' Seeking Love '...
If you come to doubt, I'll give you every reason to doubt. If you come suspicious, I'll give you every reason to be suspicious. But if you come seeking Love, I'll show you more love than you've ever known
....................................... Mahavatar Babaji
' Experience '...
Man learns through experience, and the spiritual path is full of different kinds of experiences. He will encounter many difficulties and obstacles, and they are the very experiences he needs to encourage and complete the cleansing process.
................................... Sai Baba
' Be Quiet '...
Be quiet in your mind, quiet in your senses, and also quiet in your body. Then, when all these are quiet, don't do anything. In that state truth will reveal itself to you.
................................ Kabir
' The Highest Education '...
The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.
................................ Rabindranath Tagore
' Governments '...
Men in Government monopolize the necessary use of force; they are not using their energies productively; they are not milking cows. To get butter, they must use guns; they have nothing else to use.
.................................. Rose Wilder Lane
' Belief '...
I believe in God, family, truth between people, the power of love.
............................ Michael Landon
' Character '...
Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all.
............................... Sam Ewing
' Chanting '...
Chanting is a way of getting in touch with yourself. It's an opening of the heart and letting go of the mind and thoughts. It deepens the channel of grace, and it's a way of being present in the moment.
.................................... Krishna Das
' A Pure Heart '...
Nothing can be achieved without knowledge and yet everything can be achieved just through a pure heart.
................................ Haidakhan Babaji
' Always Remember '...
Always remember that you belong to no one, and no one belongs to you. Reflect that some day you will suddenly have to leave everything in this world - so make the acquaintanceship of God now.
.............................. Lahiri Mahasaya
' Happiness is NOW '...
Happiness is NOW! It isn't tomorrow. It isn't yesterday. Happiness is like a morning glory: Yesterday's won't bloom again; tomorrow's hasn't opened yet. Only today's flower can be enjoyed today. Be happy this very moment, and you'll learn how to be happy always.
.................................. Goswami Kriyananda
' Change Yourself '...
Change yourself and you have done your part in changing the world
....................... Paramahansa Yogananda
' One Useless Man '...
One useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three is a Congress.
....................... President John Adams
' Best Friends '...
Close friendships are one of life's miracles - that a few people get to know you deeply, all your messy or shadowy stuff along with the beauty and sweetness, and they still love you. Not only still love you, but love you more and more deeply. I would do anything for my closest friends, and they would do almost anything for me, and that is about as spiritual a truth as you can get.
................................ Anne Lamott
' Pay Attention '...
Pay attention to the things that bring a tear to your eye or a lump in your throat because they are signs that the holy is drawing near.
.................................... Frederick Buechner
' The Hardest Spiritual Work '...
The hardest spiritual work in the world is to love the neighbor as the self - to encounter another human being not as someone you can use, change, fix, help, save, enroll, convince or control, but simply as someone who can spring you from the prison of yourself, if you will allow it.
.......................................... Barbara Brown Taylor
' Christianity is a Lifestyle '...
Christianity is a lifestyle - a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. However, we made it into an established "religion" (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish, and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one's "personal Lord and Savior" . . . The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on Earth is too great.
............................ Richard Rohr
' Self-Observation '...
Self-observation brings man to the realization of the necessity of self-change. And in observing himself a man notices that self-observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self-observation is an instrument of self-change, a means of awakening.
................................ G. I. Gurdjieff
' To Enjoy '...
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.
......................................... Marcus Aurelius
' The Rule of Fools '...
If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.
............................................ Plato
' The Present '...
The eternal life is given to those who live in the present.
............................ Ludwig Wittgenstein
' The Freedom of Humanity '...
The freedom of Mankind does not lie in the fact that can do what we want, but that we do not have to do that which we do not want.
....................................... Jean-Jacques Rousseau
' Who Controls You ?'...
If you want to know who controls you, look at who you are not allowed to criticize.
...................................... Voltaire
' Possessions '...
The most precious of all possessions is power over ourselves.
.................................. John Locke
' The Bhagavad Gita '...
In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial.
............................................. Henry David Thoreau
' Failure '...
You've got to experience failure to understand that you can survive it.
............................. Tina Fey
' Listening '...
There are two sorts of people in the world: Those who listen and those who are thinking about what they are going to say next.
................................... Paul Simon
' Love is all you Need '...
I still believe that love is all you need. I don't know a better message than that.
...................................... Paul McCartney
' Actions '...
People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.
....................................... Bob Dylan
' Your own Voice '...
To gain your own voice, forget about having it heard. Become a saint of your own province and your own consciousness.
.......................................... Allen Ginsberg
' This is Now '...
Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it, cling to it. I want to become acutely aware of all I’ve taken for granted.
........................................... Sylvia Plath
' Sufi Quotes '...
“The death of the heart is ignorance and life of the heart is knowledge.”
............................. Imam Ghazali....................
“Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God wil open up a new path only for you. Be thankful! It is easy to be thankful when all is well. A Sufi is thankful not only for what he has been given but also for all that has been denied.”
................... Elif Shafak......................
“Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you.”
........................ Rumi.
' To Love '...
When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love................................... Marcus Aurelius
' Silence is Essential '...
Silence is essential. We need silence just as much as we need air, just as much as plants need light. If our minds are crowded with words and thoughts, there is no space for us.
................................. Nhat Hanh
' Never Forget '...
If you do something for someone else, never remember. If someone does something for you, never forget.
.................................... Dale Carnegie
' The Poorest Man '...
Who is the poorest man in the world? I tell you, the poorest man I know of is the man who has nothing but money.
....................................... John D. Rockefeller
' Fear '...
Fear is a habit, so is self pity, defeat, anxiety, despair, hopelessness and resignation. You can eliminate all of these negative habits with two simple resolves: I can and I will.
.................................. Napoleon Hill
' Courage '...
Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
.......................... Amelia Earhart
' Horror '...
How can this world, which is so beautiful, include so much horror?
............................... Eugene Delacroix
' Source is Light '...
The fascinating thing, is not to show the source of light, but the effect of light.
.................................... Edgar Degas
' The Manifestation Dream '...
Everything is about to disappear. You've got to hurry up if you still want to see things.
........................................ Paul Cezanne
' Life is Simple '...
Life is pretty simple:
You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works.
You do more of what works.
.................................. Leonardo da Vinci
' Your Gift '...
The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.
.................................. Pablo Picasso
' Living in Fear '...
Too many of us are not living our dreams because we are living our fears.
................................ Les Brown
' Today's Problems '...
We can't solve today's problems with the mentality that created them.
............................... Albert Einstein
' When I Was '...
When I got enough confidence, the stage was gone. When I was sure of losing, I won. When I needed people the most, they left me. When I learnt to dry my tears, I found a shoulder to cry on. And when I mastered the art of hating, somebody started loving me.
................................... William Shakespeare
' Fractions '...
A man is like a fraction whose numerator is what he is and whose denominator is what he thinks of himself... The larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction.
........................................ Leo Tolstoy
' I Value '...
Because I have known despair, I value hope. Because I have
tasted frustration, I value fulfillment. Because I have been lonely, I value love.
