Author: Posts

Where we are going is unknown, where we have been we can see clearly.  The moment-by-moment experience, what is happening right now, is where we are going.  This is encouraging because the source of wisdom is what is going to happen to us today, in this very moment.

We seek belief systems and philosophies, but true spirituality is far beyond the conception of even the most brilliant human mind.  The need to understand this truth is universal because it is the very essence of life itself.  It is found only in the here and now.

To cleanse oneself of contaminations, such as anger or self-absorption, practice undiscriminating virtue.  To practice virtue, give without limitations, without prejudice, and without expectations.  If your willingness to give is limited, so is your ability to receive.

A project still in its beginning that has not been challenged brings no blame, since there has been no opportunity to make mistakes.  Remain conscious of the difficulties to be overcome and this will keep you from arrogance and wastefulness.

Quote: Nature never says one thing and wisdom another.

The concept of problems and solutions can keep us stuck thinking there is a right way and a wrong way.  We need a more open-ended approach; it is more about keeping your heart and mind open to whatever arises, without hope of fruition.  

When nature and life events do not act according to our wishes, we need to adapt to the circumstances.  Knowing how to put aside personal priorities in order to fill the demands of the times is among the greatest of skills.

To embrace all things means to hold no anger or resistance towards anything, rid yourself of any concept of separation.  Foregoing antagonism and separation, you enter into the harmonious oneness with all things.

All things change, prosperity is followed by decline.  Evil can be checked, but not permanently abolished, it always returns.  This idea might produce melancholy, but should not.  It ought only to keep us from falling into the illusion, when good fortune comes to us it will not last.

Quote: The focus of our awareness becomes the realty or our world.

We are stuck in patterns and our reactions to events.  This is the way we project our world.  When we see these habitual patterns, even if it is just for a moment, we start to discover ways to reverse them.  We can do this by making life personal and explore it wholeheartedly.

Compared to the acts of nature, what we do and create is very insignificant.  Let go of your own self importance and thinking you are the center of the universe.  Let go if the veil that blocks your view of the universe, then we can get to know it better.

When things arise, let them come; when things depart, let them go.  Don’t possess, don’t expect.  Practice undiscriminating virtue.  Take care of those who are deserving, also equally, take care of those who are not.  These time-honored disciplines calm the mind and bring one into harmony with all things.

Set fixed limits on your expenditures, set limits on your actions, also set limits on loyalty and disinterestedness.  If you go too far in setting limits on others they rebel, too far on yourself is injurious.  Therefore, set limits on limitations.

Quote: We have all the power to create the changes we choose.

The journey to peace and happiness is a process of letting go of attachments, opening your heart up and surrendering to living.  But we cannot just do this on certain occasions or situations, our surrender must be constant and genuine all the time.

When we first start our self-cultivation practice, we only get glimpses of the balance it gives you, but in time this understanding becomes deeper.  Continued ongoing practice will balance your body, mind and soul and will eliminate physical and mental constraints. 

The truth is always right there before you, what you need is always right in front of you, all you need to do is open your mind and heart.  You can do this by being present in this moment and accept that you don’t know, and the truth will become clear.

A decline after abundance is the law of nature.  In human affairs we can delay the coming of decline by careful management.  In periods of abundance, we become used to an easy situation, that is the time for caution and careful planning.

Quote: A mind once stretched by a new idea never regains its original dimension. – Oliver Wendell Holmes

We have to befriend the elemental struggle with our feeling of being wrong, with our guilt and shame at what we are.  We can dissolve this sense of dualism by moving toward what we find difficult and wish to push away.

It is quite common for people that have a spiritual experience to want to go out and talk about their experiences. This social interaction will only cause contradictions with your spirituality.  We must simply just enjoy the experience of our awakening.

The ancients asked us to transcend every false premise of our culture and be reborn in the form of our essential humanity which needs no test of performance, wealth, or achievements to validate itself.

If we are to lead others, we first must learn to serve.  We must remain accessible and responsive to the views of those we lead. At the same time, we must have firm principles so that we do not vacillate when there is only a question of current opinion.

Quote: Perfection is reached, not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away.

