QUOTES: Various authors - wisdom osho, god, death

And if you help everyone else in your worlds to do that, by helping them to learn and understand about themselves and each other and the way everything works, and by showing them how to be kind instead of cruel, and patient instead of hasty, and cheerful instead of surly, and above all how to keep their minds open and free and curious . . .
 Then they will renew enough to replace what is lost...

                                         ~Phillip Pullman  (His Dark Materials)

~*~

This life is for loving, sharing,
learning, smiling, caring,
forgiving, laughing, hugging,
helping, dancing, wondering,
healing, and even more loving.
I choose to live life this way.
I want to live my life in such a way
that when I get out of bed in the morning,
the devil says, ‘Aw shit, he’s up!’

~Steve Maraboli

~*~

Letting go gives us freedom,
and freedom is the only condition for happiness.
If, in our heart, we still cling to anything -
anger, anxiety, or possessions -
 we cannot be free.

~Thich Nhat Hanh

~*~

 Listen.
Behind the thoughts.
Deeper than the worries . . .
Be still and listen.
There is a note
that is singing in the core of your being.
Feel it fill your body and bathe your mind.
Let that note breathe through you
and resonate out into the world.
         
~Eric Hanson
(Wisdom Heart

~*~

 When I despair,
I remember that all through history
the way of Truth and Love

have always won.
There have been tyrants and murderers,
and for a time, they can seem invincible,
but in the end,
they always fall.
Think of it -
Always.

~Mahatma Gandhi

~*~

Many people
would undoubtedly consider it foolish and superstitious
to go on believing in a change for the better.
It is sometimes so bitterly cold in the winter that one says,
'The cold is too awful for me to care
whether summer is coming or not;
the harm outdoes the good.'
But with or without our approval,
the severe weather does come to an end eventually
and one fine morning
the wind changes and there is the thaw.
When I compare the state of the weather
to our state of mind and our circumstances,
subject to change and fluctuation like the weather,
then I still have some hope that things may get better.

– Vincent van Gogh

~*~

  

You may have all the pleasures and comforts and luxuries of the world, but unless you know yourself, unless your inner lotus opens, you will go on missing something. You may not be certain what you are missing but a feeling… that something is being missed, that “I am not complete,” that “I am not whole,” that “I am not what existence wanted me to be.” This “missing” feeling goes on nagging everybody. Only the expansion of your consciousness will help you to get rid of this feeling, of this nagging, of this anguish, this angst.

               
~Osho
(The Book of Wisdom: The Heart of Tibetan Buddhism)

~*~

 To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love.
 In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness.

         
~Robert  Muller
         
~*~
             

Forgiveness enables you to bury your grudge in the icy earth and put the past behind you.  You flush resentment away by being the first to forgive.  Forgiveness fashions your future.  It is a brave and brash thing to do.  The gutsiest decision you can make.  As you forgive others, winter will soon make way for springtime as fresh joy pushes up through the soil of your heart.

Forgiveness is a stunning principal, your ticket out of hate and fear and chaos. I know what regret feels like;  I’ve earned my credentials.  But I also know what forgiveness feels like, because God has so graciously forgiven me.  Forgiveness frees you of the past so you can make good choices today.

            
~Barbara Johnson

 ~*~

 Quotes from Lama Thubten Yeshe

The most happy thing in my life, the most fulfilling thing, is to work for and to benefit sentient beings. Even just the mere thought to cause happiness for sentient beings, to benefit them, to free them from suffering—this is the BEST offering to all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, the best puja, this is what pleases their holy minds most.

Whatever problem one experiences, one can think about the benefits of problems and how they are beneficial for one’s own life, to develop one’s mind in compassion, to develop loving kindness, patience, wisdom, and all the positive qualities for the path to liberation. By thinking of the benefits, one develops this precious quality, this most healthy positive way of thinking that brings happiness, and that stops you from harming yourself and harming others.

                                                                  ~*~

The solution is not to suppress our thoughts and desires, for this would be impossible; it would be like trying to keep a pot of water from boiling by pressing down tightly on the lid. The only sensible approach is to train ourselves to observe our thoughts without following them. This deprives them of their compulsive energy and is therefore like removing the pot of boiling water from the fire.

~*~

To live content with small means;
to seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion,
to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich;
to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly,
to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages,
with open heart,
to bear all cheerfully, to all bravely await occasions,
hurry never.
In a word,
to let the spiritual unbidden and unconscious
grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.

~William Henry Channing 

~*~

Do what is healing to your spirit, and without effort you will bring the world healing in return.

