“Draw well water. The cold shakes my teeth. I clear my heart, brush the dust from my robes, and solemnly lift a palm leaf book. I recite with each step to the east to study all. I have not yet found the root of the truth – overlooked it as I pursued this life’s path. How I aspire to these deep and sagely words, hoping that I can cultivate my nature in full. I find the whole of the way quiet and still, amid colourful moths and dark bamboo. Sun glimmers in the mist and heavy dew. Pines appear bathed in the thickest paste. Tranquil. Suddenly I leave both words and speech. Awareness. Joy. My heart is finally content.”

Visiting Master Chow’s Temple at Daybreak to Read a Zen Scripture by Liu Jong Yuan (773 – 819)

“Simplicity and sincerity generally go hand in hand, as both proceed from a love of truth.”

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759 – 1797), author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, born on this day

“If anyone can prove and show to me that I think and act in error, I will gladly change it – for I seek the truth, by which no one has ever been harmed. The one who is harmed is the one who abides in deceit and ignorance.”

Meditations, 6.21 by Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180), born on this day

“What everyone wants more than anything else is to be loved.”

Ella Fitzgerald (1917 – 1996), born on this day

“Simply to be, and to let things be as they speak wordlessly from the mystery of what they are; simply to say a silent yes to the hillside flowers, to the trees we walk under; to pass from one person to another a morsel of bread, an answering yes: this is the simplest, the quietest, of sacraments.”

Jacob Trapp, UU Minister (1899 – 1992), quoted in Fragments of Holiness for Daily Reflection

“These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.”

From The Tempest by William Shakespeare, born on this day in 1564 and died on this day in 1616

Art by J. M. W. Turner, born on this day in 1775

EARTH DAY

“The Everglades preservationist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas once remarked that the Earth is as tough as an old shoe. On Earth Day, take comfort in its endurance, its perseverance, and its sheer stubbornness. We’ve proved that wetlands can be rehabilitated and endangered species can be saved. Likewise your own spirit, your beleaguered capacity to hope for the future, can be reinvigorated. Walk in the park, climb a mountain, swim in a lake, dig in a garden. Draw strength from the mantle of this planet, a world stronger than all of us put together. Dream Eden.”

From Earth Bound: Daily Meditations for All Seasons by Brian Nelson

World Creativity and Innovation Day

“Better to try all things and find all empty, than to try nothing and leave your life a blank…

What you want to ignite in others must first burn inside yourself.”

Charlotte Brontë (1816 – 1855), born on this day

“Be present. I would encourage you with all my heart just to be present. Be present and open to the moment that is unfolding before you. Because, ultimately, your life is made up of moments. So don’t miss them by being lost in the past or anticipating the future.”

Jessica Lange, born on this day in 1949

“The truth “I exist” is self-evident. You may deny God by saying, “God is just a belief,” but existence cannot be refuted. That existence, that Cosmic Power, is God. God has no separate hands, legs, eyes, or body, other than our own. He moves through our hands, He walks with our legs, He sees through our eyes, and it is He who beats within the heart of each one of us…

When God’s power shines through us, it manifests as truth, auspiciousness and beauty. When God manifests through the intellect, truth shines forth. When God manifests through actions, it does so as goodness and auspiciousness. And when God manifests through the heart, beauty is the result. When truth, auspiciousness and beauty blend in our life, true strength awakens.”

Mātā Amritānandamayī Devi (also known as Amma)