................................... Leonard Nimoy
' Preventing Wars '...
The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but rather by its ability to prevent them.
.......................................... Gene Roddenberry
' Will we Learn ? '...
Better be wise by the misfortunes of others than by your own.
.................................. Aesop
' Love '...
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
............................... William Hazlitt
' Accomplish Miracles '...
A gentle word, a kind look, a good-natured smile can work wonders and accomplish miracles.
.................................. William Hazlitt
' WAR '...
Those who are at war with others are not at peace with themselves.
................................... William Hazlitt
' Life is but a Dream '...
All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.
.......................... Edgar Allan Poe
' A Philosophical Animal '...
It is difficult to obtain the friendship of a cat. It is a philosophical animal... one that does not place its affections thoughtlessly.
.......................................... Theophile Gautier
' The Nazarine Speaks,, through John Smallman '...
Humanity is on a roll! Yes, humanity is awakening very rapidly indeed now. And this is not by any means the first time I have told you this. However, you have now veritably had enough of the illusory unreality of separation from Source, and you have chosen to awaken back into the Reality from which you have never for even an instant been separated. Your unawareness of your true nature is coming to an end as your amnesia – one of the unavoidable aspects of the illusory state – is dissolving, allowing you to know yourselves once more as you truly are, while at the same time remaining in human form for a little longer as you assist the human collective to fully engage with the awakening process...........................
As a human in form to be awakened to life can be quite delightful, so continue resetting your daily intent to be only loving whatever arises, and trust that Mother/Father/God’s plan is unfolding precisely as She intends. You are most dearly loved in every moment of your existence, and any sense of unworthiness, inadequacy, or, God forbid, sinfulness that you may feel arising within you is completely invalid. You are utterly and completely worthy to rest always in God’s Presence, as you are doing in every moment, and without interruption. Love never ignores or dismisses, It always and only welcomes.......................
Love is the life force that empowers your bodies, It is eternal, It is everlasting, It is who you truly are. While, as you well understand, your bodies are very temporary conveyances to enable you to experience life in form as physical beings, seemingly separate from one another, you are presently incarnate because you have chosen to participate so lovingly and courageously in the awakening process.You are all doing magnificent work, so do not concern yourselves with the lack of positive feedback. The energy of Love that you are each sharing and extending is having an enormous effect worldwide. Visit some of the true and genuine non mainstream web sites reporting on the many beautiful things that are occurring, very much as a result of so many positively participating in the collective awakening process, and realize that your daily resetting of your intent to be only loving is an absolutely essential and irreplaceable aspect of this process. Honor and trust yourselves, knowing, as you do deep within yourselves, that you are all perfect divine creations of Mother/Father/God powerfully demonstrating in every moment your deep and intense love for God and for humanity. All are One!..........................
As a collective, humanity cannot fail to awaken; humanity’s awakening is inevitable because it is your collective intent, and God’s, that you do so. However, many individuals are using their free willand choosing to delay their awakening because they have totally accepted their egos’ fear driven beliefs telling them that the material environment is the only reality. They also believe that it is a place in which they have to be constantly on the alert either to avoid or prevent life threatening situations from developing that could injure or kill them. They will even attack others who are offering absolutely no threat in case those others are either deceiving them or might change their minds. People in such an intense state of fear, which they do their best to hide by putting on a mask of strength and invincibility, have not yet become aware of the enormous power of love, and so dismiss it as weakness and foolishness........................
But Love is All, and therefore these ones will, at the moment of their inevitable free will choice to do so, finally allow themselves to find within themselves an intense spark of Love that will lead them out of fear. No one can possibly be lost or abandoned as all are eternal being, and your loving intents, which you so beautifully reset at least once daily, are most definitely seeping through the blocks and barriers which these fearful ones have constructed within themselves in order protect themselves from – as they see it – the weakness of love. However, it is their defenses that are weak, and they will collapse....................
So, remind yourselves frequently that your true and only nature is Love, and just by doing that you invite It into your hearts and then allow It to flow though you with total freedom to engage and interact with everyone you ever bring to mind for even the briefest of moments. Just by being you are sharing and spreading Love so that It may penetrate and dissolve the barriers that the fearful ones have constructed around themselves..................
Truly, these fearful ones desperately want only to be loved. However, at some point in their human lives they have been very badly traumatized and have come to believe themselves to be utterly unlovable. With a belief like that, even though it is deeply buried below their level of conscious awareness, it concocts within them a deeply felt need for anger, hatred, and resentment, which they then project onto others. This gives them a brief sense of satisfaction as they see others suffering, the same suffering that they are refusing to acknowledge within themselves. These people need your love, so do not withhold it from them as they do from others, it does not and cannot bring them any lasting peace or satisfaction, whereas your loving intentions can and do....................
You, who are reading or listening to this or other similar messages, are most definitely following the paths you planned for yourselves with divine guidance before your present incarnations. Trust yourselves and your intuition because that divine guidance is with you in every moment. If you do just that – and you do it by just being even more effectively than by any other kind and loving work in which you choose to engage – you will bring great comfort to all with whom you interact in even the slightest way, and you will enormously assist those horribly traumatized ones who live in a state of almost constant but utterly and completely invalid self-hatred and fear..........................
You are each Love incarnate, as you well know, and by honoring and trusting yourselves just by being yourselves you are filling your divine Mother with joy, and you truly are also most magnificently fulfilling your pre-planned earthly tasks of assisting in humanity’s inevitable collective awakening. And of course, you too will awaken, and with unmitigated amazement, into the wonder and realization of who you truly are................................
Your loving brother, Jesus.
' Listen,,, O' Drop '...
“Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean.
Listen, O drop, bestow upon yourself this honor,
and in the arms of the Sea be secure.
Who indeed should be so fortunate?
An Ocean wooing a drop!
In God's name, in God's name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of pearls.”
............................................. Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
' Sadness is Silent '...
Sadness is silent, it is yours. It is coming because you are alone. It is giving you a chance to go deeper into your aloneness. Rather than jumping from one shallow happiness to another shallow happiness and wasting your life, it is better to use sadness as a means for meditation. Witness it. It is a friend! It opens the door of your eternal aloneness.
.................................... Rajneesh
' When we are Ready '...
When we are ready to make positive changes in our lives, we attract whatever we need to help us.
.................................... Louise Hay
' No one Can '...
I only allow that which is good into my life. No one can depress you. No one can make you anxious. No one can hurt your feelings. No one can make you anything.....other than what you allow!
............................................ Wayne Dyer
' Negativity '...
All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry - all forms of fear - are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.
.......................................... Eckhart Tolle
' Old Age '...
A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
............................. John Barrymore
' Gifts '...
The gifts of caring, attention, affection, appreciation, and love are some of the most precious gifts you can give, and they don't cost you anything.
.......................................Deepak Chopra
. ' Rabi'a Al-'Adawiyya '...
Rabi'a Al-'Adawiyya
Depiction of Rabi'a grinding grain from a Persian dictionary.....................................
Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya or Rabia of Basra (died 801) was a mystic who represents countercultural elements of Sufism, especially with regards to the status and power of women. Prominent Sufi leader Hasan of Basra is said to have castigated himself before her superior merits and sincere virtues.[184] Rabi'a was born of very poor origin, but was captured by bandits at a later age and sold into slavery. She was however released by her master when he awoke one night to see the light of sanctity shining above her head.[185] Rabi'a al-Adawiyya is known for her teachings and emphasis on the centrality of the love of God to a holy life.[186] She is said to have proclaimed, running down the streets of Basra, Iraq:.......................................
O God! If I worship You for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell, and if I worship You in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship You for Your Own sake, grudge me not Your everlasting Beauty.
.................... Rabi'a al-Adawiyya
' A Wise Man '...
A wise man is superior to any insults which can be put upon him, and the best reply to unseemly behavior is patience and moderation.
......................................... Moliere
' Laughing Faces '...
Laughing faces do not mean that there is absence of sorrow!
But it means that they have the ability to deal with it
.................................. William Shakespeare
' Two Histories '...
There are two histories : official history, lying, and then secret history, where you find the real causes of events.
.................................... Honore de Balzac
' Love '...
To love for the sake of being loved is human, but to love for the sake of loving is angelic.
..................................... Alphonse de Lamartine
' Learning '...
Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.
...................................... Xunzi
' The Enlightenment of Source '...
“And when your soul, the flame, the spark, meets with the divine fuel that is so pure and so strong, it results in immense enlightenment: the enlightenment of God. Light upon light, Noorun Alaa Noor.”
.......................................... Zain Hashmi, A Blessed Olive Tree: A Spiritual Journey in Twenty Short Stories
' The Way '...
“I know you're tired but come, this is the way.”
.............................. Jalalu'l-din Rumi
' An Open Mind '...
With an open mind, seek and listen to all the highest ideals. Consider the most enlightened thoughts. Then choose your path, person by person, each for oneself.
............................................. Zoroaster
' Today '...
As long as there are memories, yesterday remains. As long as there is hope, tomorrow awaits. As long as there is friendship, today is beautiful.
............................................ Billy Joel
' Only Now '...
These are the days of the endless summer, these are the days, the time is now. There is no past, there's only future, there's only here, there's only now.
.................................... Van Morrison
' What Matters ?'...
Let the disappointments pass
Let the laughter fill your glass
Let the illusions last until they shatter
Whatever you might hope to find
among the thoughts that crowd your mind
There won't be many that ever really matter.
.................................. Jackson Browne
' Success '...
Do something you really like, and hopefully it pays the rent. As far as I'm concerned, that's success.
......................................... Tom Petty
' Pride '...
With pride, there are many curses. With humility, there come many blessings.
.......................................... Ezra Taft Benson
' To Ignore Truth '...
As for the men in power, they are so anxious to establish the myth of infallibility that they do their utmost to ignore truth.
...................................... Boris Pasternak
' Listening to Poets '...
By failing to read or listen to poets, society dooms itself to inferior modes of articulation, those of the politician, the salesman, or the charlatan. In other words, it forfeits its own evolutionary potential. For what distinguishes us from the rest of the animal kingdom is precisely the gift of speech. Poetry is not a form of entertainment and in a certain sense not even a form of art, but it is our anthropological, genetic goal. Our evolutionary, linguistic beacon.
....................................... Joseph Brodsky
' Pain and Suffering '...
Why do men learn through pain and suffering, and not through pleasure and happiness? Very simply, because pleasure and happiness accustom one to satisfaction with the things given in this world, whereas pain and suffering drive one to seek a more profound happiness beyond the limitations of this world.
................................. Seraphim Rose
' The Nature of Prayer '...
Prayer by its nature is communion and union of man with God; by its action it is the reconciliation of man with God, the mother and daughter of tears, a bridge for crossing temptations, a wall of protection from afflictions, a crushing of conflicts, boundless activity, the spring of virtues, the source of spiritual gifts, invisible progress, food of the soul, the enlightening of the mind, an axe for despair, a demonstration of hope, release from sorrow, the wealth of monks.
............................ Saint Ignatius Bryanchaninov
' Never confuse the Person '...
Never confuse the person, formed in the image of God, with the evil that is in him: because evil is but a chance misfortune, an illness, a devilish reverie. But the very essence of the person is the image of God, and this remains in him despite every disfigurement.
.................................... John of Kronstadt
' Truth Seeker '...
When you seek truth, you seek God whether you know it or not.
................................. Edith Stein
' Only Good '...
Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors.
................................ Saint Mary Faustina Kowalska
' Pure and Simple '...
When the heart is pure and simple it cannot help loving, because it has discovered the source of love which is God.
............................................ John Vianney
' Look Within '...
See the Face of God in everyone.
............................ Saint Catherine Laboure
' Listen to the Sermon '...
Listen to the sermon preached to you by the flowers, the trees, the shrubs, the sky, and the whole world. Notice how they preach to you a sermon full of love, of praise of God, and how they invite you to glorify the sublimity of that sovereign Artist who has given them being.
......................................... Paul of the Cross
' Righteous '...
May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true. May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong. May you stay forever young.
....................................... Bob Dylan
' The Now '...
It's being here now that's important. There's no past and there's no future. Time is a very misleading thing. All there is ever, is the now. We can gain experience from the past, but we can't relive it; and we can hope for the future, but we don't know if there is one.
..................................... George Harrison
' O K '...
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
.............................. John Lennon
' Always Hope '...
There is always a way and always hope in the next sunrise, and in the next second, and in the next minute.
................................... Ziggy Marley
' Enlightenment '...
Dissolves the self in the supreme self as the pot-space is dissolved in infinite space; then, as the infinite be silent forever, o sage! ................................. Adhyatma Upanishad
' Katha Upanishad '...
Upanishad literally means, “sitting close to” or “sitting down near”, which implies listening closely to the mystic doctrines of a spiritual teacher or guru. In another sense of the term, ‘Upanishad’ means ‘Brahma-knowledge’ by which ignorance is annihilated.
Some other possible meanings of ‘Upanishad’ are “placing side by side” (equivalence or correlation), a “near approach” (to the Absolute Being), “secret wisdom” or even “sitting near the enlightened”..................Quotes from the Upanishad---------------- The knowing self is not born; it does not die. it has not sprung from anything; nothing has sprung from it. birthless, eternal, everlasting, and ancient, it is not killed when the body is killed. ............................ Katha Upanishad
' Ego -- The False Center by Osho '...
The first thing to be understood is what ego is. A child is born. A child is born without any knowledge, any consciousness of his own self. And when a child is born the first thing he becomes aware of is not himself; the first thing he becomes aware of is the other. It is natural, because the eyes open outwards, the hands touch others, the ears listen to others, the tongue tastes food and the nose smells the outside. All these senses open outwards.
That is what birth means. Birth means coming into this world, the world of the outside. So when a child is born, he is born into this world. He opens his eyes, sees others. 'Other' means the thou. He becomes aware of the mother first. Then, by and by, he becomes aware of his own body. That too is the other, that too belongs to the world. He is hungry and he feels the body; his need is satisfied, he forgets the body.
