time

It is by living together with someone that his virtue is to be known,
and that after a long time, not after a short time;
by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive;
by one who is wise, not by a dullard.

It is by dealing with someone that his honesty is to be known,
and that after a long time, not after a short time;
by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive;
by one who is wise, not by a dullard.

It is in adversities that a person's fortitude is to be known,
and that after a long time, not after a short time;
by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive;
by one who is wise, not by a dullard.

It is by discussion with someone that his wisdom is to be known,
and that after a long time, not after a short time;
by one who is attentive, not by one who is inattentive;
by one who is wise, not by a dullard.

A man is not easily known by outward form
Nor should one trust a quick appraisal,
For in the guise of the well controlled
Uncontrolled men move in this world.

Some move about in disguise:
Inwardly impure; outwardly beautiful.


Samyutta Nikaya

essential

Those who mistake the unessential for the essential
and in the essential see the unessential,
dwelling in wrong thoughts,
never arrive at the essence.

Those who know the essential as the essential
and the unessential as the unessential,
dwelling in right thoughts,
will arrive at the essence.


Dhammapada

in the realm of the spirit

This is the only satisfying way for the seeker of truth when the
diffuseness of the external world with its thin layer of
culture, comfort and allurement, ceases to be interesting and is
found to lack true value. The seeker knows to a certainty that
what he wants is to be found in the realm of the spirit.

Soma Thera

beyond the horizon

... spiritual awareness and the quest for enlightenment do not arise spontaneously in harmony with our natural modes of world-engagement, but require a turn "against the current", a break away from our instinctual urges for expansion and enjoyment, and the embarkation in a different direction. This break is precipitated by the encounter with suffering. Suffering spurs the awakening of the religious consciousness in that it is the experience of suffering which first tears us out of our blind absorption in the immediacy of temporal being and sets us in search of a way to its transcendence.


Bhikkhu Bodhi

listen

An interviewer asked Mother Teresa what she says to God when she prays.

"I don't say anything," she replied. "I just listen."

So the interviewer asked her what God says to her.

"He doesn't say anything," said Mother Teresa. "He just listens."

And before the astonished interviewer could press her further, she added,
"And if you don't understand that, I can't explain it to you."


Stephen Carter, Civility

Picture from www.travelblog.org

Rory Peck Trust Award 2006

ZAKARIA ABU HARBID - Palestinian

Winner: The Rory Peck Award for Hard News

This piece shows scenes broadcast around the world of 12 year old Huda Ghalia after an explosion which killed her father, her step-mother and five siblings. The distraught young girl is seen running along the beach then weeping beside her father’s body. Zakaria had been filming another incident in the nearby village of Beit Hanon. As soon as he heard about the incident on Gaza Beach, he left and arrived at the scene just minutes later.





The Rory Peck Trust

no fixing

...she was philosophical about my moods. Sadness didn’t worry
her. On those occasions when I said, “But I’m not happy!” she
would say, “Where is it written that you are supposed to happy
all the time?”

I don’t remember this comment as a rebuke. I think of it now as
my introduction to the first of the Four Noble Truths of the
Buddha. Life is difficult because things change. Change means
loss and disappointment. Bodies and relationships are, from time
to time, painful. I was reassured by my grandmother’s response. I
didn’t feel I was making a mistake by feeling sad, and she didn’t
feel obliged to fix me.


Sylvia Boorstein

hurtling by

Days and nights go hurtling by
‘Till our lifetime comes to an end.
The life of mortals slips away
—Like the water of tiny streams.

Therigatha 145