People often ask me how Buddhists answer the question: ‘Does God exist?’ The other day I was walking along the river. The wind was blowing. Suddenly I thought, Oh! The air really exists. We know that the air is there, but unless the wind blows against our face, we are not aware of it. Here in the wind I was suddenly aware, yes it’s really there. And the sun too. I was suddenly aware of the sun, shining through the bare trees. Its warmth, its brightness, and all this completely free, completely gratuitous. Simply there for us to enjoy. And without my knowing it, completely spontaneously, my two hands came together, and I realized that I was making a deep bow. And it occurred to me that this is all that matters: that we can bow, take a deep bow. Just that. Just that.
~Rev. Eido Tai Shimano, Disciplines for Christian Living: Interfaith Perspectives by Thomas P. Ryan (Paulist Press, 1993)
Quote Source:
- Thank you Make Believe Boutique for sharing the quote.
- I admire the words. Not the Man, and the inexcusable conduct. Eido Shimano, Buddhist Leader Who Resigned in Scandal, Dies at 85
Live & Learn 
Love this, and here’s one for you,
Start seeing everything as God
But keep it a secret.
Become like a man who is awestruck
and nourished,listening to a golden nightingale
sing in a beautiful foreign language
while God nests invisibly upon its tongue.
Hafiz, who can you tell in this world
That when a dog runs up to you
wagging it’s ecstatic tail,
you bend down and whisper in it’s ear,
“Beloved, I am so glad that you are happy to see me!
Beloved, I am so glad, so very glad, that you have come.”
~ Hafiz, I Heard God Laughing
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Ah Yes. Hafiz. So amazing.
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As we tune in to our deepest nature, our body relaxes, grounds, lines up, opens up, and lights up…As the body awakens, so does the world…The world as other dissolves and becomes intimate. As a result, our ordinary experience is suffused with a sense of the sacred…We feel grateful for no reason. This is a quiet knowing, rather than an ecstatic display of fireworks. While there may be moments of bliss and dramatic revelation along the way, this knowing brings an inner contentment and peace. Nothing is extraordinary, yet everything is sacred.
~John J. Prendergast, In Touch: How to Tune In to the Inner Guidance of Your Body and Trust Yourself (Sounds True, Apr 1, 2015)
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“We feel Grateful for no reason…..” Exactly.
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YES!
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I’ll just enjoy this wonderful exchange between you and Sawsan…and say thank you
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That works!
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Me too…
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absolutely just that.
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Thank you…all, including Hafiz and Prendgergast. Let’s open our ears and hearts to the laughter…
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Yes!
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So bloody good
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It is!
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I know not of Rev. Eido Tai Shimano, though His Words express a Reverent appreciation of his experience in a moment of realized beauty…
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Agree. If you get a moment, check out the link to him in the Notes section of my post.
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