Welcome home! Please contact lincoln@icrontic.com if you have any difficulty logging in or using the site. New registrations must be manually approved which may take several days. Can't log in? Try clearing your browser's cookies.
Thanks 4 the feedback. Good 2 hear my posts are appreciated
No luck installing the software. Had almost forgotten about it until you asked!
As for feeling phony - don't sweat it. It will change. Are you meditating? If so, that's a good sign. Just keep at it and it will become second-nature. Took me a while 2 turn around my thinking!
Poking around this forum is also a good sign. Many wise heads keen 2 help.
Here's a little something from one of my favourite books, The Art of Happiness:
Now, we are made to seek happiness. And it is clear that feelings of love, closeness and compassion bring happiness. I believe that every one of us has the basis to be happy, to access the warm and compassionate states of mind that bring happiness," the Dalai Lama asserted. "In fact, it is one of my fundamental beliefs that not only do we inherently possess the potential for compassion but I believe that the basic underlying nature of human beings is gentleness
...
Rather, genuine compassion is based on the rationale that all human beings have an innate desire 2 be happy and overcome suffering, just like myself.
...
The ultimate benefit of a supple mind is that it allows us to embrace all of life - to be fully alive and human.
...
Without cultivating a pliant mind our outlook becomes brittle and our relationship to the world becomes characterised by fear. But by adopting a flexible, malleable approach to life, we can maintain our composure even in the most restless and turbulent conditions. It is through our efforts to acheive a flexible mind that we can nurture the resiliency of the human spirit.
I highly recommend the book. I have re-read it quite a few times!
strange that in your first poast today you mentioned friendship . i am now retired and spend a lot of time on the internet today i came across this little nugget on one of the forums
Then he provides a lesson on friendship -- how to distinguish good friends from bad friends. There are four types that are not really your friends, but will make your life miserable in the long run: 1. The leech who appropriates your possessions 2. The bull-shitter who manipulates you 3. The boot-licker who flatters you 4. The party-animal who encourages you to do the same
A good friend, on the other hand, is one who... 1. is always ready to help you 2. is steady and loyal 3. provides good advice 4. is sympathetic ''WE GET TOO SOON OLD AND TOO LATE SMART''CHEERS GEOFF
Yes, it was a bit of a coinkidink that we both were looking at thoughts about friends!
I hope you haven't had too many bad experiences with the "wrong" type of friend. I have been pretty lucky regards family & friends in this lifetime - must have done something right ina previous life
Here's a couple more quotes I found in my recent meanderings -
Money won't buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem.
~ Bill Vaughan
It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.
~ Anne Tyler
To meditate is to make a complete break with how we “normally” operate, for it is a state free of all cares and concerns, in which there is no competition, no desire to possess or grasp at anything, no intense and anxious struggle, and no hunger to achieve: an ambitionless state where there is neither acceptance nor rejection, neither hope nor fear, a state in which we slowly begin to release all those emotions and concepts that have imprisoned us into the space of natural simplicity.
Falling in Love with Everyone
by Bhikshu Dharmamitra
<HR noShade SIZE=1>How could we ever love everyone:
Thieves, profiteers, liars and drones,
Wicked geniuses,
And the tide of murderous zealots?
But, how then can we not?
How can one not finally feel affection for them all,
All of these brain-damaged back-ward denizens
Overflowing this vast insane asylum of mundane existence?
After all, how could they not be
Just the teeming hordes of past-life
Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons,
Wives and husbands, sisters and lovers?
How could they not be
Just the endless, crushing crowd of former intimates,
Disguised now in rags of anger and lust,
Empty bowls in hand, begging for the pill of pleasure,
That magic little pill,
Banishing pain for merely a moment
From the feverish plague
Of karma-bound suffering? CHEERS GEOFF
Nice one, David! Where did you find it? Keep them comin ...
Here's a few more that caught my eye -
There is a famous saying: "If the mind is not contrived, it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear."
I often compare the mind in meditation to a jar of muddy water: The more we leave the water without interfering or stirring it, the more the particles of dirt will sink to the bottom, letting the natural clarity of the water shine through. The very nature of the mind is such that if you only leave it in its unaltered and natural state, it will find its true nature, which is bliss and clarity.
~ Sogyal Rinpoche
"According to Buddhist practice, to develop genuine compassion you must first practice the meditation of equalization and equanimity, detaching oneself from those people who are very close to you. Then, you must remove negative feelings towards your enemies. All sentient beings should be looked on as equal. On that basis, you can gradually develop genuine compassion for all of them."
~ from The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom
Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness toward all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality.
~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
http://www.archive.org/details/Tse_Chen_Ling_Sarah_Thresher_Buddhist_20051014 not sure i've been all over the net. hope you can play this. there is a new moon @10:04 am your time.my intention is to ''take refuge'' . great day today very content.there is a saying really good TELL ME WHAT YOU NEED BROTHER AND I'LL TELL YOU HOW TO GET ALONG WITHOUT IT'' HA HA . Thank you geoff for your encouraging words and quotes
You're most welcome, David. Glad 2 help in some small way
Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been expose to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.
Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in judging self.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
WARNING:
If you have some or all of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition of inner peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.
by Saskia Davis, copyright 1984
Here's wishing peace of mind 2 everyone who reads this!
<TABLE width=718 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>"Remember that happiness is as contagious as gloom. It should be the first duty of those who are happy to let others know of their gladness." </TD></TR><TR><TD>
Maurice Maeterlinck, Belgian Philosopher, 1862-1949
Hello,
I am pleased to find SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE, here on your lovely site.. It seems always to be just ahead of me on the internet. If you could please add "by Saskia Davis, copyright 1984" I would very much appreciate it.
And, if you could please drop me a note, mentioning the URL, when it is done, I would also appreciate that: symptomsofinnerpeace@gmail.com when it.
Thanks!
Namaste!
Saskia Davis, author
Hi Geoff,
I understand about having found SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE on a site that did not list me as author. There are so many like that, I may never catch up, but I am enjoying meeting the people who resonate with it.
The most important thing you can do is love yourself for who you are right now. Don't put it off until you're more patient, thinner, less irritable, more loving or wahtever it is you want to improve about yourself. The fact is you are not and will never be perfect. The things you're dealing with are necessary for your learning and growth, so embrace them and love yourself for who you are right now. You might even find the things you don't like about yourself will take care of themselves.
Thoughts are a form of energy that affect the world around us, contributing either to negative energy or positive energy. So today, send out thoughts that make the world a better place. Imagine them spreading around the world and positively affecting people you don't even know. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone concentrated on sending out positive thoughts.
