' Standards of Good and Evil '...
Happiness lies in thinking or doing that which one considers beautiful.
Bowl of Saki, by Hazrat Inayat Khan
Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:
..............................................
What is really good? The answer is, there is no such thing as good or evil.
There is beauty. That which is beautiful, we call good. That which is ugly
compared with the beautiful, we call evil: whether it is custom, idea, thought
or action. This shows that this whole phenomenon of the universe is the
phenomenon of beauty. Every soul has an inclination to admire beauty, to seek
for beauty, to love beauty, and to develop beauty. Even God loves beauty.
..................................................
In all ages the various religions have given different standards of good and
evil, calling them virtue and sin. The virtue of one nation has been the sin of
another. The virtue of the latter is the sin of the former. Travel as we may
through the world, or read the histories and traditions of nations as we may, we
shall still find that what one calls evil, another calls good. That is why no
one can succeed in making a universal standard for good and evil. The
discrimination between good and evil is in man's soul. Every man can judge that
for himself, because in every man is the sense of admiration of beauty. But he
is not satisfied with what he does himself, he feels a discomfort, a disgust
with his own efforts. There are many people who continue some weakness or some
mistake, or who are intoxicated by some action which the world calls evil or
which they themselves call evil, yet go on doing it. But a day comes when they
also are disgusted. Then they wish for suicide. There is no more happiness for
them. Happiness only lies in thinking or doing that which one considers
beautiful. Such an act becomes a virtue or goodness. That goodness is beauty.
.......................................................
Man is always seeking for beauty, and yet he is unaware of the treasure of
beauty that is hidden in his own heart. He strives after it throughout his whole
life. It is as if he was in pursuit of the horizon: the further he proceeds, the
further the horizon seems to have moved away. For there are two aims: the one is
real, and the other false. That which is false is momentary, transitory, and
unreliable - wealth, power, fame, and position are all snatched from one hand by
the other. ... Man wants something in life upon which he can rely; and this
shows, whether he believes in a deity or not, that he is constantly seeking for
God. He seeks for Him not knowing that he is seeking for God. Nevertheless,
every soul is pursuing some reality, something to hold on to; trying to grasp
something which will prove dependable, a beauty that cannot change and that one
can always look upon as one's own, a beauty that one feels will last forever.
And where can one find it? Within one's own heart. And it is the art of finding
that beauty, of developing, improving, and spreading that beauty through life,
allowing it to manifest before the inner and outer view, which one calls the art
of the mystic.
' Intolerance '...
I have seen great intolerance shown in support of tolerance.
...............Samuel Taylor Coleridge
' Troubles Melt Away '...
And suddenly all your troubles melt away, all your worries are gone, and it is for no reason other than the look in your partner's eyes. Yes, sometimes life and love really is that simple.
..........William Wordsworth
' This New Day '...
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in. Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense. This new day is too dear, with its hopes and invitations, to waste a moment on the yesterdays.
.............Ralph Waldo Emerson
' In the Present Moment '...
In parting, I would like to give you one small piece of advice to keep in your heart. You may have heard me say this before, but it is the key point of the entire path, so it bears repeating: All that we are looking for in life — all the happiness, contentment, and peace of mind — is right here in the present moment. Our very own awareness is itself fundamentally pure and good. The only problem is that we get so caught up in the ups and downs of life that we don’t take the time to pause and notice what we already have.
..............Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche
' We Are Perfect '...
We don't realise that we are actually perfect just the way we are. We are born perfect, but spend a lifetime trying to be something we are not, and then feel inadequate for failing. Your only purpose is to BE YOURSELF, otherwise you will deprive the universe of who you came here to be.
...............Anita Moorjani
' Who are Free ? '...
None are so hopelessly enslaved, as those who falsely believe they are free. The truth has been kept from the depth of their minds by masters who rule them with lies. They feed them on falsehoods till wrong looks like right in their eyes.
.........Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
' Who Controls You ?'...
If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.
.......Voltaire
' Every Need Supplied '...
Think lovingly, speak lovingly, act lovingly, and every need shall be supplied.
...........James Allen
' Love cannot be Destroyed '...
Love is within us. It cannot be destroyed. It can be ignored. To the extent that we abandon love we will feel it has abandoned us.
Denying love is our only problem, and embracing it is the only answer.
Through the power of love, we can let go of past history and begin again.
Love heals, forgives, and makes whole.
