Another year comes to a close and I sit here thinking about time.

If we think about it and the past, we surface many emotions.

But if we live each moment and each day, we stay free of the negativities, the “lost” opportunities.

I remember the old Zen proverb: When asked “What is zen?” the master answered “Carrying water – chopping wood”.

The heart is the kingdom of God.

If we fill it with good qualities, it will become wisdom.

As long as the darker qualities are kept out we will stay in a place of love, compassion and kindness to others.

Gratitude will fill our every thought and action.

We will be at peace.

Slowness is a great aid to true peace of mind. It is impossible to maintain awareness when you are rushing around.

The movements of an enlightened being are never hurried. All of us can learn to move more slowly no matter what we are doing:  driving, eating, walking, talking.

The practice of slowness is first experienced from the outside in, but soon it takes hold within us; we assimilate the slowness; we become the slowness.

Slowness is a first cousin to patience, which is the mother of all good qualities.

I sat up late
one night
looking down into
the window
of a tailor

He laboured quietly
under the dull light
of a lantern

His face was
a study of focus
and peace

He saw not the hours
and heard not
the noises from the street

His one master
was duty;
and in it he was
at one with himself

No need to ask him
his wage or his profit;
these came effortlessly

He stopped for a second,
looked up
as if to remember something,
then quietly
went back to his work