Compassion
It's very easy to fall into the trap of reacting to other people's behaviour. If someone is rude to us, or if an impatient driver cuts us off in the street, we become annoyed. Instead of feeling annoyed, try to feel compassion by putting yourself in their shoes. Imagine how bad you'd feel to be rude to another person, or how stressed you would feel to be in such a hurry. By taking the focus away from yourself, you realise that other people potentially have problems worse than your own, so be thankful for what you have.
Glad you liked them - it's a great little book I have only ever seen in a discount shop - picked it up for 6 bucks - a real bargain ...
Live in Joy
Live in Joy, In love,
Even among those who hate.
Live in joy, In health,
Even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, In peace,
Even among the troubled.
Look within. Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
There is no fire like greed,
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger of heart,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.
Look within. Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
HI GEOFF thanks . i have been studying THE DHAMMAPADA since last friday i found an excellant book with commentary translated by JOHN ROSS CARTER and MAHINDA PALIHAWADANA pretty heavy going but interesting indeed.what pearls of wisdom. it is amazing what resources are on the internet,podcasts,dharma talks etc.PEACE DAVID:thumbsup:
You're right - there is SO much on the web about Buddhism. Makes you wonder how we ever survived without it! Though I must admit I prefer lounging in a comfy chair with a printed book in my hands
Here's a little more -
As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery.
We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace.
The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as
anger and attachment, fear and suspicion,
while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility
are the sources of peace and happiness.
"Naturally there are different species of laziness: Eastern and Western. The Eastern style is like the one practised in India. It consists of hanging out all day in the sun, doing nothing, avoiding any kind of work or useful activity, drinking cups of tea, listening to Hindi film music blaring on the radio, and gossiping with friends. Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time at all to confront the real issues. This form of laziness lies in our failure to choose worthwhile applications for our energy
''This Dhamma is for one whose persistence is aroused, not for one who is lazy.' Thus was it said.
With reference to what was it said? There is the case where a monk keeps his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful mental qualities and taking on skillful mental qualities. He is steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful mental qualities."
David, you & I must be on the same wavelength again - I have also read Sogyal's book. A little heavy in parts but some great tips.
Tibetan Buddhists say "the mind is not hidden from us" - in other words, we are the only ones who can really see the qualities of the mind. It is the same idea we express in English when we say that no one knows us better than we know ourselves. We are with ourselves constantly, and only we have the ability to discern our true motivations. However, self-attachment and the ego are very seductive. It is very easy to be lured into thinking, based on our self-attachment, that "I'm doing really well. I'm a great practitioner." It is easy to not be objective in evaluating how our practice is going and what we are like as human beings. For example, it is difficult to reflect on situations as an outsider and consider how people perceive us. If we engaged in this mental exercise, we might start to have a different idea about who we are as compared to the person that we typically imagine ourselves to be.
Anyen Rinpoche Momentary Buddhahood: Mindfulness and the Vajrayana Path
To end the bizarre tyranny of ego is why we take the spiritual path, but the resourcefulness of ego is almost infinite, and it can at every stage sabotage and pervert our desire to be free of it. The truth is simple, and the teachings are extremely clear; but I have seen again and again, with great sadness, that as soon as they begin to touch and move us, ego tries to complicate them, because it knows it is fundamentally threatened.
However hard ego may try to sabotage the spiritual path, if you really continue on it, and work deeply with the practice of meditation, you will begin slowly to realize just how gulled you have been by ego’s promises: false hopes and false fears. Slowly you begin to understand that both hope and fear are enemies of your peace of mind; hopes deceive you, and leave you empty and disappointed, and fears paralyze you in the narrow cell of your false identity. You begin to see also just how all-encompassing the sway of ego has been over your mind, and in the space of freedom opened up by meditation, when you are momentarily released from grasping, you glimpse the exhilarating spaciousness of your true nature.
"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."
~ Abraham Lincoln
"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions."
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson
"Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor."
~ Benjamin Franklin
"If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years."
~ Bertrand Russell
"All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh."
~ Doris Lessing
“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
"If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years."
~ Bertrand Russell wow GEOFF thats good
Yes, David, that one was spot on. Like them all ... which is kinda why I posted
Here's a few from Thich Nhat Hanh:
When I see someone smile, I know immediately that he or she is dwelling in awareness. This half-smile, how many artists have labored to bring it to the lips of countless statues and paintings? I am sure the same smile must have been on the faces of the sculptors and painters as they worked. Can you imagine an angry painter giving birth to such a smile? Mona Lisa's smile is light, just a hint of a smile. Yet even a smile like that is enough to relax all the muscles in our face, to banish all worries and fatigue. A tiny bud of a smile on our lips nourishes awareness and calms us miraculously. It returns us to the peace we thought we had lost.
...
If we face our unpleasant feelings with care, affection, and nonviolence, we can transform them into a kind of energy that is healthy and has the capacity to nourish us. By the work of mindful observation, our unpleasant feelings can illuminate so much for us, offering us insight and understanding into ourselves and society.
...
The Buddha spoke gently, "Once a person is caught by belief in a doctrine, one loses all one's freedom. When one becomes dogmatic, that person believes his or her doctrine is the only truth and that all other doctrines are heresy. Disputes and conflicts all arise from narrow views. They can extend endlessly, wasting precious time and sometimes even leading to war. Attachment to views is the greatest impediment to the spiritual path. Bound to narrow views, one becomes so entangled that it is no longer possible to let the door of truth open."
...
Do we need to make a special effort to enjoy the beauty of the blue sky?
Do we have to practice to be able to enjoy it? No, we just enjoy it.
Each second, each minute of our lives can be like this.
Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine,
the presence of each other, even the sensation of our breathing.
We don't need to go to China to enjoy the blue sky.
We don't have to travel into the future to enjoy our breathing.
We can be in touch with these things right now.
...
The foundation of happiness is mindfulness. The basic condition for being happy is our consciousness of being happy. If we are not aware that we are happy, we are not really happy. When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. But when we do not have a toothache, we are still not happy. A non-toothache is very pleasant. There are so many things that are enjoyable, but when we don’t practice mindfulness, we don’t appreciate them. When we practice mindfulness, we come to cherish these things and we learn how to protect them. By taking good care of the present moment, we take good care of the future. Working for peace in the future is to work for peace in the present moment.
Here's a couple from a neat little site called Quote Land -
People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life ... I think that what we're really seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive.
-Joseph Campbell
On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.
-Buddha
Life is full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter.
-Eileen Caddy
Life is very interesting if you make mistakes.
-Georges Carpentier
Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth are never alone or weary of life.
-Rachel Carson
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
-G. K. Chesterton
Life isn't like a book. Life isn't logical or sensible or orderly. Life is a mess most of the time. And theology must be lived in the midst of that mess.