........Ernest Holmes
' Success in Life '...
You have succeeded in life when all you really want is only what you really need.
...........Vernon Howard
' Honesty '...
Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones
..............John Lennon
' The Source of Electricity '...
When two people relate to each other authentically and humanly, God is the electricity that surges between them.
.............Martin Buber
' The Essence of Philosophy '...
the essence of philosophy is not the possession of the truth but the search for truth. ... Philosophy means to be on the way. Its questions are more essential than its answers, and every answer becomes a new question.
.....Karl Jaspers
' Two Ways to be Fooled '...
There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.
............Soren Kierkegaard
' Free Thinker '...
Be a free thinker and don't accept everything you hear as truth. Be critical and evaluate what you believe in.
........Aristotle
' Reality is Truth '...
Therefore, faithful Christian, seek the truth, listen to the truth, learn the truth, love the truth, tell the truth, learn the truth, defend the truth even to death.
.........Jan Hus
' Wicked Rulers '...
When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.
.........John Calvin
' Peace and Freedom '...
You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.
.........Malcolm X
' Truth Being Known '...
Not being known doesn't stop the truth from being true. You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. Learning is finding out what we already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doers and teachers. The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.
..........Richard Bach
' Self-importance '...
Self-importance requires spending most of one's life offended by something or someone.
............Carlos Castaneda
' The Adventure of Life '...
Reality has no security and that is its beauty. Life has no security and that is its beauty. Because there is no security, there is adventure. Because the future is unknown, nobody knows what is going to happen the next moment. That's why there is challenge, growth, adventure. If you miss adventure, you miss all. If your life is not that of an adventure, of a search into the unknown, then you are living in vain.
................Rajneesh
' Release Attachment '...
I don't mind what happens. That is the essence of inner freedom.
It is a timeless spiritual truth: release attachment to outcomes,
deep inside yourself, you'll feel good no matter what.
.........Jiddu Krishnamurti
' Embrace Confusion '...
.."in Zen practice, we don't ignore confusion when it appears;
we actually welcome it. When confusion arises in our practice,
it means that we have discovered something new.
The feeling of confusion is an indication
that we are trying to understand something.
So welcoming confusion is actually an expression of wisdom."
............ Les Kaye
' Take, Only what You Give '...
Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received - only what you have given: a full heart, enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.
.........Francis of Assisi
' Perfect Love '...
Perfect love means putting up with other peoples shortcomings, feeling no surprise at their weaknesses, finding encouragement even in the slightest evidence of good qualities in them.
............Therese of Lisieux
' The Unnameable '...
Many names have been placed on ‘This.’ We have called it “life,” “God,” “spirit,” “Oneness,” “enlightenment,” “presence,” “non-duality,” “awareness,” “Brahman,”, the “Tao,” and a host of others. Yet none of the names are that which they describe. All words are concepts. They are memory. No matter what word you use to describe life, the word is not it.
It is easy to become blinded by spiritual teachings, including non-dual pointers. The ideas are repeated so much that they become conditioning. Then we look at the present moment through the learned ideas, rather than through bare naked presence.
Life is not an idea. Be very clear about that. See that every pointer in this book or anywhere else is merely conditioning. It is some idea put forth to point you to a seeing beyond ideas.
A teacher or book can only use concepts to point you away from reliance on your memorized concepts. Can a concept see? No. It can only point to the pure seeing available through bare naked presence. This seeing is a knowing that is deeper than conceptual knowledge. This knowing reveals directly that to which the words “God,” “Brahman,” “enlightenment” and all the other words are pointing. There is no separate “I” who knows or finds “enlightenment” or “God.” Those are concepts giving rise to illusory separation. There is only this unnamable knowing. No subject. No object. Just ‘This.’
............Scott Kiloby, Reflections of the One Life: Daily Pointers to Enlightenment
' A Strong Woman '...
I believe a strong woman may be stronger than a man, particularly if she happens to have love in her heart. I guess a loving woman is indestructible.
..............John Steinbeck
' No More War '...
I would like to see every single soldier on every single side, just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit, lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some shady lane, and say, nope, I aint a gonna kill nobody. Plenty of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns.
........Woody Guthrie
' Truth not Available '...
Technology to wipe out truth is now available. Not everybody can afford it but it's available. When the cost comes down, look out!
...............Bob Dylan
' The Mystical I '...
