When asked about a flag fluttering in the wind: "Was it the flag that moved or the wind?" Hui Neng answered,
"Neither. It is the mind that moves." - Chinese Maxim
When you're born you have nothing and when you die you have nothing. -- Kodo
Happiness is a choice. -- Sifu Robert Brown
To affect the quality of the day, that is the highest of arts. - Henry David Thoreau's Walden
"We must not drift away from the humble works because these are the very
works nobody will do. It is never too small. We are so small we look at
things in a small way. For there are many people who can do big things, but
there are very few people who will do the small things." -- Mother Theresa
You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly
animal, play with the falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth,
play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who
wants to keep his garden tidy doesn't reserve a plot for weeds.
To myself I am only a child playing on the beach, while vast oceans of truth lie undiscovered before me.
- Isaac Newton
The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
-- Mark Twain
There are three kinds of people in this world. There is a small group of people who make things happen. There is a somewhat larger group of people who watch things happen. And there is an overwhelming majority who don't have the slightest idea what is happening. The successful person is the person who makes things happen. -- Nicholas Murray Butler
It is a good viewpoint to see the world as a dream.
When you have a nightmare, you will wake up and tell yourself that it was only a dream.
It is said that the world we live in is not a bit different from this. --Hagakure
"Happiness is not an individual matter. When you are able to bring relief, or bring back the smile to one person, not only that person profits, but you also profit. The deepest happiness you can have comes from that capacity to help relieve the suffering of others. So if we have the habit of being peace, then there is a natural tendency for us to go in the direction of service. Nothing compels us, except the joy of sharing peace, the joy of sharing freedom from afflictions, freedom from worries, freedom from craving, which are the true foundations for happiness." -Thich Nhat Hanh
"And once we have the condition of peace and joy in us, we can afford to be in any situation. Even in the situation of hell, we will be able to contribute our peace and serenity. The most important thing is for each of us to have some freedom in our heart, some stability in our heart, some peace in our heart. Only then will we be able to relieve the suffering around us." -Thich Nhat Hanh
It is I who must love myself. No one else can make me feel whole. Only I can provide that love.
Now I know that wholeness is always accessible to me and all beings everywhere. This knowing
allows me to live with a new peacefulness and kindness to myself and others. In the simplest way,
it has changed my whole life. -- After the Ecstacy, The Laundry
When you try to understand everything, you will not understand anything.
The best way is to understand yourself, and then you will understand everything. --Shunryu Suzuki
Because one does not want to be disturbed, to be made uncertain, he establishes a pattern of conduct, of thought,
a pattern of relationships to man. He then becomes a slave to the pattern and takes the pattern to be the real thing.
- Tao of Jeet Kune Do
In Buddhism, there is no place for using effort. Just be ordinary and nothing special. Eat your food, move your bowels,
pass water and when you're tired go and lie down. The ignorant will laugh at me, but the wise will understand.
- Tao of Jeet Kune Do
Warfare is the greatest affair of state, the basis of life and death, the Way (Tao) to survival or extinction. It must be
thoroughly pondered and analyzed.
- Sun Tzu's Art of War
The unexamined life is not worth living. - Socrates
You live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality, but you do not know this.
When you understand this, you will see that you are nothing.
And being nothing, you are everything. That is all.
- Kalu Rinpoche
Dalai Lama Section
Material possessions may provide physical comfort but cannot help people overcome suffering or painful experiences. Millionaires, billionaires, and other powerful people can be mentally miserable.
I believe that the proper use of our time is this: If you can, serve other people, other sentient beings.
The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one's life.
Humanity needs a variety of philosophies and religious traditions.
Human beings are basically the same. We all want happiness.
When a problem first arises, try to remain humble and maintain a sincere attitude, and be concerned that the outcome is fair.
Dialogue is the most effective way of resolving conflict.
The concentration of wealth while others starve should be a source of shame.
We need to see other's suffering as our own.
The foundation of the Buddha's teachings lies in compassion, and the reason for practicing the teachings is to wipe out the persistence of ego, the number-one enemy of compassion.
Some consider me as a living Buddha. That's nonsense. That's silly. That's wrong. If they consider me a simple Buddhist monk, however, that's probably okay.
I, myself, as a tiny follower of Buddha, practice compassion.
The deep root of failure in our lives is to think, "Oh how useless and powerless I am." It is essential to think strongly and forcefully, "I can do it," without boasting or fretting.
Remember that when anyone gives love to another, happiness emerges from their mind, and they then are the biggest beneficiaries.
If I go shopping and say, "Please give me peace of mind. I will give you a million dollars," I think the shopkeeper will laugh.
Violence is not a natural human trait. If it was so, human soeciety would not have lasted so long.
Dyeing one's hair blue or fixing a big nose won't help the inner person.
The innate desire of humankind is happiness.
Violence cannot solve problems. Innocent people, people in the street, children, women, they will all suffer.
When I was younger I did get angry. In the past thirty years, no.
A way of cultivating kindness is to regard everyone you meet as either your mother or your own child.
We are born in compassion and must live and die in compassion.
If I retire at around let us say seventy, seventy-five, or eighty, I wish to live leisurely in a quiet place, read while my eyes are still okay, and then think.
Mothers who are calm and happy bring affection and a sense of caring into the lives of their children, thereby transforming society into something more compassionate and peaceful.
The only way to constructively move away from anger is to forgive.
All people should have moral ethics, but we can't say all people should be religious minded.
True enlightenment is nothing but the nature of one's own self being fully realized.
I am not so special. We are entirely the same -- physically, mentally, emotionally.
Short Stories
Heaven and Hell (link)The Yogi and the Scorpion (link)
Doctor (link)
Is That So (link)
Various Authors:
A man of great courage can afford to change the target of criticism from the others to himself.Tens of thousands of bones will become ashes when one general achieves his fame.
A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant man follows the public opinion.
Believe you can, believe you can't; either way, you're right.
If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people.
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing left to pursue.
In all dealings with people, it is essential to have a fresh approach. One should constantly give the impression that he is doing something exceptional. It is said that this is possible with but a little understanding.
The end is important in all things.
If one is but secure at the foundation, he will not be pained by departure from minor details or affairs that are contrary to expectation. But in the end, the details of a matter are important. The right and wrong of one's way of doing things are found in trivial matters.
If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, like Shakespeare wrote poetry, like Beethoven composed music; sweep streets so well that all the host of Heaven and Earth will have to pause and say,"Here lived a great sweeper, who swept his job well.
- Martin Luther King, Jr
We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. - Unknown
Quotes from a good book:
Way of the Peaceful Warrior
His laughter rang out in my memory. Then I remembered an incident in the station: I had been acting lethargic; Socrates
suddenly grabbed me and shook me. "Wake up! If you knew for certain that you had a terminal illness-if you had little
time left to live-you would waste precious little of it! Well, I'm telling you, Dan-you do have a terminal illness:
It's called birth. You don't have more than a few years left. No one does! So be happy now, without reason-or you never
will be at all.""Enlightenment is not attainment, Dan; it is a realization. And when you wake up, everything changes and nothing changes. If a blind man realizes that he can see, has the world changed?"
"There are no ordinary moments."