-Charles Caleb Colton
Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really merely commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the planning, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chain of events, working through generations and leading to the most outer results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable.
-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- that myth is more potent than history. I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts -- That hope always triumphs over experience -- That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.
-Robert Fulghum
Nine requisites for contented living:
Health enough to make work a pleasure.
Wealth enough to support your needs.
Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.
Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.
Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.
Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.
Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others.
Faith enough to make real the things of God.
Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.
-Johann von Goethe
Not only is life a bitch, but it is always having puppies.
-Adrienne Gusoff
So in all these little ways we spin a web, a cocoon, around ourselves. The cocoon becomes nice and snug and comfortable because it is very familiar. We know every little corner of our life; we can even write poetry about it. We may also have ideas about the great mystery which religions speak of, which gives our cocoon an especial sense of security: we can worship the great mystery outside of it and feel good about that. The cocoon is safe, bounded, claustrophobic, and a little stale. We settle into it and live our lives.
-Jeremy W. Hayward
Life has taught me to think, but thinking has not taught me to live.
-Alexander Herzen
Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.
-Thomas L. Holdcroft
"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own."
~ Adam Lindsay Gordon
Life is not so bad if you have plenty of luck, a good physique and not too much imagination
-Christopher Isherwood
In the midst of excitement, grief, joy, and solitude, I remind myself every moment that the sole mission of my life is to find the ultimate questioner - that unimaginable who has put me in this madness to answer an unanswerable question.
-Kedar Joshi
Life's splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come.
-Franz Kafka
You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.
-Jiddu Krishnamurti
Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.
-Henry Miller
The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mode of happiness. but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed the change; happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow Up.
-Charles Morgan
Life is the only art that we are required to practice without preparation, and without being allowed the preliminary trials, the failures and botches, that are essential for training.
-Lewis Mumford
You live in a deranged age, more deranged that usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.
-Walker Percy
Dance like there's nobody watching
Love like you'll never get hurt
Sing like there's nobody listening
Live like it's heaven on earth
And speak from the heart to be heard.
-William W. Purkey
Purkey is the source of this quotation that is attributed to many others: it was made popular in the song Come From The Heart written by Susannah Clark and Richard Leigh. Purkey closed his speeches with this poem and it has now made it into the public domain.
Life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal and enchanting -- an unfolding that no science or philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified.
-James Redfield
The aim of life is some way of living, as flexible and gentle as human nature; so that ambition may stoop to kindness, and philosophy to condor and humor. Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper, bloody hands, an anguished spirit, and a vain hatred of the rest of the world. -George Santayana
I must interpret the life around me as I interpret the life that is my own. My life is full of meaning to me. The life around me must be full of significance to itself. If I am to expect others to respect my life, then I must respect the other life I see, however strange it may be to mine.
-Albert Schweitzer
This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun, and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence towards the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or number of men; go freely with the powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and mothers, of families: read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life: re-examine all you have been told at school or church, or in any books, and dismiss whatever insults your soul.
-Walt Whitman
Our life's journey of self-discovery is not a straight-line rise from one level of consciousness to another. Instead, it is a series of steep climbs and flat plateaus, then further climbs. Even though we all approach the journey from different directions, certain of the journey's characteristics are common to all of us.
-Stuart Wilde
So the days pass, and I ask myself whether one is not hypnotized, as a child by a silver globe, by life, and whether this is living.
-Virginia Woolf
If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.
-Lin Yutang
Yes, it's a great site - worth waiting 4 it 2 load - at least on my PC it's a bit slow - don't have broadband
Here's one from Einstein -
Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seems to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know:
That people are here for the sake of other people. Above all, for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends. And also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of others people, both living and dead. And how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received. And I am still receiving.
We are a psychic process which we do not control, or only partly direct. Concequently, we cannot have any final judgement about ourselves or our lives. If we had, we would know everything - but at most that is only pretence. At bottom we never know how it has all come about. The story of life begins somewhere, at some particular point we happen to remember; and even then it was already highly complex. We do not know how life is going to turn out. Therefore the story has no beginning and the end can only be vaguely hinted at.
The life of man is a dubious experiment. It is a tremendous phenomenon only in numerical terms. Individually it is so fleeting, so insufficient, that it is literally a miracle that anything can exist and develop at all. I was impressed by that fact long ago...
Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above the ground lasts only a single summer. Then it withers away - an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civilizations, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost the sense of something that lives and endures beneath the eternal flux. What we see is blossom, which passes. The rhizome remains.
In the end the only event in my life worth telling are those when the imperishable world erupted into this transitory one. That is why I speak chiefly of inner experiences, amongst which I include my dreams and visions. These form the prima materia of my scientific work. They were the fiery magma out of which the stone that had to be worked was crystallised.
All other memories of travels, people and my surroundings have paled beside these interior happenings... Recollections of the outward events of my life has largely faded or disappeared. But my encounters with the "other" reality, my bouts with the unconscious, are indelibly engraved upon my memory. In that realm there has always been wealth in abundance, and everything else has lost importance by comparison."
You do not acquire happiness. Your nature is happiness. Bliss is not newly acquired. All that is done is to remove unhappiness.
Alan Watts
The tragedy of human history is decreasing happiness in the midst of increasing comforts.
Swami Chinmayananda
Consciousness has produced this play. Consciousness has written the script. Consciousness is playing all the characters. And Consciousness is witnessing the play. It’s a one man show.
Ramesh Balsekar
To go beyond the mind, you must be silent and quiet. Peace and silence, silence and peace - this is the way beyond. Stop asking questions.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
We must distinguish between learning, accumulation of knowledge, and understanding or knowing, the immediate insight into our real nature. Appropriation of facts is necessary when studying a trade, an instrument, a language, and so on. But we cannot acquire what we fundamentally are. We can only recognise it. Recognition is an instantaneous happening.
Jean Klein
Life of man is what it is. That which is, is. All the trouble arises by having a conception of it. Mind comes in. It has a conception. All trouble follows. If you are as you are, without a mind and its conceptions about various things, all will be well with you. If you seek the source of the mind, then all questions will be solved.
Ramana Maharshi
Make no mistake: whatever I say—whatever its impact—is a concept. It is not the truth. A concept is something that someone may accept and someone may not. The Truth is that which no one can deny. And therefore the only Truth, in phenomenality, is ‘I AM’—the impersonal awareness of being. On this basis, whatever any sage has ever said, whatever any scripture of any religion says is a concept.
Ramesh Balsekar
You are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in you! They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting.
To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy. Henri Frederic Amiel
Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. Aristotle
Flatter me, and I may not believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I may not forget you. William Arthur
We are here on earth to do good for others.
