Drop the Labels...

A disciple complained about the Master's habit
of knocking down all the disciple's beliefs.

Said the Master, "I set fire to the temple of your beliefs,
for when it is destroyed,
you will have an unimpeded view
of the vast, unbounded sky."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Why don't I see goodness and beauty everywhere?
Because you cannot see outside of you
what you fail to see inside.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


".As the great Confucius said,
"The one who would be in constant happiness must frequently change."
Flow. But we keep looking back, don't we?
We cling to things in the past and cling to things in the present...
Do you want to enjoy a symphony?
Don't hold on to a few bars of the music.
Don't hold on to a couple of notes.
Let them pass, let them flow.
The whole enjoyment of a symphony lies in your readiness
to allow the notes to pass..."


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"The important thing is not to know who "I" is or what "I" is.
You'll never succeed.
There are no words for it.

The important thing is to drop the labels.

As the Japanese Zen masters say, "Don't seek the truth; just drop your
opinions."
Drop your theories; don't seek the truth. Truth isn't something you search
for.
If you stop being opinionated, you would know....
If you drop your labels, you would know. What do I mean by labels?
Every label you can conceive of except perhaps that of human being.
I am a human being. Fair enough; doesn't say very much.
But when you say, "I am successful," that's crazy.
Success is not part of the "I".

Success is something that comes and goes; it could be here today and gone
tomorrow.
That's not "I".
When you said, "I was a success," you were in error; you were plunged into
darkness.
You identified yourself with success.
The same thing when you said, "I am a failure, a lawyer, a businessman."
You know what's going to happen to you if you identify yourself with these
things.
You're going to cling to them, you're going to be worried that they may fall
apart,
and that's where your suffering comes in.
That is what I meant earlier when I said to you, "If you're suffering,
you're asleep."
Do you want a sign that you're asleep? Here it is: You're suffering.
Suffering is a sign that you're out of touch with the truth.
Suffering is given to you that you might open your eyes to the truth,
that you might understand that there's falsehood somewhere,
just as physical pain is given to you so you will understand
that there is disease or illness somewhere.
Suffering points out that there is falsehood somewhere.

Suffering occurs when you clash with reality.

When your illusions clash with reality when your falsehoods clash with the
truth,
then you have suffering.

Otherwise there is no suffering."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"If it is peace you want, seek to change yourself, not other people.
It is easier to protect your feet with slippers
than to carpet the whole of the earth."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Rare indeed, is the relationship
in which the other is not cultivated
for what one can get for oneself."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You have within yourself

the answer to every question you propose --

if you only knew how to look for it.

In the Land of the spirit,

you cannot walk by the light of someone else's lamp.

You want to borrow mine.

I'd rather teach you how to make your own."



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



"Said the river to the seeker,

"Does one really have to fret about enlightenment?

No matter which way I turn, I'm homeward bound."





~ Anthony de Mello, S.J.