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Words Of Wisdom {Page Twenty Two}
I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand. ~Chinese Proverb~
Illness is not cured by saying the word "medicine," but by taking medicine. Enlightenment is not achieved by repeating the word "God" but by directly experiencing God. ~Sankara~
Step back on your own to look into reality long enough to attain an unequivocally true and real experience of enlightenment. Then with every thought you are consulting infinite teachers. ~Yuan wu~
Truth and love are my law and worship; Form and conscience my manifestation and guide; Nature and peace are my shelter and companion; Order is my attitude; Beauty and perfection are my attack. ~Wayne Kramer~
A good barometer to determine whether something will be of benefit materially, is whether it is the proper thing to do spiritually. A business venture that implies breaking your moral principles will also be detrimental materially. At times, we experience tremendous pressure when our ethics seem to stand in the way of success --but this is only an illusion. The spiritual and the material are in conflict only to our subjective eyes. In fact, they work in harmony as one. ~Tzvi Freeman~
Till now you seriously considered yourself to be the body and to have a form. That is the primal ignorance which is the root cause of all trouble. ~Ramana Maharshi~
Depend on the rabbit's foot if you will, but remember it didn't work for the rabbit. ~R. E. Shay~
Water is the softest thing, yet it can penetrate mountains and earth. This shows clearly the principle of softness overcoming hardness. ~Lao Zi~
What I call perfection of seeing Is not seeing others But oneself. ~Chuang-tzu~
If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies. ~Moshe Dayan~
Be fully aware of your own being and you will be in bliss consciously. Because you take your mind off yourself and make it dwell on what you are not, you lose your sense of well-being, of being well. ~Nisargadatta Maharaj~
If you haven't attained clear, true vision, This causes you to lapse into extremes, So that you lose contact with reality. ~Yuan wu~
Two people have been living in you all your life. One is the ego, garrulous, demanding, hysterical, calculating; the other is the hidden spiritual being, whose still voice of wisdom you have only rarely heard or attended to. ~Sogyal Rinpoche~
Seeing into Nothingness This is the true seeing, The eternal seeing. ~Shen-hui~
If you seek after truth, you should investigate things in such a way that your consciousness as you investigate is not distracted by what you find, or diffused and scattered; neither is it fixed and set. For the one who is not swayed, there will be a transcending of birth, death, and time. Whether you walk or stand or lie down, Stretch your limbs or draw them in again, Let you do all these things attentively, Above, across, and back again. Whatever your place in the world, Let you be the one who views the movement Of all compounded things with attention. ~tivuttaka Sutta~
The meaning of life is not to be found in a distant world of abstraction, but in paying attention to everyday happenings and details in one's life. One's perception has to be in the field of living. In contemplating where the truth may be found, it just might be right before you.
~Yuezhou Quianfeng~
Because you grasp labels and slogans, You are hindered by those labels and slogans, Both those used in ordinary life and those Considered sacred. Thus they obstruct your perception Of objective truth, And you cannot understand clearly. ~Linji~
Master your senses, What you taste and smell, What you see, what you hear.
In all things be a master Of what you do and say and think.
Be free.
Are you quiet?
Quieten your body.
Quieten your mind.
By your own efforts Waken yourself, watch yourself, And live joyfully. Follow the truth of the way.
Reflect upon it.
Make it your own.
Live it.
It will always sustain you.
~Dhammapada~
Self is what gives breath to Life. You need not search for It, It is Here. You are That through which you would search You are what you are looking for! And That is All it is. Only Self is. ~Poonjaji~
Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine. ~Kathleen Norris~
If you want happiness for an hour-take a nap. If you want happiness for a day-go fishing. If you want happiness for a month-get married. If you want happiness for a year-inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime-help others. ~Chinese Proverb~
You need not seek the real, Mind originally is Buddha. The familiar becomes remote, The strange seems familiar. Day and night, Everything is wonderful. Nothing you encounter confuses you. These are the essentials of mind. ~Han Shan Te Ch'ing~
In Tibetan, the word for body is 'lu', which means 'something you leave behind,' like baggage. Each time we say 'lu', it reminds us that we are only travellers, taking temporary refuge in this life and this body.