What the others are here for, I don't know. W. H. Auden
In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty... in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe. Deepak Chopra
There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people. Gilbert K. Chesterton
There are two types of people: Those who come into a room and say, "Well, here I am!", and those who say, "Ah, there you are". Frederick L. Collins
When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself. Wayne Dyer
Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best. Henry Van Dyke
People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character. Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here's a few from Confucius:
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
When you see a good man, try to emulate his example, and when you see a bad man, search yourself for his faults.
It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs.
Although I am new, and most would say confused I only have this one quote, which actually inspired me today. It may not be mind blowing...But i like it.
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared"
Siddattha Gotama/Buddha ( Not sure what to call him)
thanks Geoff sorry for not responding sooner i am moving house at end of June lots of work ,stirs up lots of memories going through old boxes .i need to get back to a simpler life so i see this as an opportunity , thanks for the messages ;david
You can't be 2 confused if you selected a quote like that!
David, best of luck with the house moving. You'll find things you didn't remember you had!
Just found a neat little site called viewonbuddhism. The following are from that site -
Mind precedes all mental states.
Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts,
suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
Mind precedes all mental states.
Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts,
happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.
Dhammapada v. 1, 2
The mind is hard to check. It is swift and wanders at will.
To control it is good. A controlled mind is conducive to happiness.
The mind is very hard to perceive, extremely subtle and wanders at will.
Let the wise person guard it; a guarded mind is conducive to happiness.
Dhammapada v. 35, 36
The cells of our body are dying, the neurons in our brain are decaying, even the expressions on our face are always changing, depending on our mood. What we call our basic character is only a “mindstream,” nothing more. Today we feel good because things are going well; tomorrow we feel the opposite. Where did that good feeling go?
What could be more unpredictable than our thoughts and emotions: Do you have any idea what you are going to think or feel next? The mind, in fact, is as empty, as impermanent, and as transient as a dream. Look at a thought: It comes, it stays, and it goes. The past is past, the future not yet risen, and even the present thought, as we experience it, becomes the past.
The only thing we really have is nowness, is now.
The practice of mindfulness, of bringing the scattered mind home, and so of bringing the different aspects of our being into focus, is called Peacefully Remaining or Calm Abiding.
All the fragmented aspects of ourselves, which had been at war, settle and dissolve and become friends. In that settling we begin to understand ourselves more, and sometimes even have glimpses of the radiance of our fundamental nature.
We have been taught to spend our lives chasing our thoughts and projections. Even when the “mind” is talked about, it is only thoughts and emotions that are referred to; and when our researchers study what they imagine to be the mind, they look only at its projections. No one ever really looks into the mind itself, the ground from which all these expressions arise; and this has tragic consequences.
Sogyal Rinpoche
At certain times, a silent mind is very important, but 'silent' does not mean closed. The silent mind is an alert, awakened mind; a mind seeking the nature of reality.
Lama Yeshe
Suffering is a big word in Buddhist thought. It is a key term and it should be thoroughly understood. The Pali word is dukkha, and it does not just mean the agony of the body. It means that deep subtle sense of unsatisfactoriness which is a part of every mind moment and which results directly from the mental treadmill. The essence of life is suffering, said the Buddha. At first glance this seems exceedingly morbid and pessimistic. It even seems untrue. After all, there are plenty of times when we are happy. Aren't there. No, there are not. It just seems that way. Take any moment when you feel really fulfilled and examine it closely. Down under the joy, you will find that subtle, all-pervasive undercurrent of tension, that no matter how great this moment is, it is going to end. No matter how much you just gained, you are either going to lose some of it or spend the rest of your days guarding what you have got and scheming how to get more. And in the end, you are going to die. In the end, you lose everything. It is all transitory.
- Henepola Gunaratana, from 'Mindfulness in Plain English'.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts."
- Bertrand Russell
While meditating on the body, do not hope or pray to be exempt from sickness. Without sickness, desires and passions can easily arise... While acting in society, do not hope or pray not to have any difficulties. Without difficulties, arrogance can easily arise... While meditating on the mind, do not hope or pray not to encounter hindrances. Without hindrances, present knowledge will not be challenged or broadened... While working, do not hope or pray not to encounter obstacles. Without obstacles, the vow to help others will not deepen... While interacting with others, do not hope or pray to gain personal profit. With the hope for personal gain, the spiritual nature of the encounter is diminished... While speaking with others, do not hope or pray not to be disagreed with. Without disagreement, self-righteousness can flourish...
The Buddha spoke of sickness and suffering as effecive medicines. Times of difficulties and accidents are also times of freedom and realization. Obstacles can be a form of liberation. The Buddha reminded us that the army of evil can be the guards of the Dharma. Difficulties are required for success. The person who mistreats one can be one's good friend. One's enemies are as an orchard or garden. The act of doing someone a favor can be as base as the casting away a pair of old shoes. The abandonment of material possessions can be wealth and being wrongly accused can be the source of strength to work for justice.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Two Treasures: Buddhist Teachings Awakening & True Happiness
Should you flush your Valium and Prozac down the toilet? No, not yet. Begin with small actions to help others - empty the garbage can without being asked, clean up your own mess in the kitchen, polish the shoes of others. Smile occasionally. Gradually build up the courage and determination to confront your self-cherishing mind and declare yourself a slave and friend of all living beings. Then you will extract more joy from cleaning up somebody else's mess in the kitchen than you will ever get from watching television. Not only will this lift your depression, it will place you on the path to bliss.
- Ven. Thubten Gyatso
Comments
Thanks 4 the feedback. Good 2 hear my posts are appreciated
No luck installing the software. Had almost forgotten about it until you asked!
As for feeling phony - don't sweat it. It will change. Are you meditating? If so, that's a good sign. Just keep at it and it will become second-nature. Took me a while 2 turn around my thinking!
Poking around this forum is also a good sign. Many wise heads keen 2 help.
Here's a little something from one of my favourite books, The Art of Happiness:
Now, we are made to seek happiness. And it is clear that feelings of love, closeness and compassion bring happiness. I believe that every one of us has the basis to be happy, to access the warm and compassionate states of mind that bring happiness," the Dalai Lama asserted. "In fact, it is one of my fundamental beliefs that not only do we inherently possess the potential for compassion but I believe that the basic underlying nature of human beings is gentleness
...
Rather, genuine compassion is based on the rationale that all human beings have an innate desire 2 be happy and overcome suffering, just like myself.
...
The ultimate benefit of a supple mind is that it allows us to embrace all of life - to be fully alive and human.
...
Without cultivating a pliant mind our outlook becomes brittle and our relationship to the world becomes characterised by fear. But by adopting a flexible, malleable approach to life, we can maintain our composure even in the most restless and turbulent conditions. It is through our efforts to acheive a flexible mind that we can nurture the resiliency of the human spirit.
