The true nature of things

Here is a really nice quote I took from Seng-ts'an and thought I would share it with you. In one of last year's blog posts I also shared a poem with you by Seng-ts'an (I actually think the quote is from the same poem), check it out again if you like. This kind of thinking has really helped me during a number of hard times during my journey in Mexico and will continue to help me remember what is important....especially as I near the end of this amazing and beautiful chapter in my life (sadly only 3 more months). I just really think that understanding this logic can be key to finding happiness, even though it's tremendously difficult to practice, which basically implies "unteaching" ourselves societal (OUR U.S. society that is) conditioning that teaches us that things should be and are permanent/unchanging (ex. the billions of dollars we spend on anti-aging remedies, plastic surgery etc.), that identity, success and happiness are equivalent to material accumulation and consumption (even though the U.S. has the highest rate of consumption in the world AS WELL as one of the highest rates of unhappiness and depression...hmm...how interesting). We forget that what we have learned to accept as fact is in fact only our perception and interpretation of things. I hope you enjoy it and think a little bit more about how your own grasping onto things inhibits your serenity and relationships with other.

"Indeed, it is due to our grasping and rejecting
that we do not know the true nature of things.
Live neither in the entanglements of outer things,
nor in ideas or feelings of emptiness.
Be serene and at one with things
and erroneous views will disappear by themselves."

-Seng-ts'an

PICTURES: In my opinion, both of these paintings have to do with our perception of the world...what Seng-ts'an talks about-opening up to the true nature of things. They were two pieces I really liked on my visit to Moriela's Contemporary Art Museum.

Unfortunately, I forgot to write down the name of the artist and title of this first piece- sorry!

About Impossibility-Benjamin Valdez Alverez (Painting on wooden posts)