Sogyal Rinpoche
Independent of material existence, Which is ever an obstruction, Do not cling to deluded thoughts. These give birth to illusion. Attentively contemplate this mind, Empty, devoid of all objects. If emotions should suddenly arise, You will fall into confusion. ~Han Shan Te Ch'ing~
To understand the essence of things and find out one's actual nature is something that can be done by oneself. People often, so to speak, ride the donkey to search for the donkey, and the further they travel the more they go astray. ~Mazu Daoyi~
If you can see a thought as it arises This awareness will at once destroy it. Whatever state of mind should come, Sweep it away, put it down. Both good and evil states Can be transformed by mind. Sacred and profane appear In accordance with thoughts. ~Han Shan Te Ch'ing~
When somebody realizes who he or she is, existence wants us to pass on to others what we have understood, to say to our friend, "You can also wake up! ~Rabia~
Reciting mantras or contemplating mind Are merely herbs for polishing a mirror. When the dust is removed, They are also wiped away. ~Han Shan Te Ch'ing~
The divine principle of fantasy is play, which belongs to the child, and as such, it appears to be inconsistant with the principle of seriouswork. But without this playing with fantasy, no creative work has ever yet come to birth. The debt we owe to the play of imagination is incalcuable. ~Carl Jung~
Just live the moment. And whatever qualities and whatever talents you have, use them to the fullest. ~Osho~
The natural tendency is to treat matters of the spirit as luxury items -- sort of an appendage to life. Eating, sleeping, making money -- these things are given priority and the time dedicated to them is sacrosanct. But prayer, meditation and study fit in only when you feel like it, and are pushed aside on the slightest whim. You've got to make your priorities faithful to your inner self. You've got to ask yourself if this is what your life is all about. Set a schedule for spiritually enriching activities. Be as tough with that schedule as a workaholic would be with his business. ~Tzvi Freeman~
The ways of proclaiming The Mind all vary, But the same heavenly truth Can be seen In each and every one. ~Ikkyu~
The substance of your mind is apart from annihilation and apart from eternity; its essence is neither polluted nor pure. Calm and complete, it is equal in ordinary people and sages, functioning responsively without convention. All realms of experience and all states of being are only manifestations of your own mind--do the moon reflected in water or images in a mirror have origination and extinction? If you actually know this, you are fully equipped. The reason that the sages have manifested a spiritual presence to provide exemplars, and have set forth a wide variety of puzzling sayings, is simply to illustrate the fundamental peace of the body of reality, bringing about a return to the root. ~Shih-t'ou~
Be interested in yourself beyond all experience, be with yourself, love yourself; the ultimate security is found only in self-knowledge. Be honest with yourself and nothing will betray you. ~Nisargadatta Maharaj~
The purpose of all the major religious traditions is not to construct big temples on the outside, but to create temples of goodness and compassion inside, in our hearts. ~The Dalai Lama~
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort. ~Herm Albright~
There is no path to truth, it must come to you. Truth can come to you only when your mind and heart are simple, clear, and there is love in your heart; not if your heart is filled with the things of the mind. ~J. Krishnamurti~
There are no doors inside. It is an open space, an open sky. But to know this open sky is to realize the deathless principle of your existence. ~Zen~
I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in darkness, the astonishing Light of your own Being. ~Hafiz~
In our daily lives, we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but the gratefulness that makes us happy. ~Albert Clarke~
The Buddhas left their Sutras Because people are hard to change It's not just a matter of saintly or stupid Each and every heart throws up its barricade Each piles up his own mountain of karma How could they guess that what they clasp so close Is sorrow Unwilling to ponder, as day and night They do embrace the falsehood of the flesh. ~Shih-te~
I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do. ~Helen Keller~
Surely the one thing which can bring about a fundamental change, a creative, psychological release, is everyday watchfulness, being aware from moment to moment of our motives, the conscious as well as the unconscious. ~J. Krishnamurti~
Therefore it is said that the whole universe is just an illusion, unless you immediately realize the vehicle of truth and attain the mystic path all at once, forgetting all about subject and object, arriving at basic unminding, seeing through worldly troubles, understanding gangs of devils. If you effectively understand this, it will make you happy for life. If you still don't understand, it's just because you yourselves are avoiding it. ~Hui-lin~
In doing good, avoid fame. In doing bad, avoid disgrace. Pursue a middle course as your principle. ~Chuang Tzu~
Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. ~Elvis Presley~
The mind should not seek to achieve oneness with anything. Not to seek oneness is to be in accord with the natural way. Relax, be spontaneous and watch. ~Zhuang Zi~
I am neither small nor big. I am what I Am. You can call me small, it is your problem. You can call me big, it is your problem. You can call me Guru, it is your problem. I am what I am, and if you ask me "who are you", my answer will be "I don't know". If I don't know myself, then where am I small, where am I big? Big and small, these kinds of things have gone. I Am...just "I Am". ~Gurudev~