I highly recommend the book. I have re-read it quite a few times!
Cheers
Then he provides a lesson on friendship -- how to distinguish good friends from bad friends. There are four types that are not really your friends, but will make your life miserable in the long run:
1. The leech who appropriates your possessions
2. The bull-shitter who manipulates you
3. The boot-licker who flatters you
4. The party-animal who encourages you to do the same
A good friend, on the other hand, is one who...
1. is always ready to help you
2. is steady and loyal
3. provides good advice
4. is sympathetic ''WE GET TOO SOON OLD AND TOO LATE SMART''CHEERS GEOFF
Yes, it was a bit of a coinkidink that we both were looking at thoughts about friends!
I hope you haven't had too many bad experiences with the "wrong" type of friend. I have been pretty lucky regards family & friends in this lifetime - must have done something right ina previous life
Here's a couple more quotes I found in my recent meanderings -
Money won't buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem.
~ Bill Vaughan
It is very difficult to live among people you love and hold back from offering them advice.
~ Anne Tyler
Cheers
~ Sogyal Rinpoche
~ François Duc de La Rochefoucauld
"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love."
~ Mother Teresa of Calcutta
"Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."
~ Will Rogers
by Bhikshu Dharmamitra
Thieves, profiteers, liars and drones,
Wicked geniuses,
And the tide of murderous zealots?
But, how then can we not?
How can one not finally feel affection for them all,
All of these brain-damaged back-ward denizens
Overflowing this vast insane asylum of mundane existence?
After all, how could they not be
Just the teeming hordes of past-life
Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons,
Wives and husbands, sisters and lovers?
How could they not be
Just the endless, crushing crowd of former intimates,
Disguised now in rags of anger and lust,
Empty bowls in hand, begging for the pill of pleasure,
That magic little pill,
Banishing pain for merely a moment
From the feverish plague
Of karma-bound suffering? CHEERS GEOFF
Here's a few more that caught my eye -
There is a famous saying: "If the mind is not contrived, it is spontaneously blissful, just as water, when not agitated, is by nature transparent and clear."
I often compare the mind in meditation to a jar of muddy water: The more we leave the water without interfering or stirring it, the more the particles of dirt will sink to the bottom, letting the natural clarity of the water shine through. The very nature of the mind is such that if you only leave it in its unaltered and natural state, it will find its true nature, which is bliss and clarity.
~ Sogyal Rinpoche
"According to Buddhist practice, to develop genuine compassion you must first practice the meditation of equalization and equanimity, detaching oneself from those people who are very close to you. Then, you must remove negative feelings towards your enemies. All sentient beings should be looked on as equal. On that basis, you can gradually develop genuine compassion for all of them."
~ from The Dalai Lama's Book of Wisdom
Always recognize the dreamlike qualities of life and reduce attachment and aversion. Practice good-heartedness toward all beings. Be loving and compassionate, no matter what others do to you. What they will do will not matter so much when you see it as a dream. The trick is to have positive intention during the dream. This is the essential point. This is true spirituality.
~ Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche
Cheers
Be on the lookout for symptoms of inner peace. The hearts of a great many have already been expose to inner peace and it is possible that people everywhere could come down with it in epidemic proportions. This could pose a serious threat to what has, up to now, been a fairly stable condition of conflict in the world.
Some signs and symptoms of inner peace:
A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than on fears based on past experiences.
An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
A loss of interest in judging other people.
A loss of interest in judging self.
A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
A loss of interest in conflict.
A loss of the ability to worry. (This is a very serious symptom.)
Frequent, overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
Frequent attacks of smiling.
An increasing tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others as well as the uncontrollable urge to extend it.
WARNING:
If you have some or all of the above symptoms, please be advised that your condition of inner peace may be so far advanced as to not be curable. If you are exposed to anyone exhibiting any of these symptoms, remain exposed only at your own risk.
by Saskia Davis, copyright 1984
Here's wishing peace of mind 2 everyone who reads this!
Namaste
Here's a variation on a famous quote:
Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
Cheers
For more quotes on happiness try plugging quote garden happiness into Google - Quote Garden is one of my favourite sites ...
I am pleased to find SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE, here on your lovely site.. It seems always to be just ahead of me on the internet. If you could please add "by Saskia Davis, copyright 1984" I would very much appreciate it.
For more about SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE, or a poster, or permission to reprint info, please visit: http://symptomsofinnerpeace.net/Authors_Website/Wall_Poster.html.
And, if you could please drop me a note, mentioning the URL, when it is done, I would also appreciate that: symptomsofinnerpeace@gmail.com when it.
Thanks!
Namaste!
Saskia Davis, author
I have added your copyright. I found it at a site that didn't list you as the author.
Namaste
~ Anne Frank
"If you cannot mould yourself entirely as you would wish, how can you expect other people to be entirely to your liking?"
~ Thomas Kempis
Cheers
I understand about having found SYMPTOMS OF INNER PEACE on a site that did not list me as author. There are so many like that, I may never catch up, but I am enjoying meeting the people who resonate with it.
Thanks for taking care of it!
Saskia
Self-love
The most important thing you can do is love yourself for who you are right now. Don't put it off until you're more patient, thinner, less irritable, more loving or wahtever it is you want to improve about yourself. The fact is you are not and will never be perfect. The things you're dealing with are necessary for your learning and growth, so embrace them and love yourself for who you are right now. You might even find the things you don't like about yourself will take care of themselves.
************************************************************
Positive Thoughts
Thoughts are a form of energy that affect the world around us, contributing either to negative energy or positive energy. So today, send out thoughts that make the world a better place. Imagine them spreading around the world and positively affecting people you don't even know. Imagine what the world would be like if everyone concentrated on sending out positive thoughts.
**************************************************************
Compassion
It's very easy to fall into the trap of reacting to other people's behaviour. If someone is rude to us, or if an impatient driver cuts us off in the street, we become annoyed. Instead of feeling annoyed, try to feel compassion by putting yourself in their shoes. Imagine how bad you'd feel to be rude to another person, or how stressed you would feel to be in such a hurry. By taking the focus away from yourself, you realise that other people potentially have problems worse than your own, so be thankful for what you have.
Have a good one!
Glad you liked them - it's a great little book I have only ever seen in a discount shop - picked it up for 6 bucks - a real bargain ...
Live in Joy
Live in Joy, In love,
Even among those who hate.
Live in joy, In health,
Even among the afflicted.
Live in joy, In peace,
Even among the troubled.
Look within. Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
There is no fire like greed,
No crime like hatred,
No sorrow like separation,
No sickness like hunger of heart,
And no joy like the joy of freedom.
