needful things

  

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All you need are these: 

certainty of judgment in the present moment;  

action for the common good in the present moment;  

and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.

—Marcus Aurelius

Meditations 9.6

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When going to bed, first a Mevlevî “sees with” the pillow, and then lies down. Then, when he is pulling the quilt over himself, he “sees with” that too, kissing its edge. 

Before he drinks water, tea or coffee, he kisses the glass: he “sees with” it.

When a Mevlevî takes a book to read, he or she “sees with” the book. After she finishes reading it, again she “sees with” the book and puts it lightly back in its place. 

She picks up the tasbīḥ (prayer beads) and “sees with” them, and when she has finished chanting, she “sees with” the tasbīḥ and puts them gently back in their place.

This practice applies to everything . . . .

—ADÜLBÂKI GÖLPINARLI,
Mevlevi Adab and Customs, excerpts from the glossary

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What if our indeterminate life form was not the shape of our bodies 

but rather the shape of our motions over time?

—Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

The Mushroom at the End of the World

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