Alan Cohen

~*~ 

The identity we create in childhood and puberty is only the first level. The person we think we are is actually a pretty loose set of beliefs, shaped by conditioning. Our beliefs about ourselves are limiting us; letting go of our beliefs opens the door towards the realization of our true potential. Peeling off layers and realizing our true self more and more is a lifelong process. It is a cool and amazing ride.

Atalwin Pilon

~*~

Somewhere during childhood we start to believe that being young and immature is inferior to being an adult and mature. But life happens in cycles and every time we start something new we are beginners all over again. There is no escaping that and it is not the point, either. We make it very hard on ourselves if we become ashamed of our immaturity in this or that. It keeps us from leaving our comfort zones and thus we deny ourselves exploration of life. But if you are open to new things, if you cultivate your beginner’s mind, you will rewarded with initiations into new stages of development.

Atalwin Pilon

~*~

I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty. In the wilderness, I find something more dear and connate than in streets or villages. In the tranquil landscape, and especially in the distant line of the horizon, man beholds somewhat as beautiful as his own nature.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

~*~ 

The spiritual life is, at root, a matter of seeing. It is all of life seen from a certain perspective. It is waking, sleeping, dreaming, eating, drinking, working, loving, relaxing, recreating, walking, sitting, standing, and breathing… . spirit suffuses everything; and so the spiritual life is simply life, wherever and whatever, seen from the vantage point of spirit.

~John Shea 

~*~ 

Now, go within, and allow your thoughts to quietly subside until you are aware of yourself, but not of the world. Maintain this state and you will see, without the least trace of doubt, that at the root of your being you are free and happy. Your troubles are because you are addicted to experience and cherish your memories. But what is remembered and lived through the mind is never real; the real is now.
Nisargadatta Maharaj

~*~

Welcome every morning with a smile. Look on the new day as another special gift from your Creator, another golden opportunity to complete what you were unable to finish yesterday. Be a self-starter. Let your first hour set the theme of success and positive action that is certain to echo through your entire day. Today will never happen again. Don’t waste it with a false start or no start at all. You were not born to fail.

~ Og Mandino 

 ~*~

Take time to be quiet. This is something that we don’t do enough in this busy world of ours. We rush, rush, rush, and we are constantly listening to noise all around us. The human heart was meant for times of quiet, to peer deep within. It is when we do this that our hearts are set free to soar and take flight on the wings of our own dreams! Schedule some quiet “dream time” this week. No other people. No cell phone. No computer. Just you, a pad, a pen, and your thoughts.

Jim Rohn 

~*~

No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions, and to build confidence in the creative spirit.

Ansel Adams 

~*~

 The truth, according to Buddhism, is a bad-news-good-news story. From the ego’s point of view, the news is bad. Buddhism defines ego as our futile struggle to maintain and protect a permanent, ongoing self. This painful struggle is the source of much of our suffering, because we try to deny the truth that everything in this world is subject to change and dissolution. So the bad news for ego - and this is where Buddhism never pulls its punches - is that death is real, suffering is pervasive, we are without a permanent identity or center, and we cause ourselves and others a lot of unnecessary pain. Because of all that, our hearts are, in a sense, permanently broken.
But that broken heart is the good news too. The broken heart is the true heart of love and tenderness. For Buddhism’s good news is that if we pause in our struggle against the truths of impermanence and change, we catch glimpses of our true nature, which is always present and unaffected by life’s ups and downs. Our true nature is the mind of awareness and wisdom and the heart of compassion and joy. And in its very transience, the world we inhabit is valid, sacred, and basically good.

Melvin McLeod

~*~

Aloneness is the presence of oneself. Aloneness is very positive… you are so full of presence that you can fill the whole universe with your presence and there is no need for anybody.

Osho

~*~

The idea that ‘one day, someone is going to hug you so tight all your broken pieces will stick back together’, is sweet; however it’s based on a false premise: that you are broken.
In truth, you are as whole today as you were the day you were born; as you will be the day that you die. The real, deep down you is unbreakable. It is only your thoughts that are broken: and you are not your thoughts.
Know that you are not the voice in your head - the thinker - but instead you are the one who is aware of it; realise this and you will experience liberation. For as you become aware of your thoughts, so they begin to quieten down.
You become rooted in the present moment and it is in the ‘here and now’, that you will know you’re not broken. You are the only one that can do this, for you are the only one who hears the voice in your head, however someone might one day come along who will teach you all of this.
So I think perhaps it would be better to say that: “One day, someone will hold you so closely that you will realise you were never actually broken.”