Health, contentment and trust
Are your greatest possessions,
And freedom your greatest joy.
Look within. Be still.
Free from fear and attachment,
Know the sweet joy of living in the way.
from the Dhammapada, Words of the Buddha
Namaste
You're right - there is SO much on the web about Buddhism. Makes you wonder how we ever survived without it! Though I must admit I prefer lounging in a comfy chair with a printed book in my hands
Here's a little more -
As human beings we all want to be happy and free from misery.
We have learned that the key to happiness is inner peace.
The greatest obstacles to inner peace are disturbing emotions such as
anger and attachment, fear and suspicion,
while love and compassion, a sense of universal responsibility
are the sources of peace and happiness.
Dalai Lama
Cheers
Sogyal Rinpoche in 'Tibetan book of living and dying':
''This Dhamma is for one whose persistence is aroused, not for one who is lazy.' Thus was it said.
With reference to what was it said? There is the case where a monk keeps his persistence aroused for abandoning unskillful mental qualities and taking on skillful mental qualities. He is steadfast, solid in his effort, not shirking his duties with regard to skillful mental qualities."
— AN 8.30
from "Noble Conversation .A Study Guide"
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/study/conversation.html
_/\_
.
My pleasure, bonnibrai.
.
David, you & I must be on the same wavelength again - I have also read Sogyal's book. A little heavy in parts but some great tips.
Tibetan Buddhists say "the mind is not hidden from us" - in other words, we are the only ones who can really see the qualities of the mind. It is the same idea we express in English when we say that no one knows us better than we know ourselves. We are with ourselves constantly, and only we have the ability to discern our true motivations. However, self-attachment and the ego are very seductive. It is very easy to be lured into thinking, based on our self-attachment, that "I'm doing really well. I'm a great practitioner." It is easy to not be objective in evaluating how our practice is going and what we are like as human beings. For example, it is difficult to reflect on situations as an outsider and consider how people perceive us. If we engaged in this mental exercise, we might start to have a different idea about who we are as compared to the person that we typically imagine ourselves to be.
Anyen Rinpoche Momentary Buddhahood: Mindfulness and the Vajrayana Path
Cheers!
However hard ego may try to sabotage the spiritual path, if you really continue on it, and work deeply with the practice of meditation, you will begin slowly to realize just how gulled you have been by ego’s promises: false hopes and false fears. Slowly you begin to understand that both hope and fear are enemies of your peace of mind; hopes deceive you, and leave you empty and disappointed, and fears paralyze you in the narrow cell of your false identity. You begin to see also just how all-encompassing the sway of ego has been over your mind, and in the space of freedom opened up by meditation, when you are momentarily released from grasping, you glimpse the exhilarating spaciousness of your true nature.
Namaste
~ Abraham Lincoln
"The happiness of a man in this life does not consist in the absence but in the mastery of his passions."
~ Alfred Lord Tennyson
"Content makes poor men rich; discontentment makes rich men poor."
~ Benjamin Franklin
"If there were in the world today any large number of people who desired their own happiness more than they desired the unhappiness of others, we could have paradise in a few years."
~ Bertrand Russell
"All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh."
~ Doris Lessing
“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne
Enjoy!
~ Bertrand Russell wow GEOFF thats good
Here's a few from Thich Nhat Hanh:
When I see someone smile, I know immediately that he or she is dwelling in awareness. This half-smile, how many artists have labored to bring it to the lips of countless statues and paintings? I am sure the same smile must have been on the faces of the sculptors and painters as they worked. Can you imagine an angry painter giving birth to such a smile? Mona Lisa's smile is light, just a hint of a smile. Yet even a smile like that is enough to relax all the muscles in our face, to banish all worries and fatigue. A tiny bud of a smile on our lips nourishes awareness and calms us miraculously. It returns us to the peace we thought we had lost.
...
If we face our unpleasant feelings with care, affection, and nonviolence, we can transform them into a kind of energy that is healthy and has the capacity to nourish us. By the work of mindful observation, our unpleasant feelings can illuminate so much for us, offering us insight and understanding into ourselves and society.
...
The Buddha spoke gently, "Once a person is caught by belief in a doctrine, one loses all one's freedom. When one becomes dogmatic, that person believes his or her doctrine is the only truth and that all other doctrines are heresy. Disputes and conflicts all arise from narrow views. They can extend endlessly, wasting precious time and sometimes even leading to war. Attachment to views is the greatest impediment to the spiritual path. Bound to narrow views, one becomes so entangled that it is no longer possible to let the door of truth open."
...
Do we need to make a special effort to enjoy the beauty of the blue sky?
Do we have to practice to be able to enjoy it? No, we just enjoy it.
Each second, each minute of our lives can be like this.
Wherever we are, any time, we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine,
the presence of each other, even the sensation of our breathing.
We don't need to go to China to enjoy the blue sky.
We don't have to travel into the future to enjoy our breathing.
We can be in touch with these things right now.
...
The foundation of happiness is mindfulness. The basic condition for being happy is our consciousness of being happy. If we are not aware that we are happy, we are not really happy. When we have a toothache, we know that not having a toothache is a wonderful thing. But when we do not have a toothache, we are still not happy. A non-toothache is very pleasant. There are so many things that are enjoyable, but when we don’t practice mindfulness, we don’t appreciate them. When we practice mindfulness, we come to cherish these things and we learn how to protect them. By taking good care of the present moment, we take good care of the future. Working for peace in the future is to work for peace in the present moment.
If you see his books, I recommend you buy them
Yes, he is an excellent teacher. There is a site called Plum Village that may give you more of an idea ... worth waiting 4 it 2 load
Namaste
~ Ashleigh Brilliant
More Brilliant sayings 2 follow ... or you could use Google 2 find them youself
Here's a couple from a neat little site called Quote Land -
People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life ... I think that what we're really seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonance within our innermost being and reality, so that we can actually feel the rapture of being alive.
-Joseph Campbell
On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.
-Buddha
Life is full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter.
-Eileen Caddy
Life is very interesting if you make mistakes.
-Georges Carpentier
Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth are never alone or weary of life.
-Rachel Carson
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.
-G. K. Chesterton
Life isn't like a book. Life isn't logical or sensible or orderly. Life is a mess most of the time. And theology must be lived in the midst of that mess.
-Charles Caleb Colton
Life is infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent. We would not dare to conceive the things which are really merely commonplaces of existence. If we could fly out of that window hand in hand, hover over this great city, gently remove the roofs and peep in at the queer things which are going on, the strange coincidences, the planning, the cross-purposes, the wonderful chain of events, working through generations and leading to the most outer results, it would make all fiction with its conventionalities and foreseen conclusions most stale and unprofitable.