When the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, you are ordained, but you are not ordained to be set apart. You are ordained to heal the sick, to comfort, to feed, to forgive. That is the purpose of ordination~ not that you may be glorified but that you may be better equipped to give more abundantly, to share more freely, to understand more universally that it is not only the children of your flesh who are your children, but that all children of this world are your children, and you have an equal responsibility to share with them.
You must be able to look out upon this world and say unto it: "The Spirit of God in me is your Father. You may look to the Father within me for substance and sustenance. You, friend or so-called foe, may look to the Spirit of God in me, the fatherhood of God in me, for your care."
Then you will understand this relationship that has been kept secret from the world, the invisible bond that exists among all mystics. The visible and invisible mystics of the world who have recognized I standing at the door of their consciousness, are eternally united in consciousness, sharing with one another.
I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.
~ Revelation 3:8
~ Joel S. Goldsmith, The Mystical I
' Blaming Others '...
If you make it a habit not to blame others, you will feel the growth of the ability to love in your soul, and you will see the growth of goodness in your life.
..........Leo Tolstoy
' Risk '...
There is always a risk in being alive, and if you are more alive, there is more risk.
............Henrik Ibsen
' Be of Value '...
Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.
............Albert Einstein
' Consciousness '...
Before the world was, consciousness was.
In consciousness it comes into being, in consciousness it lasts and into pure consciousness it dissolves.
At the root of everything, is the feeling 'I am'.
The state of mind:
'there is a world' is secondary, for to be, I do not need the world, the world needs me.
...............Nisargadatta Maharaj
' As A Magician '...
As a magician, I think everything is possible. And I think if something is done by one person it can be done by others.
.............David Blaine
' Freedom '...
No prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom.
.................Harry Houdini
' The Most Dangerous Condition '...
The most dangerous condition for a man or a nation is when his intellectual side is more developed than his spiritual. Is that not exactly the condition of the world today?
........Arthur Conan Doyle
' The Wise Man '...
The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions.
...........Claude Levi-Strauss
' Be Prepared...
Be prepared, work hard, and hope for a little luck. Recognize that the harder you work and the better prepared you are, the more luck you might have.
..................Ed Bradley
' Back after a few days '...
Yeah,,, the heart begins to shout... a valve is loose and destroying the body...we all die... I understand the circle of life... of course,, the Light is without pain but the other humans need you...therefore, what to do,, continue the material life of manifestation to learn more and live within the Love of a Woman called Cindy..................thomas
' Karma '...
I've learned.... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you... More
...............Andy Rooney
' The Tragic Thing '...
One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.
................Dale Carnegie
' Real Fearlessness '...
Real fearlessness is the product of tenderness. It comes from letting the world tickle your heart, your raw and beautiful heart. You are willing to open up, without resistance or shyness, and face the world. You are willing to share your heart with others.
............Chogyam Trungpa
' Finding a Teacher '...
Wherever you go you will find your teacher, as long as you have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
..............Shunryu Suzuki
' Love '...
Love is the ability and willingness to allow those that you care for to be what they choose for themselves without any insistence that they satisfy you.
............Wayne Dyer
' Ideas '...
For if you are caught up in ideas, then you will be caught up in the
self. And even if you are caught up in ideas about nothingness, you
will still be caught up in the self. That's why we should not get
attached to the belief that things either exist or do not exist. This
is the hidden meaning when I say that my teachings are a raft to be
abandoned when you see true being.
..........Diamond Sutra
' Two Types of People '...
There are two different types of people in the world, those who want to know, and those who want to believe.
..............Friedrich Nietzsche
' The Mystery of Existence '...
The mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.
............Fyodor Dostoevsky
' Two Important Days '...
The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.
.............Mark Twain
' There Are Doors '...
In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors.
.............William Blake
' The Purpose of Life '...
The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.
...............Eleanor Roosevelt
' Who am I ?'...
The question 'Who am I?' is not really meant to get an answer, the question 'Who am I?' is meant to dissolve the questioner.
.......Ramana Maharshi
' The Absolute Force '...
The universe is founded in consciousness and guided by it. The final reality is Universal Consciousness. The Supreme Consciousness is Omnipresent. Its evolutionary powers pervade the entire Universe. All processes of Nature are governed by the laws of this Absolute Force.
............Shriram Sharma
' A Quiet Mind '...