This is how a child grows. First he becomes aware of you, thou, other, and then by and by, in contrast to you, thou, he becomes aware of himself.
This awareness is a reflected awareness. He is not aware of who he is. He is simply aware of the mother and what she thinks about him. If she smiles, if she appreciates the child, if she says, "You are beautiful," if she hugs and kisses him, the child feels good about himself. Now an ego is born.
Through appreciation, love, care, he feels he is good, he feels he is valuable, he feels he has some significance.
A center is born.
But this center is a reflected center. It is not his real being. He does not know who he is; he simply knows what others think about him. And this is the ego: the reflection, what others think. If nobody thinks that he is of any use, nobody appreciates him, nobody smiles, then too an ego is born: an ill ego; sad, rejected, like a wound; feeling inferior, worthless. This too is the ego. This too is a reflection.
First the mother - and mother means the world in the beginning. Then others will join the mother, and the world goes on growing. And the more the world grows, the more complex the ego becomes, because many others' opinions are reflected.
The ego is an accumulated phenomenon, a by-product of living with others. If a child lives totally alone, he will never come to grow an ego. But that is not going to help. He will remain like an animal. That doesn't mean that he will come to know the real self, no.
The real can be known only through the false, so the ego is a must. One has to pass through it. It is a discipline. The real can be known only through the illusion. You cannot know the truth directly. First you have to know that which is not true. First you have to encounter the untrue. Through that encounter you become capable of knowing the truth. If you know the false as the false, truth will dawn upon you.
Ego is a need; it is a social need, it is a social by-product. The society means all that is around you - not you, but all that is around you. All, minus you, is the society. And everybody reflects. You will go to school and the teacher will reflect who you are. You will be in friendship with other children and they will reflect who you are. By and by, everybody is adding to your ego, and everybody is trying to modify it in such a way that you don't become a problem to the society.
They are not concerned with you.
They are concerned with the society.
Society is concerned with itself, and that's how it should be.
They are not concerned that you should become a self-knower. They are concerned that you should become an efficient part in the mechanism of the society. You should fit into the pattern. So they are trying to give you an ego that fits with the society. They teach you morality. Morality means giving you an ego which will fit with the society. If you are immoral, you will always be a misfit somewhere or other. That's why we put criminals in the prisons - not that they have done something wrong, not that by putting them in the prisons we are going to improve them, no. They simply don't fit. They are troublemakers. They have certain types of egos of which the society doesn't approve. If the society approves, everything is good.
One man kills somebody - he is a murderer.
And the same man in wartime kills thousands - he becomes a great hero. The society is not bothered by a murder, but the murder should be commited for the society - then it is okay. The society doesn't bother about morality.
Morality means only that you should fit with the society.
If the society is at war, then the morality changes.
If the society is at peace, then there is a different morality.
Morality is a social politics. It is diplomacy. And each child has to be brought up in such a way that he fits into the society, that's all. Because society is interested in efficient members. Society is not interested that you should attain to self-knowledge.
The society creates an ego because the ego can be controlled and manipulated. The self can never be controlled or manipulated. Nobody has ever heard of the society controlling a self - not possible.
And the child needs a center; the child is completely unaware of his own center. The society gives him a center and the child is by and by convinced that this is his center, the ego that society gives.
A child comes back to his home - if he has come first in his class, the whole family is happy. You hug and kiss him, and you take the child on your shoulders and dance and you say, "What a beautiful child! You are a pride to us." You are giving him an ego, a subtle ego. And if the child comes home dejected, unsuccessful, a failure - he couldn't pass, or he has just been on the back bench - then nobody appreciates him and the child feels rejected. He will try harder next time, because the center feels shaken.
Ego is always shaken, always in search of food, that somebody should appreciate it. That's why you continuously ask for attention.
You get the idea of who you are from others.
It is not a direct experience.
It is from others that you get the idea of who you are. They shape your center. This center is false, because you carry your real center. That is nobody's business. Nobody shapes it.
You come with it.
You are born with it.
So you have two centers. One center you come with, which is given by existence itself. That is the self. And the other center, which is created by the society, is the ego. It is a false thing - and it is a very great trick. Through the ego the society is controlling you. You have to behave in a certain way, because only then does the society appreciate you. You have to walk in a certain way; you have to laugh in a certain way; you have to follow certain manners, a morality, a code. Only then will the society appreciate you, and if it doesn't, you ego will be shaken. And when the ego is shaken, you don't know where you are, who you are.
The others have given you the idea.
That idea is the ego.
Try to understand it as deeply as possible, because this has to be thrown. And unless you throw it you will never be able to attain to the self. Because you are addicted to the center, you cannot move, and you cannot look at the self.
And remember, there is going to be an interim period, an interval, when the ego will be shattered, when you will not know who you are, when you will not know where you are going, when all boundaries will melt.
You will simply be confused, a chaos.
Because of this chaos, you are afraid to lose the ego. But it has to be so. One has to pass through the chaos before one attains to the real center.
And if you are daring, the period will be small.
If you are afraid, and you again fall back to the ego, and you again start arranging it, then it can be very, very long; many lives can be wasted.
I have heard: One small child was visiting his grandparents. He was just four years old. In the night when the grandmother was putting him to sleep, he suddenly started crying and weeping and said, "I want to go home. I am afraid of darkness." But the grandmother said, "I know well that at home also you sleep in the dark; I have never seen a light on. So why are you afraid here?" The boy said, "Yes, that's right - but that is MY darkness." This darkness is completely unknown.
Even with darkness you feel, "This is MINE."
Outside - an unknown darkness.
With the ego you feel, "This is MY darkness."
It may be troublesome, maybe it creates many miseries, but still mine. Something to hold to, something to cling to, something underneath the feet; you are not in a vacuum, not in an emptiness. You may be miserable, but at least you ARE. Even being miserable gives you a feeling of 'I am'. Moving from it, fear takes over; you start feeling afraid of the unknown darkness and chaos - because society has managed to clear a small part of your being.
It is just like going to a forest. You make a little clearing, you clear a little ground; you make fencing, you make a small hut; you make a small garden, a lawn, and you are okay. Beyond your fence - the forest, the wild. Here everything is okay; you have planned everything. This is how it has happened.
Society has made a little clearing in your consciousness. It has cleaned just a little part completely, fenced it. Everything is okay there. That's what all your universities are doing. The whole culture and conditioning is just to clear a part so that you can feel at home there.
And then you become afraid.
Beyond the fence there is danger.
Beyond the fence you are, as within the fence you are - and your conscious mind is just one part, one-tenth of your whole being. Nine-tenths is waiting in the darkness. And in that nine-tenths, somewhere your real center is hidden.
One has to be daring, courageous.
One has to take a step into the unknown.
For a while all boundaries will be lost.
For a while you will feel dizzy.
For a while, you will feel very afraid and shaken, as if an earthquake has happened. But if you are courageous and you don't go backwards, if you don't fall back to the ego and you go on and on, there is a hidden center within you that you have been carrying for many lives.
That is your soul, the self.