-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge -- that myth is more potent than history. I believe that dreams are more powerful than facts -- That hope always triumphs over experience -- That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.
-Robert Fulghum
Nine requisites for contented living:
Health enough to make work a pleasure.
Wealth enough to support your needs.
Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them.
Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.
Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.
Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.
Love enough to move you to be useful and helpful to others.
Faith enough to make real the things of God.
Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.
-Johann von Goethe
Not only is life a bitch, but it is always having puppies.
-Adrienne Gusoff
So in all these little ways we spin a web, a cocoon, around ourselves. The cocoon becomes nice and snug and comfortable because it is very familiar. We know every little corner of our life; we can even write poetry about it. We may also have ideas about the great mystery which religions speak of, which gives our cocoon an especial sense of security: we can worship the great mystery outside of it and feel good about that. The cocoon is safe, bounded, claustrophobic, and a little stale. We settle into it and live our lives.
-Jeremy W. Hayward
Life has taught me to think, but thinking has not taught me to live.
-Alexander Herzen
Life is a grindstone. Whether it grinds us down or polishes us up depends on us.
-Thomas L. Holdcroft
"Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own."
~ Adam Lindsay Gordon
Life is not so bad if you have plenty of luck, a good physique and not too much imagination
-Christopher Isherwood
In the midst of excitement, grief, joy, and solitude, I remind myself every moment that the sole mission of my life is to find the ultimate questioner - that unimaginable who has put me in this madness to answer an unanswerable question.
-Kedar Joshi
Life's splendor forever lies in wait about each one of us in all its fullness, but veiled from view, deep down, invisible, far off. It is there, though, not hostile, not reluctant, not deaf. If you summon it by the right word, by its right name, it will come.
-Franz Kafka
You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.
-Jiddu Krishnamurti
Life moves on, whether we act as cowards or heroes. Life has no other discipline to impose, if we would but realize it, than to accept life unquestioningly. Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.
-Henry Miller
The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mode of happiness. but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed the change; happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow Up.
-Charles Morgan
Life is the only art that we are required to practice without preparation, and without being allowed the preliminary trials, the failures and botches, that are essential for training.
-Lewis Mumford
You live in a deranged age, more deranged that usual, because in spite of great scientific and technological advances, man has not the faintest idea of who he is or what he is doing.
-Walker Percy
Dance like there's nobody watching
Love like you'll never get hurt
Sing like there's nobody listening
Live like it's heaven on earth
And speak from the heart to be heard.
-William W. Purkey
Purkey is the source of this quotation that is attributed to many others: it was made popular in the song Come From The Heart written by Susannah Clark and Richard Leigh. Purkey closed his speeches with this poem and it has now made it into the public domain.
Life is really about a spiritual unfolding that is personal and enchanting -- an unfolding that no science or philosophy or religion has yet fully clarified.
-James Redfield
The aim of life is some way of living, as flexible and gentle as human nature; so that ambition may stoop to kindness, and philosophy to condor and humor. Neither prosperity nor empire nor heaven can be worth winning at the price of a virulent temper, bloody hands, an anguished spirit, and a vain hatred of the rest of the world. -George Santayana
I must interpret the life around me as I interpret the life that is my own. My life is full of meaning to me. The life around me must be full of significance to itself. If I am to expect others to respect my life, then I must respect the other life I see, however strange it may be to mine.
-Albert Schweitzer
This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun, and animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence towards the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or number of men; go freely with the powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and mothers, of families: read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life: re-examine all you have been told at school or church, or in any books, and dismiss whatever insults your soul.
-Walt Whitman
Our life's journey of self-discovery is not a straight-line rise from one level of consciousness to another. Instead, it is a series of steep climbs and flat plateaus, then further climbs. Even though we all approach the journey from different directions, certain of the journey's characteristics are common to all of us.
-Stuart Wilde
So the days pass, and I ask myself whether one is not hypnotized, as a child by a silver globe, by life, and whether this is living.
-Virginia Woolf
If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.
-Lin Yutang
Also check out their Rainer Maria Rilke page!
Enjoy
Here's one from Einstein -
Strange is our situation here upon earth. Each of us comes for a short visit, not knowing why, yet sometimes seems to divine a purpose. From the standpoint of daily life, however, there is one thing we do know:
That people are here for the sake of other people. Above all, for those upon whose smile and well-being our own happiness depends. And also for the countless unknown souls with whose fate we are connected by a bond of sympathy. Many times a day I realize how much my own outer and inner life is built upon the labors of others people, both living and dead. And how earnestly I must exert myself in order to give in return as much as I have received. And I am still receiving.
Cheers
My opinions may have changed, but not the fact that I am right.
Be kind to unkind people; they probably need it the most.
My sources are unreliable, but their information is fascinating.
Life may have no meaning -- or even worse, it may have a meaning of which I disapprove.
In order to keep an open mind, I am trying to avoid learning anything.
I have nothing definite to apologize for, I'm just sorry about everything in general.
I don't have any solution, but I certainly admire the problem.
My life has a superb cast but I can't figure out the plot.
My play was a complete success. The audience was a failure.
Please don't ask me what the score is, I'm not even sure what the game is.
To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first, and call whatever you hit the target.
Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules.
I'm not yet desperate enough to do anything about the conditions that are making me desperate.
Sooner or later, I'll be punctual.
The closest you will ever come in this life to an orderly universe is a good library.
It's human to make mistakes — and some of us are much more human than others.
Aren't I lucky, to have survived so much bad luck.
There ought to be a better way than government to run the world.
It could be that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.
More on the web but that's enuf 4 today
Okay - if you insist - search for billionquotes brilliant in Google ...
The life of man is a dubious experiment. It is a tremendous phenomenon only in numerical terms. Individually it is so fleeting, so insufficient, that it is literally a miracle that anything can exist and develop at all. I was impressed by that fact long ago...
Life has always seemed to me like a plant that lives on its rhizome. Its true life is invisible, hidden in the rhizome. The part that appears above the ground lasts only a single summer. Then it withers away - an ephemeral apparition. When we think of the unending growth and decay of life and civilizations, we cannot escape the impression of absolute nullity. Yet I have never lost the sense of something that lives and endures beneath the eternal flux. What we see is blossom, which passes. The rhizome remains.
In the end the only event in my life worth telling are those when the imperishable world erupted into this transitory one. That is why I speak chiefly of inner experiences, amongst which I include my dreams and visions. These form the prima materia of my scientific work. They were the fiery magma out of which the stone that had to be worked was crystallised.
All other memories of travels, people and my surroundings have paled beside these interior happenings... Recollections of the outward events of my life has largely faded or disappeared. But my encounters with the "other" reality, my bouts with the unconscious, are indelibly engraved upon my memory. In that realm there has always been wealth in abundance, and everything else has lost importance by comparison."
