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comment by user-inactivated
user-inactivated  ·  3814 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Take out your phone, your camera and show the scene you are in RIGHT NOW!

I always liked Thich Nhat Hahn's writings about zen and washing dishes.

    If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert and a cup of tea, I will be equally incapable of doing these things joyfully. With the cup in my hands, I will be thinking about what to do next, and the fragrance and the flavor of the tea, together with the pleasure of drinking it, will be lost.




blackbootz  ·  3814 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That is beautiful. Take joy in all things, and don't avoid the difficult or tedious, embrace them, meet them head on. Thank you

thenewgreen  ·  3814 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Thank you for sharing that, so true.

Washing dishes, or any activity that is usually considered mundane or dull reminds me of this Tagore quote. Here it is as read by my grandfather Achim, who introduced me to it. Here it is first in German and then in English:

The action is joy!

blackbootz  ·  3814 days ago  ·  link  ·  

That was great! Did your Opa just now oblige us with this translation?

thenewgreen  ·  3814 days ago  ·  link  ·  

No, that was from a long while ago and was used for a #tngpodcast and honestly, I don't recall which one...