Once you come near it, everything changes, everything settles again. But now this settling is not done by the society. Now everything becomes a cosmos, not a chaos; a new order arises.
But this is no longer the order of the society - it is the very order of existence itself.
It is what Buddha calls Dhamma, Lao Tzu calls Tao, Heraclitus calls Logos. It is not man-made. It is the VERY order of existence itself. Then everything is suddenly beautiful again, and for the first time really beautiful, because man-made things cannot be beautiful. At the most you can hide the ugliness of them, that's all. You can decorate them, but they can never be beautiful.
The difference is just like the difference between a real flower and a plastic or paper flower. The ego is a plastic flower - dead. It just looks like a flower, it is not a flower. You cannot really call it a flower. Even linguistically to call it a flower is wrong, because a flower is something which flowers. And this plastic thing is just a thing, not a flowering. It is dead. There is no life in it.
You have a flowering center within. That's why Hindus call it a lotus - it is a flowering. They call it the one-thousand-petaled-lotus. One thousand means infinite petals. And it goes on flowering, it never stops, it never dies.
But you are satisfied with a plastic ego.
There are some reasons why you are satisfied. With a dead thing, there are many conveniences. One is that a dead thing never dies. It cannot - it was never alive. So you can have plastic flowers, they are good in a way. They are permanent; they are not eternal, but they are permanent.
The real flower outside in the garden is eternal, but not permanent. And the eternal has its own way of being eternal. The way of the eternal is to be born again and again and to die. Through death it refreshes itself, rejuvenates itself.
To us it appears that the flower has died - it never dies.
It simply changes bodies, so it is ever fresh.
It leaves the old body, it enters a new body. It flowers somewhere else; it goes on flowering.
But we cannot see the continuity because the continuity is invisible. We see only one flower, another flower; we never see the continuity.
It is the same flower which flowered yesterday.
It is the same sun, but in a different garb.
The ego has a certain quality - it is dead. It is a plastic thing. And it is very easy to get it, because others give it. You need not seek it, there is no search involved. That's why unless you become a seeker after the unknown, you have not yet become an individual. You are just a part of the crowd. You are just a mob.
When you don't have a real center, how can you be an individual?
The ego is not individual. Ego is a social phenomenon - it is society, its not you. But it gives you a function in the society, a hierarchy in the society. And if you remain satisfied with it, you will miss the whole opportunity of finding the self.
And that's why you are so miserable.
With a plastic life, how can you be happy?
With a false life, how can you be ecstatic and blissful? And then this ego creates many miseries, millions of them.
You cannot see, because it is your own darkness. You are attuned to it.
Have you ever noticed that all types of miseries enter through the ego? It cannot make you blissful; it can only make you miserable.
Ego is hell.
Whenever you suffer, just try to watch and analyze, and you will find, somewhere the ego is the cause of it. And the ego goes on finding causes to suffer.
You are an egoist, as everyone is. Some are very gross, just on the surface, and they are not so difficult. Some are very subtle, deep down, and they are the real problems.
This ego comes continuously in conflict with others because every ego is so unconfident about itself. Is has to be - it is a false thing. When you don't have anything in your hand and you just think that something is there, then there will be a problem.
If somebody says, "There is nothing," immediately the fight will start, because you also feel that there is nothing. The other makes you aware of the fact.
Ego is false, it is nothing.
That you also know.
How can you miss knowing it? It is impossible! A conscious being - how can he miss knowing that this ego is just false? And then others say that there is nothing - and whenever the others say that there is nothing they hit a wound, they say a truth - and nothing hits like the truth.
You have to defend, because if you don't defend, if you don't become defensive, then where will you be?
You will be lost.
The identity will be broken.
So you have to defend and fight - that is the clash.
A man who attains to the self is never in any clash. Others may come and clash with him, but he is never in clash with anybody.
It happened that one Zen master was passing through a street. A man came running and hit him hard. The master fell down. Then he got up and started to walk in the same direction in which he was going before, not even looking back.
A disciple was with the master. He was simply shocked. He said, "Who is this man? What is this? If one lives in such a way, then anybody can come and kill you. And you have not even looked at that person, who he is, and why he did it."
The master said, "That is his problem, not mine."
You can clash with an enlightened man, but that is your problem, not his. And if you are hurt in that clash, that too is your own problem. He cannot hurt you. And it is like knocking against a wall - you will be hurt, but the wall has not hurt you.
The ego is always looking for some trouble. Why? Because if nobody pays attention to you, the ego feels hungry.
It lives on attention.
So even if somebody is fighting and angry with you, that too is good because at least the attention is paid. If somebody loves, it is okay. If somebody is not loving you, then even anger will be good. At least the attention will come to you. But if nobody is paying any attention to you, nobody thinks that you are somebody important, significant, then how will you feed your ego?
Other's attention is needed.
In millions of ways you attract the attention of others; you dress in a certain way, you try to look beautiful, you behave, you become very polite, you change. When you feel what type of situation is there, you immediately change so that people pay attention to you.
This is a deep begging.
A real beggar is one who asks for and demands attention. And a real emperor is one who lives in himself; he has a center of his own, he doesn't depend on anybody else.
Buddha sitting under his bodhi tree...if the whole world suddenly disappears, will it make any difference to Buddha? -none. It will not make any difference at all. If the whole world disappears, it will not make any difference because he has attained to the center.
But you, if the wife escapes, divorces you, goes to somebody else, you are completely shattered - because she had been paying attention to you, caring, loving, moving around you, helping you to feel that you were somebody. Your whole empire is lost, you are simply shattered. You start thinking about suicide. Why? Why, if a wife leaves you, should you commit suicide? Why, if a husband leaves you, should you commit suicide? Because you don't have any center of your own. The wife was giving you the center; the husband was giving you the center.
This is how people exist. This is how people become dependent on others. It is a deep slavery. Ego HAS to be a slave. It depends on others. And only a person who has no ego is for the first time a master; he is no longer a slave. Try to understand this.
And start looking for the ego - not in others, that is not your business, but in yourself. Whenever you feel miserable, immediately close you eyes and try to find out from where the misery is coming and you will always find it is the false center which has clashed with someone.
You expected something, and it didn't happen.
You expected something, and just the contrary happened - your ego is shaken, you are in misery. Just look, whenever you are miserable, try to find out why.
Causes are not outside you. The basic cause is within you - but you always look outside, you always ask:
Who is making me miserable?
Who is the cause of my anger?
Who is the cause of my anguish?
And if you look outside you will miss.
Just close the eyes and always look within.
The source of all misery, anger, anguish, is hidden in you, your ego.
And if you find the source, it will be easy to move beyond it. If you can see that it is your own ego that gives you trouble, you will prefer to drop it - because nobody can carry the source of misery if he understands it.
And remember, there is no need to drop the ego.
You cannot drop it.
If you try to drop it, you will attain to a certain subtle ego again which says, "I have become humble."
Don't try to be humble. That's again ego in hiding - but it's not dead.
Don't try to be humble.
Nobody can try humility, and nobody can create humility through any effort of his own - no. When the ego is no more, a humbleness comes to you. It is not a creation. It is a shadow of the real center.