C G Jung.
Alan Watts
The tragedy of human history is decreasing happiness in the midst of increasing comforts.
Swami Chinmayananda
Consciousness has produced this play. Consciousness has written the script. Consciousness is playing all the characters. And Consciousness is witnessing the play. It’s a one man show.
Ramesh Balsekar
To go beyond the mind, you must be silent and quiet. Peace and silence, silence and peace - this is the way beyond. Stop asking questions.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
We must distinguish between learning, accumulation of knowledge, and understanding or knowing, the immediate insight into our real nature. Appropriation of facts is necessary when studying a trade, an instrument, a language, and so on. But we cannot acquire what we fundamentally are. We can only recognise it. Recognition is an instantaneous happening.
Jean Klein
Life of man is what it is. That which is, is. All the trouble arises by having a conception of it. Mind comes in. It has a conception. All trouble follows. If you are as you are, without a mind and its conceptions about various things, all will be well with you. If you seek the source of the mind, then all questions will be solved.
Ramana Maharshi
Make no mistake: whatever I say—whatever its impact—is a concept. It is not the truth. A concept is something that someone may accept and someone may not. The Truth is that which no one can deny. And therefore the only Truth, in phenomenality, is ‘I AM’—the impersonal awareness of being. On this basis, whatever any sage has ever said, whatever any scripture of any religion says is a concept.
Ramesh Balsekar
You are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in you! They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Have a good one!
To live we must conquer incessantly, we must have the courage to be happy.
Henri Frederic Amiel
Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.
Aristotle
Flatter me, and I may not believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I may not forget you.
William Arthur
We are here on earth to do good for others.
What the others are here for, I don't know.
W. H. Auden
In detachment lies the wisdom of uncertainty... in the wisdom of uncertainty lies the freedom from our past, from the known, which is the prison of past conditioning. And in our willingness to step into the unknown, the field of all possibilities, we surrender ourselves to the creative mind that orchestrates the dance of the universe.
Deepak Chopra
There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people.
Gilbert K. Chesterton
There are two types of people: Those who come into a room and say, "Well, here I am!", and those who say, "Ah, there you are".
Frederick L. Collins
When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.
Wayne Dyer
Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.
Henry Van Dyke
People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Here's a few from Confucius:
Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.
When you see a good man, try to emulate his example, and when you see a bad man, search yourself for his faults.
It is not the failure of others to appreciate your abilities that should trouble you, but rather your failure to appreciate theirs.
More soon ...
Cheerio
“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared"
Siddattha Gotama/Buddha ( Not sure what to call him)
You can't be 2 confused if you selected a quote like that!
David, best of luck with the house moving. You'll find things you didn't remember you had!
Just found a neat little site called viewonbuddhism. The following are from that site -
Mind precedes all mental states.
Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts,
suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.
Mind precedes all mental states.
Mind is their chief; they are all mind-wrought.
If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts,
happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.
Dhammapada v. 1, 2
The mind is hard to check. It is swift and wanders at will.
To control it is good. A controlled mind is conducive to happiness.
The mind is very hard to perceive, extremely subtle and wanders at will.
Let the wise person guard it; a guarded mind is conducive to happiness.
Dhammapada v. 35, 36
The cells of our body are dying, the neurons in our brain are decaying, even the expressions on our face are always changing, depending on our mood. What we call our basic character is only a “mindstream,” nothing more. Today we feel good because things are going well; tomorrow we feel the opposite. Where did that good feeling go?
What could be more unpredictable than our thoughts and emotions: Do you have any idea what you are going to think or feel next? The mind, in fact, is as empty, as impermanent, and as transient as a dream. Look at a thought: It comes, it stays, and it goes. The past is past, the future not yet risen, and even the present thought, as we experience it, becomes the past.
The only thing we really have is nowness, is now.
The practice of mindfulness, of bringing the scattered mind home, and so of bringing the different aspects of our being into focus, is called Peacefully Remaining or Calm Abiding.
All the fragmented aspects of ourselves, which had been at war, settle and dissolve and become friends. In that settling we begin to understand ourselves more, and sometimes even have glimpses of the radiance of our fundamental nature.
We have been taught to spend our lives chasing our thoughts and projections. Even when the “mind” is talked about, it is only thoughts and emotions that are referred to; and when our researchers study what they imagine to be the mind, they look only at its projections. No one ever really looks into the mind itself, the ground from which all these expressions arise; and this has tragic consequences.
Sogyal Rinpoche
At certain times, a silent mind is very important, but 'silent' does not mean closed. The silent mind is an alert, awakened mind; a mind seeking the nature of reality.
Lama Yeshe
Namaste
It lists many categories such as anger, anxiety, compassion, happiness mindfulness love etc etc
Enjoy!
- Henepola Gunaratana, from 'Mindfulness in Plain English'.
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts."
- Bertrand Russell
While meditating on the body, do not hope or pray to be exempt from sickness. Without sickness, desires and passions can easily arise... While acting in society, do not hope or pray not to have any difficulties. Without difficulties, arrogance can easily arise... While meditating on the mind, do not hope or pray not to encounter hindrances. Without hindrances, present knowledge will not be challenged or broadened... While working, do not hope or pray not to encounter obstacles. Without obstacles, the vow to help others will not deepen... While interacting with others, do not hope or pray to gain personal profit. With the hope for personal gain, the spiritual nature of the encounter is diminished... While speaking with others, do not hope or pray not to be disagreed with. Without disagreement, self-righteousness can flourish...
The Buddha spoke of sickness and suffering as effecive medicines. Times of difficulties and accidents are also times of freedom and realization. Obstacles can be a form of liberation. The Buddha reminded us that the army of evil can be the guards of the Dharma. Difficulties are required for success. The person who mistreats one can be one's good friend. One's enemies are as an orchard or garden. The act of doing someone a favor can be as base as the casting away a pair of old shoes. The abandonment of material possessions can be wealth and being wrongly accused can be the source of strength to work for justice.
- Thich Nhat Hanh, Two Treasures: Buddhist Teachings Awakening & True Happiness
Should you flush your Valium and Prozac down the toilet? No, not yet. Begin with small actions to help others - empty the garbage can without being asked, clean up your own mess in the kitchen, polish the shoes of others. Smile occasionally. Gradually build up the courage and determination to confront your self-cherishing mind and declare yourself a slave and friend of all living beings. Then you will extract more joy from cleaning up somebody else's mess in the kitchen than you will ever get from watching television. Not only will this lift your depression, it will place you on the path to bliss.
- Ven. Thubten Gyatso
Cheers