A quiet mind does not mean that there will be no thoughts or mental movements at all, but that these will be on the surface, and you will feel your true being within, separate from them, observing but not carried away
............Sri Aurobindo
' We Are Asleep '...
Impossible to believe as we stare at this screen before us..
We awoke this morning from the nothingness and into the illusion of materiality..
All of this time, we firmly believe that we are awake in reality..
We pass through this day wondering why we are here..
Perhaps, instead of crying at our unknowing,
We should laugh at our ignorance..
As all of the Mystic Masters have told you,
" The answer is within"..
Within what?..
The Heart and Mind..
This is why you are here..
The mind will lead you to the 'Door'
The heart will open the 'Door'..
As the Nazarene said;
" Knock and the Door shall be opened"..
The mind is the ego that desires to exist but still seeks freedom..
The Heart is Divine Consciousness that offers freedom to the mind..
The mind is troubled by this decision between annihilation of it's existence and
the freedom that is promised by this sacrifice of existence..
Reality is beyond the mind (ego),
To view Reality, the mind (ego) must dissolve into nothingness...
Courage is the name given to those that fear and yet still proceed..
Are you Courageous?..
.............. thomas
' Enlightenment '...
"All paths are mine,
and all lead eventually to me.
But the shortest way to me,
is the no-path of self-annihilative love."
........Meher Baba
in Bhau Kalchuri
_Lord Meher: The Biography of Avatar of the Age Meher Baba_
Asheville, NC: MANifestation, v. 18, p. 6235
' A Simple Man '...
I'm just a simple man standing alone with my old brushes, asking God for inspiration.
.........Peter Paul Rubens
' Arrogance '...
The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is arrogance
..............Albert Einstein
' The Man of Wisdom '...
The man of wisdom is devoid of ego even though he may appear to use it. His vacant or fasting mind is neither doing anything nor not doing anything. He is outside of volition, neither this nor that. He is everything and nothing.
....................Ramesh S Balsekar
' Go Within '...
When all doors are shut and you have nowhere to go, that is when you go within. Every crisis is an opportunity and you are the beginning.
.............Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
' The Principles of Minds '...
We cannot safely assume that other people's minds work on the same principles as our own. All too often, others with whom we come in contact do not reason as we reason, or do not value the things we value, or are not interested in what interests us.
..................Isabel Briggs Myers
' Thinking is Difficult '...
Thinking is difficult, that’s why most people judge.
...........Carl Jung
' Relationship '...
We are internally related to everything, not [just] externally related. Consciousness is an internal relationship to the whole, we take in the whole, and we act toward the whole. Whatever we have taken in determines basically what we are. Wholeness is a kind of attitude or approach to the whole of life. If we can have a coherent approach to reality then reality will respond coherently to us.
.............David Bohm
' What is True ?'...
It is very easy to conform to what your society or your parents and teachers tell you. That is a safe and easy way of existing; but that is not living...To live is to find out for yourself what is true.
...............Jiddu Krishnamurti
' Sometimes they Don't '...
When you are working on something yourself, it's very easy to get lost because you are convinced that people think in the same way - that they will get these unspoken things that are just floating in your head. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.
...............Eugene Hutz
' Solitude '...
Nothing could be more pleasant than to live in solitude, enjoy the spectacle of nature, and occasionally read some book.
...........Nikolai Gogol
' Duality '...
What would your good do if evil didn't exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared?
.................Mikhail Bulgakov
' Hard Times '...
Only during hard times do people come to understand how difficult it is to be master of their feelings and thoughts.
..................Anton Chekhov
' Life is not a Problem '...
Never carry things on from the past. The past is gone. Every moment be rid of it, solved or unsolved. Drop it - and don't carry parts because those parts won't allow you to solve new problems that live in this moment. Live in this moment as totally as possible, and suddenly you will come to realized, that if you live it totally, it is solved. There is no need to solve it. Life is not a problem to be solved, it's a mystery to be lived.
..........Rajneesh
' What Remains ?'...
Thoughts come and go. Feelings come and go. Find out what it is that remains.
..........Ramana Maharshi
' That Is Success '...
Don't wait to be successful at some future point, have a successful relationship with the present moment and be fully present in whatever you are doing. That is success.
..............Eckhart Tolle
' A Gift '...
With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.
................Wayne Dyer
' Stillness and Sanctuary '...
Within you there is a stillness and sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself
..................Hermann Hesse
' Great Spirit '...