And a really humble man is neither humble nor egoistic.
He is simply simple.
He's not even aware that he is humble.
If you are aware that you are humble, the ego is there.
Look at humble persons.... There are millions who think that they are very humble. They bow down very low, but watch them - they are the subtlest egoists. Now humility is their source of food. They say, "I am humble," and then they look at you and they wait for you to appreciate them.
"You are really humble," they would like you to say. "In fact, you are the most humble man in the world; nobody is as humble as you are." Then see the smile that comes on their faces.
What is ego? Ego is a hierarchy that says, "No one is like me." It can feed on humbleness - "Nobody is like me, I am the most humble man."
It happened once:
A fakir, a beggar, was praying in a mosque, just early in the morning when it was still dark. It was a certain religious day for Mohammedians, and he was praying, and he was saying, "I am nobody. I am the poorest of the poor, the greatest sinner of sinners."
Suddenly there was one more person who was praying. He was the emperor of that country, and he was not aware that there was somebody else there who was praying - it was dark, and the emperor was also saying:
"I am nobody. I am nothing. I am just empty, a beggar at our door." When he heard that somebody else was saying the same thing, he said, "Stop! Who is trying to overtake me? Who are you? How dare you say before the emperor that you are nobody when he is saying that he is nobody?"
This is how the ego goes. It is so subtle. Its ways are so subtle and cunning; you have to be very, very alert, only then will you see it. Don't try to be humble. Just try to see that all misery, all anguish comes through it.
Just watch! No need to drop it.
You cannot drop it. Who will drop it? Then the DROPPER will become the ego. It always comes back.
Whatsoever you do, stand out of it, and look and watch.
Whatsoever you do - humbleness, humility, simplicity - nothing will help. Only one thing is possible, and that is just to watch and see that it is the source of all misery. Don't say it. Don't repeat it - WATCH. Because if I say it is the source of all misery and you repeat it, then it is useless. YOU have to come to that understanding. Whenever you are miserable, just close the eyes and don't try to find some cause outside. Try to see from where this misery is coming.
It is your own ego.
If you continuously feel and understand, and the understanding that the ego is the cause becomes so deep-rooted, one day you will suddenly see that it has disappeared. Nobody drops it - nobody can drop it. You simply see; it has simply disappeared, because the very understanding that ego causes all misery becomes the dropping. THE VERY UNDERSTANDING IS THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE EGO.
And you are so clever in seeing the ego in others. Anybody can see someone else's ego. When it comes to your own, then the problem arises - because you don't know the territory, you have never traveled on it.
The whole path towards the divine, the ultimate, has to pass through this territory of the ego. The false has to be understood as false. The source of misery has to be understood as the source of misery - then it simply drops.
When you know it is poison, it drops. When you know it is fire, it drops. When you know this is the hell, it drops.
And then you never say, "I have dropped the ego." Then you simply laugh at the whole thing, the joke that you were the creator of all misery.
I was just looking at a few cartoons of Charlie Brown. In one cartoon he is playing with blocks, making a house out of children's blocks. He is sitting in the middle of the blocks building the walls. Then a moment comes when he is enclosed; all around he has made a wall. Then he cries, "Help, help!"
He has done the whole thing! Now he is enclosed, imprisoned. This is childish, but this is all that you have done also. You have made a house all around yourself, and now you are crying, "Help, help!" And the misery becomes a millionfold - because there are helpers who are also in the same boat.
It happened that one very beautiful woman went to see her psychiatrist for the first time. The psychiatrist said, "Come closer please." When she came closer, he simply jumped and hugged and kissed the woman. She was shocked. Then he said, "Now sit down. This takes care of my problem, now what is your problem?"
The problem becomes multifold, because there are helpers who are in the same boat. And they would like to help, because when you help somebody the ego feels very good, very, very good - because you are a great helper, a great guru, a master; you are helping so many people. The greater the crowd of your followers, the better you feel.
But you are in the same boat - you cannot help.
Rather, you will harm.
People who still have their own problems cannot be of much help. Only someone who has no problems of his own can help you. Only then is there the clarity to see, to see through you. A mind that has no problems of its own can see you, you become transparent.
A mind that has no problems of its own can see through itself; that's why it becomes capable of seeing through others.
In the West, there are many schools of psychoanalysis, many schools, and no help is reaching people, but rather, harm. Because the people who are helping others, or trying to help, or posing as helpers, are in the same boat.
...It is difficult to see one's own ego.
It is very easy to see other's egos. But that is not the point, you cannot help them.
Try to see your own ego.
Just watch it.
Don't be in a hurry to drop it, just watch it. The more you watch, the more capable you will become. Suddenly one day, you simply see that it has dropped. And when it drops by itself, only then does it drop. There is no other way. Prematurely you cannot drop it.
It drops just like a dead leaf.
The tree is not doing anything - just a breeze, a situation, and the dead leaf simply drops. The tree is not even aware that the dead leaf has dropped. It makes no noise, it makes no claim - nothing.
The dead leaf simply drops and shatters on the ground, just like that.
When you are mature through understanding, awareness, and you have felt totally that ego is the cause of all your misery, simply one day you see the dead leaf dropping.
It settles into the ground, dies of its own accord. You have not done anything so you cannot claim that you have dropped it. You see that it has simply disappeared, and then the real center arises.
And that real center is the soul, the self, the god, the truth, or whatsoever you want to call it.
It is nameless, so all names are good.
You can give it any name of your own liking.
From Beyond the Frontier of the Mind by Osho
' One Positive Thought '...
One positive thought produces millions of positive vibrations.
.................................... John Coltrane
' Music Speaks '...
Music speaks from spirit to spirit and in that sense you could call it a true spiritual language.
.................................... John McLaughlin
' Instrument of Peace '...
The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.
..................................... Carlos Santana
' You See '...
You see, we are here, as far as I can tell, to help each other - our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our enemies. That's to help each other, not hurt each other.
.......................................... Stevie Ray Vaughan
' Two Weeks Ago '...
If you had started doing anything two weeks ago, by today you would have been two weeks better at it.
..................................... John Mayer
' God's Side '...
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.
........................................ Abraham Lincoln
' Self-examination '...
Long before we understand ourselves through the process of self-examination, we understand ourselves in a self-evident way in the family, society and state in which we live.
.................................. Hans-Georg Gadamer
' All Consciousness '...
All consciousness is consciousness of something
............................... Edmund Husserl
' 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
' What is Life '...
What is life but an unpleasant interruption to a peaceful nonexistence.
................................... Jean-Paul Sartre
' Spiritual Immune Systems '...
Fortunately, some are born with spiritual immune systems that sooner or later give rejection to the illusory worldview grafted upon then from birth through social conditioning. They begin sensing that something is amiss, and start looking for answers. Inner knowledge and anomalous outer experiences show them a side of reality others are oblivious to, and so begins the journey of awakening. Each step of the journey is made by following the heart instead of the crowd, and by choosing knowledge over veils of ignorance.
................................................... Henri Bergson
' Solitude '...
