Re: ' Keep a quiet heart, sit like a tortoise, walk sprightly like a pigeon and sleep like a dog. '

:-) very sage. enjoyed that. esp. the mental image of the sprightly walking. I see a red-legged bird, (knobby knees, like a person with loose tights) with a bit of a high step up front> but NOT military.


By contrast--too many people think (or even aspire) to sleep like a log!!! Dogs are relaxed, they have to take it as it comes, yet always micro-twitching, ready to wake--and since they have historically been kept to keep guard, that's good food for thought...

About the tortoise. If you get a chance to see them up close (sadly, I've seen them in a zoo, the ancient ones that look like sacred stones)you will note that they appear to live to "be not moved". I'm pretty sure this dictum refers to meditation, such that the wafting scent of a nearby food would have no effect; one is that released from the senses. For lots of us, the attempt to meditate is met with sleep--this is a sign that we are deeply deprived of true rest, and sorely in need of it. (And that includes rest from the enormous burdens that food puts on the system; largely because we are so ignorant about what and how much we really truly need.
You know, "man does not live by bread alone..." and all that.
One of the biggest "secrets" 'out there' imv, is this:
All the good, and happiness in the world comes from giving to others--all the unhappiness - and sickness, etc. etc.- comes from giving to oneself. )


Keep a quiet heart: that's priceless. Unperturbed by wanting anything one does not have, and NOT wanting something one does have. I think you have covered it.

Best, Chiron

Edit--too funny. The subject line gets cut off, and pigeon looks like pig. Well, they do trot and tiptoe in a lighthearted way, if given the chance. :-(