Some Quotes

Some favorite quotes:

0:

When I rest in simple, clear, ever-present awareness, every object is its own subject. Every event "sees itself," as it were, because I am now that event seeing itself. I am not looking at the rainbow; I am the rainbow, which sees itself. I am not staring at the tree; I am the tree, which sees itself. The entire manifest world continues to arise, just as it is, except that all subjects and all objects have disappeared. The mountain is still the mountain, but it is not an object being looked at, and I am not a separate subject staring at it. Both I and the mountain arise in simple, ever-present awareness, and we are both set free in that clearing, we are both liberated in that nondual space, we are both enlightened in the opening that is ever-present awareness. That opening is free of the set-apart violence called subject and object, in here versus out there, self against other, me against the world. I have utterly lost face, and discovered God, in simple ever-present awareness. --Eye of Spirit by Ken Wilber

1:

What is Perfect Joy by Saint Francis:

"A messenger arrives and says that all the Masters at Paris have entered the Order: this is not true joy. Again: that all the prelates beyond the mountains [the Alps], archbishops, bishops; and again, that the King of France and the King of England [have entered the Order]: this is not true joy. Again: that my Brothers have gone to the infidels and have converted them all to the faith. Again: tat I have such grace from God that I heal the sick and work many miracles: I tell you that in all these things there is not true joy!

But what is true joy?

I m returning from Preugia and in the depths of the night I come here [to the Porziucola], and it is wintertime, muddy, and so cold that icicles form on the bottom of my tunic and hit against my legs, and blood comes out of such wounds.

And thus besmirched by mud and cold and ice I come to the door and after I have knocked and called for some time, a brother comes and asks: Who's there? I answer: Brother Francis.

And then he says: Go away! this is not a decent hour to be going about: so you won't get in!

And if I would again insist, he might answer: Go away! You're no more than a simpleton and idiot, so don't come bac again! We are so numerous and such that we have no need of you!

And I stand again at the door and say: For the love of God take me in this night!

And he would respond: I will not! Go to the Crosiers' place and ask them!

I tell you, if I would put up with all this and not be upset, in this is true joy and real virtue and the salvation of one's soul!"

2:

"We can reject everything else: religion, ideology, all received wisdom. But we cannot escape the necessity of love and compassion.... This, then, is my true religion, my simple faith. In this sense, there is no need for temple or church, for mosque or synagogue, no need for complicated philosophy, doctrine or dogma. Our own heart, our own mind, is the temple.

The doctrine is compassion. Love for others and respect for their rights and dignity, no matter who or what they are: ultimately these are all we need. So long as we practice these in our daily lives, then no matter if we are learned or unlearned, whether we believe in Buddha or God, or follow some other religion or none at all, as long as we have compassion for others and conduct ourselves with restraint out of a sense of responsibility, there is no doubt we will be happy."

~ Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama ~

3)

"If" by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

4)

"The teachings on the six bardos point out the fundamental continuity of mind through all states of existence. From this perspective, what we call "life" and "death" are simply concepts--relative designations that are attributed to a continuous state of being, an indestructible awareness that is birthless and deathless. While impermanence--the constant ebb and flow of appearance and dissolution--characterizes all phenomena that we can see, hear, taste, touch, or mentally conceive, this pure, primordial mind endures all transitions and transcends all boundaries created by dualistic thought. Although we may cling to this life and fear its end, beyond death there is mind; and where there is mind, there is uninterrupted display: spacious, radiant, and continually manifesting.

However, whether this understanding remains merely a comforting idea or becomes a key to accessing deeper levels of knowledge and ultimate freedom depends on us."

~Dzogchen Ponlop

Mind Beyond Death

The non-seeking non-grasping mind is the spaciousness that is aware of this moment.