A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.
....................................... Arthur Schopenhauer
' Corruption of Youth '...
The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently.
............................................... Friedrich Nietzsche
' The ego-self '...
As long as you have a self,, you are not completely Free... This is the Divine Consciousness that exists as Light and Love,, Complete Freedom exists as non-self also known as Pure Awareness and contains no ego and no name except that of Complete Love........................thomas
' To Be Simple '...
To be simple means to make a choice about what's important, and let go of all the rest. When we are able to do this, our vision expands, our heads clear, and we can better see the details of our lives in all their incredible wonder and beauty.
............................................. John Daido Loori
' Loving the Soul '...
It is by loving and not by being loved that one can come nearest to the soul of another.
......................................... George MacDonald
' Forgetting '...
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
.................................................. Maya Angelou
' Government '...
Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Experience has taught us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession, and when the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.
....................................... President George Washington
' Right and Wrong '...
Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it.
....................................... William Penn
' Bored '...
There's no excuse to be bored. Sad, yes. Angry, yes. Depressed, yes. Crazy, yes. But there's no excuse for boredom, ever.
..................................... Viggo Mortensen
' Every Once in a While '...
Every once in a while, we remember that life is short, and to appreciate the time with your friends and family, and to be open to have beautiful exciting moments in your days and stop worrying about what's pulling you down.
..................................... Garrett Hedlund
' True to Self '...
The hardest thing to do is to be true to yourself, especially when everybody is watching.
..................................... Dave Chappelle
' Lying '...
A lie is profanity. A lie is the worst thing in the world. Art is the ability to tell the truth.
.................................... Richard Pryor
' The Constitution '...
The American Constitution was not written to protect criminals; it was written to protect the government from becoming criminals.
...................................... Lenny Bruce
' Do Not Stop '...
It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.
................................... Confucius
' We Are What We Think of All Day '...
I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be until finally I became that person. Or he became me.
...................................... Cary Grant
' Time '...
Success means controlling your own time. Time is the most important
currency, but once you spend it, man, its gone.
.......................................... Rod Steiger
' Living Consciously '...
Living
consciously involves being genuine; it involves listening and
responding to others honestly and openly; it involves being in the
moment.
...............................Sidney Poitier
' Happiness '...
it follows that if you aren't happy with yourself, you won't be happy with others.
...................................... Patti Page
Universal Truths '...
There' something about universal truths with the simplicity of the acoustic guitar. You can take it anywhere and it helps me reach listeners of all ages and walks of life.
.............................................. Jim Croce
' Death '...
Death is not an ending, but a symbol of movement along the path upon which we are all traveling. As it may be painful to lose contact with the physical aspect of one we love, the Spirit can never be lost. We have been and always will be a part of each other.
......................................... John Denver
' Doubt and Suspicions '...
If you come to doubt, I'll give you every reason to doubt. If you come suspicious, I'll give you every reason to be suspicious. But if you come seeking Love, I'll show you more love than you've ever known
......................................... Mahavatar Babaji
' Happiness '...
The only reason why you are unhappy is because you are trying to be happy.
..................................... Jaggi Vasudev
' The Greatest Fear '...
The greatest fear in the world is of the opinions of others. And the moment you are unafraid of the crowd you are no longer a sheep, you become a lion. A great roar arises in your heart, the roar of freedom.
............................................ Rajneesh
' Chasing Thoughts '...
When you run after your thoughts, you are like a dog chasing a stick: every time a stick is thrown, you run after it. Instead, be like a lion who, rather than chasing after the stick, turns to face the thrower. One only throws a stick at a lion once.
........................................ Milarepa
' Self-existing Wakefulness '...
The basic nature of all conscious beings is 'self-existing wakefulness'.
Self-existing meaning spontaneous or without effort and wakefulness meaning natural awareness.
To ignore our basic nature, is to wander in fear and confusion,
to directly realise our essential nature is to be Enlightened.
...................................... Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche
' The Spiritual Path '...
My advice to you is not to undertake the spiritual path. It is too difficult, too long, and is too demanding. I suggest you ask for your money back, and go home. This is not a picnic. It is really going to ask everything of you. So, it is best not to begin. However, if you do begin, it is best to finish.
........................................... Chogyam Trungpa
' The Most Precious Gift '...
The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.
........................................ Nhat Hanh
' War Again ,,, Pray for Peace '...
“Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.”
................................ Albert Einstein.
' Millions of Years '...
Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.
............................................. Jacques Prevert
' From Forever '...
Come from forever, and you will go everywhere.
................................ Arthur Rimbaud
' Practice Kindness '...
Practice kindness all day to everybody and you will realize you're already in heaven now.
.................................. Jack Kerouac
' The Exploring Mind '...
The free exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world.
..................................... John Steinbeck
' Autumn '...
I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colours richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and is content.
.................................... Lin Yutang
' Love Yourself '...
If you can learn to love yourself and all the flaws, you can love other people so much better. And that makes you so happy.
........................................... Kristin Chenoweth
' Quotes '...
I quote others, only in order, the better to express myself.
............................ Michel de Montaigne
' The Natural State '...
People in their natural state are basically good. But this natural innocence,however, is corrupted by the evils of society.
................................. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
' Seeker of Truth '...
If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.
.............................................. Rene Descartes
' All Truths '...
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.
......................................... Galileo Galilei
' Excellence '...
Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives - choice, not chance, determines your destiny.
............................................. Aristotle
' Happiness '...
It is difficult to find happiness within oneself, but it is impossible to find it anywhere else.
................................... Arthur Schopenhauer
' 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
' Find Out '...
Thoughts come and go. Feelings come and go. Find out what it is that remains.
.................................. Ramana Maharshi
' Analyze Yourself '...
Millions of people never analyze themselves. Mentally they are mechanical products of the factory of their environment, preoccupied with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, working and sleeping, and going here and there to be entertained. They don't know what or why they are seeking, nor why they never realize complete happiness and lasting satisfaction. By evading self-analysis, people go on being robots, conditioned by their environment. True self-analysis is the greatest art of progress.
...................................... Paramahansa Yogananda
' Peace Within '...
If you do not find peace within, you will not find it anywhere else. The Goal of Life is the attainment of Peace and not the achievement of power, name, fame and wealth.
................................... Sivananda
' Thought Creates '...
Whatever you think, that you will be.
.......................... Swami Vivekananda
' The Loss of Liberty '...
Whenever we take away the liberties of those whom we hate, we are opening the way to loss of liberty for those we love.
............................................ Wendell Willkie
' The Ideal Teacher '...
The ideal teacher student relationship exists when the student is better than the teacher.
................................... Kenzaburo Oe
' Spending Money '...
Spend your money on the things money can buy. Spend your time on the things money can’t buy.
.................................. Haruki Murakami
' Read '...
Read. It makes you more intelligent. It’s that simple. We all see the universe through the tiny keyhole of our own eyes, and every book is another keyhole from which you can gaze.
.......................................... Ethan Hawke
' When anything is Easy '...
When anything is easy, it becomes very monotonous for me. But, if I can find something that is really going to take all of my body and all of my mind to really even come close to pulling off, that sounds like fun.