Our self-cultivation practice is not about accomplishing anything but ceasing to struggle and to relax as it is.  Relax and let go in your self cultivation practice, whatever it may be and this same attitude will spread to the rest of your life.

We must learn skill and ethics thoroughly; we must come to embody them so completely that they become subconscious.  Reacting to a situation by asking what is right or wrong is to slow; you must do intuitively what is correct.

The ancients asked us to transcend every false premise of our culture and be reborn in the form of our essential humanity which needs no test of performance, wealth, or achievements to validate itself.

If we wish to know what a person is like we need only to observe on whom he bestows his care and what side of his own nature, he cultivates and nourishes.  If we want to take care of the world, cultivate and nourish the good parts of your character and the world changes with you.

Quote: Voyager, there are no bridges; one builds them as one walks.

Negative shame is accompanied by guilt and self-denigration, it is pointless and no help to us.  In fact, it will cause us harm.  Positive shame is when we have harmed ourselves or anyone else and feel sorry for having done so.  This allows us to grow from our mistakes.

Life requires leisure, the chance to sit and contemplate and an opportunity to respond to inner urgings.  Find a place that is slow paced, where people are sensitive to nature.  The time you spend there will give you a glimpse of life where there is restfulness and a natural sense of what is right.

If you give up all concepts, judgements and desires, your mind will be naturally compassionate and you will then find in your experiences the central truths of the art of living, which are paradoxical only on the surface.

Being too firm in one’s character will lead to difficulties in dealing with people.  If you are not firm enough, you will find it difficult to deal with the course of life.  Proceeding with life you should be stable, gradual, and steady.

Quote: There is a destiny that makes us brothers, no one goes his way alone; All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own.

Hope and fear come as a sense that we lack something, that something needs to change. Holding on to hope and fear robs us of the present moment.  Abandon hope, everyday just say to yourself ‘every day in every way I am getting better and better”.

All experiences that we have, everything we do and think are registered upon us physically and mentally, but it is up to us the picture that emerges.  It is we who select what we will become by the actions we perform and thoughts we have.

Surrendering to the flow of life, giving up all concepts, judgements and desires, your mind will become naturally compassionate.  The more we can let go of things, the more present they become and the clearer our insight becomes to the truth of life.

Difficulties and obstructions throw a man back on himself.  Do not blame others for your mistakes.  Look for the errors within yourself, and through this introspection, any obstruction becomes an occasion for inner enrichment and education.

Quote: The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. ― Steve Jobs

Letting go of your security may seem uncomfortable and frightening, but it gives you a chance to see the world as it is.  Be inquisitive about the unknown and the unanswerable question of what comes next because this awakens your own wisdom mind.

No one knows you better than you know yourself.  All you can gain from a wise person is the assurance of some initial guidance, the rest is up to you.  This wise person is only a guide.  Never surrender your dignity, independence, and personality.

Some of the rules we live by today interfere with our essential beingness.  Emancipate yourself from these rules, this is the key that unlocks the door of your self realization.  We are deserving regardless of our achievements or contributions.

The very gradualness of development makes it necessary to have perseverance, for perseverance alone prevents slow progress from dwindling into nothing.  Gentleness with perseverance that comes from inner calm will ensure success.

Quote: We sometimes get all of the information, but we refuse to get the message.

Letting go, let things fall apart, this will let fresh air into your stale old heart.  You can open your heart and your mind by knowing what falling apart feels like.  Do this by sharing your feelings and the delightful aspects of your life.  Don’t be stingy or fearful about this practice.

We should not bind another to ourselves, we should not force another to stay with us, we should not define ourselves by our relationships.  But if chance allows us to walk together, who is anyone to challenge our choice of walking companions?

There is an alternative way of living.  Start with detoxifying the mental-emotional spiritual garbage we all inherit.  By returning to our own humanity, we can then realize our full human potential, enabling us to transform our institutions and ourselves. 

If you are faced with a superior foe, it would be hopeless to fight him.  An orderly retreat is the correct procedure.  It is by no means a sign of strength or courage to engage in a hopeless struggle, regardless of circumstances.

Quote: Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart.  Who looks outside, dreams, who looks within, awakes. – Carl Jung