All respectability, all honor is meaningless if it drives you against your nature. What can you do if you are not a lotus flower, but just a marigold? Enjoy being a marigold. ~Chandan~
If you want to know your past life, look into your present condition; if you want to know your future life, look at your present actions. ~Padmasambhava~
If you find in your heart to care for somebody else, you will have succeeded. ~Maya Angelou~
The person who is willing to say yes to experience is the person who discovers new frontiers. ~John Marks Templeton~
The human body is a little universe Its chill tears, so much wind-blown sleet Beneath our skins, mountains bulge, brooks flow Within our chests lurk lost cities, hidden tribes Wisdom quarters itself in our tiny hearts Liver and gall peer out, scrutinize a thousand miles Follow a path back to its source, else be A house vacant save for swallows in the eaves ~Shih-shu~
The best way to make your dreams come true is - wake up. Never think of the future - it comes soon enough. ~Nahsti~
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. ~Winston Churchill~
Good friends and excellent teachers - Stick close to them! Wealth and power are fleeting dreams but wise words perfume the world for ages. ~Ryokan~
Gain and renown are hindrances To students of the Way; They taint our purity of heart. Uncentered, how can we comprehend Tao? ~Loy Ching-yuen~
Aloneness is a flower, a lotus blooming in your heart. Aloneness is positive, aloneness is health. It is the joy of being yourself. ~Osho~
Purifying our self-direction, Our emotions, and behavior in all endeavors, One grows in understanding of the Way. But individual abilities vary And the exalted Way has many different aspects. To students of Tao, this sincere forewarning: Only with a clear, honest spirit Can we begin meaningful learning. With an unsullied heart We may even move the immortals. Debasing the Way, Not even heaven forgives us. ~Loy Ching-yuen~
A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be. ~Abraham Maslow~
Two methods enable us to rectify the heart: The first is study, Enriching our mind through practice And discipline; training, studying Until an inner light begins to grow within. This seed of consiousness, The sages teach, should be nourished And kept in silence. The second is the cultivation of virtue. A sincere student discovers the Workings of Tao by overcoming all Manner of temptation. Hordes of riches are outweighed in Merit by a single word, Virtue. ~Loy Ching-yuen~
When you learn not to want things so badly, life comes to you. ~Jessica Lange~
If you have made mistakes...there is always another chance for you...you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down. ~Mary Pickford~
When the mind neither sorrows nor delights, that is supreme attainment of virtue. To succeed without changing is supreme attainment of calm. To be unburdened by habitual desires is supreme attainment of emptiness. To have no likes and dislikes is supreme attainment of equanimity. Not getting mixed up with things is supreme attainment of purity. Those who can accomplish these five things reach spiritual illuminations. Those who reach spiritual illumination are those who attain the inward. ~Huai-nan-tzu~
We are prone to using a great deal of energy trying to get others to align themselves with our way of thinking. We can also exert even more energy trying to act as if we are aligned with others' viewpoints, when indeed we are not. Each of these energy depleting tasks has a very hollow reward. Life's greatest rewards come from when we are in alignment with ourselves - Body, Mind, and Soul.
~Beth Johnson~
Outwardly go along With the flow, While inwardly keeping Your true nature. Then your eyes and ears Will not be dazzled, Your thoughts will not Be confused, While the spirit within you Will expand greatly to roam In the realm of absolute purity. ~Huai-nan-tzu~
A friend is one who sees through you and still enjoys the view. ~Wilma Askinas~
Consider the world light, And the spirit is not burdened; Consider the myriad things slight, And the mind is not confused. Consider life and death equal, And the intellect is not afraid; Consider change as sameness, And clarity is not obscured. ~Lao-tzu~
I see all the different religious traditions as paths for the development of inner peace, which is the true foundation of world peace. These ancient traditions come to us as a gift from our common past. Will we continue to cherish it as a gift and hand it over the the future generations as a legacy of our shared desire for peace? ~The Dalai Lama~
It is wonderful to be in on the creation of something, see it used, and then walk away and smile at it. ~Lady Bird Johnson~
Think for yourself and let others enjoy the privilege of doing so too. ~Voltaire~
Our deeds are but catalysts to change the world. Their size and visible impact are not really what matters. In everything you do, consider that there is but one last fine adjustment the world needs before it may transform. Who knows -- perhaps this one is it. ~Tzvi Freeman~
To be free from the passions And to be calm, This is the most excellent Way. ~Sutra of Forty Two Chapters~
Once you have known yourself, nothing else is of value. ~Nagarjuna~
The man who insists upon seeing with perfect clearness before he decides, never decides. Accept life and you must accept regret. ~Henri Frederic Amiel~
When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the morning light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with yourself. ~Tecumseh~
Understanding is now, not tomorrow. Tomorrow is for the lazy mind, the sluggish mind, the mind that is not interested. Transformation can only take place immediately; the revolution is now, not tomorrow. ~J. Krishnamurti~
Good is to practise the Way and to follow truth. Great is the heart that is in accord with the Way. ~Sutra of Forty Two Chapters~
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