...................................... Dane DeHaan
' Tired of Waiting '...
I'm so tired of waiting, aren't you, for the world to become good and beautiful and kind?
.................................. Langston Hughes
' People of Wisdom '...
A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years mere study of books.
................................. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
' Two Faces '...
No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true.
................................................ Nathaniel Hawthorne
' Simplify your Life '...
Simplify your life. Don't waste the years struggling for things that are unimportant. Don't burden yourself with possessions. Keep your needs and wants simple and enjoy what you have. Don't destroy your peace of mind by looking back, worrying about the past. Live in the present. Simplify!
...................................... Henry David Thoreau
' Time '...
I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them. I shall use my time.
............................................. Jack London
' Diapers '...
Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason.
...................................Mark Twain
' Lying '...
I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.
.................................. Friedrich Nietzsche
' The Mirror '...
The mirror is a worthless invention. The only way to truly see yourself is in the reflection of someone else's eyes.
.................................... Voltaire
' Trust '...
A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.
............................... Thomas Paine
' Demonstrating our Faith '...
It is not by telling people about ourselves that we demonstrate our Christianity. Words are cheap. It is by costly, self-denying Christian practice that we show the reality of our faith.
............................. Jonathan Edwards
' Quotes from Buddha '...
Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.
Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.
There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.
No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path....................................... Gautama the Buddha...
' Listening '...
Always keep your ego in check and not be afraid to listen. Listening is a great art form.
................................... Clint Eastwood
' The Voice Within '...
Obey the voice within - it commands us to give of ourselves and help others. As long as we have the capacity to give, we are alive
......................................... Kirk Douglas
' Political Correctness '...
Political correctness is just tyranny with manners. I wish for you the courage to be unpopular. Popularity is history's pocket change. Courage is history's true currency.
....................................... Charlton Heston
' Magic '...
“To my mind, ‘magic’ is the hard-to-define quality of the things that stir up mystical feelings like amazement, curiosity, imagination, and above all wonder.
Magic is that which renders something beautiful in a spiritual sense. It is that which makes one feel as if the world is more than it is presently understood to be, and yet at the same time the world is working itself out in a good and beautiful way.
Magic underlies the relationship between us, and the greater immensities of birth and death. Thus the experience of being in the presence of something magical is an empowering, uplifting experience. Magic, understood this way, contributes meaning to life.
”
..................................... Brendan Myers
' Religion '...
“Religion is nothing but institutionalized mysticism. The catch is, mysticism does not lend itself to institutionalization. The moment we attempt to organize mysticism, we destroy its essence. Religion, then, is mysticism in which the mystical has been killed. Or, at least diminished.”
...................................... Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All
' Life is Outrageous '...
“Life is so outrageous I could not have imagined it, made all the
sweeter because it cannot last. It is all about today. Today is the
best day ever because tomorrow might not happen.”
.................................... Hendri Coetzee, Living The Best Day Ever
' Be Soft '...
Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree, you still believe it to be a beautiful place.
............................... Kurt Vonnegut
' Just a Movie '...
The world you see is just a movie in your mind.
Rocks dont see it.
Bless and sit down.
Forgive and forget.
Practice kindness all day to everybody
and you will realize you’re already
in heaven now.
That’s the story.
That’s the message.
Nobody understands it,
nobody listens, they’re
all running around like chickens with heads cut
off. I will try to teach it but it will
be in vain, s’why I’ll
end up in a shack
praying and being
cool and singing
by my woodstove
making pancakes.
..................................... Jack Kerouac
' Everybody '...
Everybody, everybody everywhere, has his own movie going, his own scenario, and everybody is acting his movie out like mad, only most people don’t know that is what they’re trapped by, their little script.
................................. Tom Wolfe
' Unspeakable Truth '...
Apparently, 'conspiracy stuff' is now shorthand for unspeakable truth.
............................... Gore Vidal
' Hatred '...
Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat.
.................................. Harry Emerson Fosdick
' Life '...
“You know how it goes:
at some point in your life,
you fell in love with someone
and had a glimpse of God.
Then you abandoned life and lover
and started celebrating
your love for God.”
........................... Kamand Kojouri
' Speaking of Love '...
“I will speak of love
until you go mad
and join me
in my mad worship
of love.”
.................... Kamand Kojouri
' Listen, O' Drop '...
“Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean.
Listen, O drop, bestow upon yourself this honor,
and in the arms of the Sea be secure.
Who indeed should be so fortunate?
An Ocean wooing a drop!
In God's name, in God's name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of pearls.”
.............................. Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi
' My Heart '...
“I have loved in life and I have been loved.
I have drunk the bowl of poison from the hands of love as nectar,
and have been raised above life's joy and sorrow.
My heart, aflame in love, set afire every heart that came in touch with it...
My heart has been rent and joined again;
My heart has been broken and again made whole;
My heart has been wounded and healed again;
A thousand deaths my heart has died, and thanks be to love, it lives yet...
I went through hell and saw there love's raging fire,
and I entered heaven illumined with the light of love...
I wept in love and made all weep with me;
I mourned in love and pierced the hearts of men;
And when my fiery glance fell on the rocks, the rocks burst forth as volcanoes...
The whole world sank in the flood caused by my one tear;
With my deep sigh the earth trembled, and when I cried aloud the name of my beloved,
I shook the throne of God in heaven...
I bowed my head low in humility, and on my knees I begged of love,
"Disclose to me, I pray thee, O love, thy secret."...
She took me gently by my arms and lifted me above the earth, and spoke softly in my ear,
"My dear one, thou thyself art love, art lover,
and thyself art the beloved whom thou hast adored.”
..................................... Hazrat Inayat Khan, The Dance of the Soul: Gayan, Vadan, Nirtan
' Returning to Source '...
“The happiness of the drop is to die in the river.”
.................................. Imam Al-Ghazali
' The Door of Opportunity '...
When you close the door of your mind to negative thoughts, the door of opportunity opens to you.
.................................. Napoleon Hill
' Healing '...
Never place a time limit on the healing. That is dictating to the spiritual intelligence that does its perfect work when it is not impeded by your questions and false beliefs.
....................................... Raymond Charles Barker
' Above All '...
For above all, love is a sharing. Love is a power. Love is a change that takes place in our own heart. Sometimes it may change others, but always it changes us.
................................... James Dillet Freeman
' The Infinite Mind '...
Nature is surely the glorified face of God. See the beauty about you and ... see the manifestation of the infinite Mind.
.................................... Myrtle Fillmore
' The Whole Universe '...
The whole Universe is on your side. Life is forever biased on the side of healing, on the side of overcoming, on the side of success. When you get yourself centered in the Universal flow you become synchronized with this divine bias for good.
............................... Eric Butterworth
' For Half an Hour '...
Here is a mental treatment guaranteed to cure every ill that flesh is heir to: sit for half an hour every night and mentally forgive everyone against whom you have any ill will or antipathy.
............................... Charles Fillmore
' Belief '...
It is not what you want that you attract, you attract what you believe to be true.
.............................. Neville Goddard
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