

Lundi, le 26 février 2024

J'aime beaucoup ces mots de Henry David Thoreau : "simplifier, simplifier, simplifier...". Simplifier nos pensées, simplifier nos paroles et simplifier nos actes, ce n'est pas diminuer notre créativité ou retrécir notre existence, c'est apprécier intensément la sérénité sans égale d'une esprit au repos dans son état naturel. C'est déposer le fardeau, si longtemps coltiné, des constructions artificielles et distordues qui ne cessent de foisonner dans notre esprit, de le troubler, de l'agiter en tout sens, de le fragmenter, de le comprimer, de l'enchaîner - en un mot de le tourmenter.

Matthieu Ricard

Layman Pang - My daily affairs

My daily affairs are quite ordinary;
but I’m in total harmony with them.
I don’t hold on to anything, don’t reject anything;
nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
Who cares about wealth and honor?
Even the poorest thing shines.
My miraculous power and spiritual activity:
drawing water and carrying wood.

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2013/07/pang-the-reluctant-monk/

The Story of Layman P’ang, Reluctant Monk and Family Man.

My daily activities are not unusual,

I’m just naturally in harmony with them.

Grasping nothing, discarding nothing.

In every place there’s no hindrance, no conflict.

My supernatural power and marvelous activity:

Drawing water and chopping wood. 

-P’ang

Layman P’ang is considered a model for the potential for non-monastic Buddhists. He lived in the 700s. He was a bureaucrat, working for the Chinese government. He got married and had two children, a daughter and then a son. One day, he just grew to become interested in spiritual matters. He built a little hermitage on his property and started spending time retreating there with his kids and meditating. His daughter Ling-chao was especially interested in the Dharma and studied it with him throughout his life.

P’ang studied with a Zen teacher named Sekito in a monastery called Nan-yueh for a year. Sekito put him through monk training, but ultimately P’ang refused to become a monk. He did not want to be ordained and to become part of the monastic structure. He was interested in the Dharma, but he wasn’t interested in being a monk. He left the monastery.

There is a famous dialogue between P’ang and Sekito.

Sekito asked, “How have you practiced Zen since coming here?” and P’ang replied, “My daily activities.”

https://www.reddit.com/r/zenbuddhism/comments/9njpuh/an_ordinary_affair_layman_pang/

A Sense of Simplicity

A Sense of Simplicity

Creating peace at work may sound like some kind of naive idealism from the sixties, but in this case, it is not a far-fetched possibility. Such peace is not false harmony or wishful thinking. Rather, as mindful leaders, we tame our minds and offer others our sense of simplicity and precision. When we cultivate the art of sitting still, we discover that by simplifying our lives first, we can naturally help others do the same.

Michael Carroll, The Mindful Leader (Trumpeter/Shambhala)