Dave Watson

~*~

 When we meditate, things from the past come up, and we have to work with them. We may remember times when we treated others horribly–hurting their feelings, deceiving them, repaying their kindness with spite, manipulating them, cheating them. While regret for these actions is appropriate and necessary to purify these karmas, we often fall into guilt and shame instead. Guilt and shame are obstacles to overcome on the path, because they keep us trapped in our self-centered melodrama entitled “How Bad I Am.” Regret, on the other hand, realizes that we erred, leads us to purify, and motivates us to refrain from acting like that in the future.
How do we counteract guilt and shame? One way is to recognize that the person who did that action no longer exists. You are different now. Is the person who did that action five years ago the same person you are now? If he were exactly the same person, you would still be doing the same action. The present “you” exists in a continuum from that person, but is not exactly the same as him. Look back at the person you were with compassion. You can understand the suffering and confusion he was experiencing that made him act in that way.

~From Cultivating a Compassionate Heart: The Yoga Method of Chenrezig by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron

~*~

You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life.

~Jiddu Krishnamurti

~*~

Death was walking toward a city one morning and a man asked, “What are you going to do there?”
“I’m going to take one hundred people,” Death replied.
“That’s horrible!” the man said.
“That’s the way it is,” Death said.
“Well, we’ll see about that,” said the man as he hurried to warn everyone he could about Death’s plan.
As evening fell, he met Death again.  "You told me you were going to take one hundred people,“ the man said. "Why did one thousand die?”
“I kept my word,” Death answered. “I took only one hundred. Worry took the rest.”

~Contemporary spiritual story

~*~

You are intimately linked to the vast web of existence, and as you change, the significance of your thoughts sends new impulses through the web as possibilities to all aspects of existence.

Barbara Marciniak

~*~ 

Meditation is not a technique to master; it is the highest form of prayer,a naked act of love and effortless surrender into the silent abyss beyond all knowing.

~Adyashanti 

~*~ 

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

~Thich Nhat Hanh 

~*~ 

There is no need to search; achievement leads to nowhere. It makes no difference at all, so just be happy now! Love is the only reality of the world, because it is all One, you see. And the only laws are paradox, humor and change. There is no problem, never was, and never will be. Release your struggle, let go of your mind, throw away your concerns, and relax into the world. No need to resist life, just do your best. Open your eyes and see that you are far more than you imagine. You are the world, you are the universe; you are yourself and everyone else, too! It’s all the marvelous Play of God. Wake up, regain your humor. Don’t worry, just be happy. You are already free!

~Dan Millman (Way of the Peaceful Warrior) 

~*~

In our modern world, we look unkindly on mistakes and imperfection. But this is far from the samurai ideal. Mistakes are part of the learning process and if you haven’t made them then you are, indeed, dangerous because it means you have never learned anything. Mistakes, to a samurai, are the proof of your learning.

~Alexei Maxim Russell
(Instruction Manual for the 21st Century Samurai)

~*~

So, to meditate is to purge the mind of its self-centered activity. And if you have come this far in meditation, you will find there is silence, a total emptiness. The mind is uncontaminated by society; it is no longer subject to any influence, to the pressure of any desire. It is completely alone, and being alone, untouched it is innocent. Therefore there is a possibility for that which is timeless, eternal, to come into being. This whole process is meditation.

~Jiddu Krishnamurti 

~*~

 Everyone is beautiful. Everyone is sexy. Everyone is strong. It’s lunacy. We’re all running around trying to become something that we already are.
You know what’s really sexy? A person who’s 100% comfortable with themselves. And you know what’s really funny? It is just as time consuming and difficult to learn to accept yourself as it is to pretend to be someone else. The only difference is – with self acceptance, one day, it’s not hard anymore. One day, you feel like your sexiest, strongest self just rolling out of bed in the morning.
You’re either going to spend the little time you have in your life on trying to know yourself or trying to hide yourself. The choice is yours. You can’t do both.
And you know what’s really amazing about choosing self-love? You’ll be setting an example for all the people around you and all the kids of the coming generation. You’ll be part of a revolution to take back the precious moments of our lives out of the hands of shame-inducing advertisers and back into the hands and hearts of real people like you, like me, like all of us.
I know you’ve dreamt about changing the world. So this is your chance. Learn to love yourself, accept yourself, and unleash your strongest, sexiest self. It’s in there. You just have to believe it.

~Vironika Tugaleva