Great Spirit-I want no blood upon my land to stain the grass. I want it all clear and pure, and I wish it so, that all who go through among my people may find it peaceful when they come, and leave peacefully when they go.
..................Ten Bears
' Mindfulness '...
Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom. You don't have to be swept away by your feeling. You can respond with wisdom and kindness rather than habit and reactivity.
................Henepola Gunaratana
' The Effect of Life '...
The effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.
..................Zhuangzi
' The Twilight of Life '...
In the twilight of life, God will not judge us on our earthly possessions and human success, but rather on how much we have loved.
.......... Saint John of the Cross
' Perfect Love '...
Perfect love means putting up with other peoples shortcomings, feeling no surprise at their weaknesses, finding encouragement even in the slightest evidence of good qualities in them.
............. Saint Therese of Lisieux
' Moral Issues '...
The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.
............Fulton J. Sheen
' Incarnation of Source '...
You are incarnations of God, all of you. You are incarnations of the Almighty, Omnipresent, Divine Principle. You may laugh at me now, but the time will come when you will understand. You must. Nobody will be left behind.
...............Swami Vivekananda
' How Beautiful '...
How beautiful to find a heart that loves you, without asking you for anything, but to be okay.
..........Khalil Gibran
' The Meaning of Life '...
The one who plants trees, knowing that he will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.
..............Rabindranath Tagore
' Worry '...
Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.
.................Corrie Ten Boom
' Love and Death '...
love make us poets, and the approach of death should make us philosophers.
..............George Santayana
' Independent Thinkers '...
A society with too few independent thinkers is vulnerable to control by disturbed and opportunistic leaders. A society which wants to create and maintain a free and democratic social system must create responsible independence of thought among its young.
......................John Dewey
' Small and Large Matters '...
In the small matters trust the mind, in the large ones the heart.
.....................Sigmund Freud
' What is Hell ?'...
Wake up !,,
It is your Life..
Pain is your companion..
The body is weakening..
An old car dies on the road..
Why are you here ?..
Mind is the only road to explore..
Hell is Egoic-attachment..
Leave this road and shake the hand of Freedom..
No Virus, here.. no fear here..
Death is not a fear, It is Freedom, and Frightens ego..
-----thomas
' Sense of Being '...
Our sense of being a person can come from being drawn into a wide social unit; our sense of selfhood can arise through the little ways in which we resist the pull. Our status is backed by the solid buildings of the world, while our sense of personal identity often resides in the cracks
...................Erving Goffman
' Finding Yourself '...
People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself. But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.
.................Thomas Szasz
' Happiness '...
Happiness doesn't depend on what we have, but it does depend on how we feel toward what we have. We can be happy with little and miserable with much.
..............William D. Hoard
' The Nobel Prize '...
I intend to leave after my death a large fund for the promotion of the peace idea, but I am skeptical as to its results.
................Alfred Nobel
' Perseverance and Confidence '...
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.
...................Marie Curie
' The Gift of Mental Power '...
The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power. My Mother had taught me to seek all truth in the Bible.
...............Nikola Tesla
' Judo '...
Judo helps us to understand that worry is a waste of energy.
.................Kano Jigoro
' The Insanity of Egoic Division '...
The longer I live, the more convinced am I that this planet is used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.
................George Bernard Shaw
' False Knowledge '...
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
..................George Bernard Shaw
' Dreams '...
Dreams are like stars. You may never touch them, but if you follow them they will lead you to your destiny.
......................Liam James
'Where is Allah ?'...
When you’re going through something hard and you start wondering where Allah is, just remember, the Teacher is always quiet during a test.
......................Nouman Ali Khan
' Lovers of Wisdom '...
Mankind will never see an end of trouble until lovers of wisdom come to hold political power, or the holders of power become lovers of wisdom
........................Plato
' Liberty and Security '...
He who would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserves neither liberty nor security.
....................Benjamin Franklin
' The Wise Man '...
Many words are not proof of the wise man, because the sage only talk when it's needed, and the words are measured and corresponding with the need.
..........Thales
' Learning '...
Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.
..............Leonardo da Vinci
' Someday '...
Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.
........................Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
' Education '...
Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten.
..............B. F. Skinner
' The Mask of Ego '...
..we wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes- this debt we pay to human guile; with torn and bleeding hearts we smile.
.............Paul Laurence Dunbar
' Courage '...
Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
..................Amelia Earhart
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