Mindfulness

There is no task more engrossing, challenging and interesting in life than engaging with ourselves in the life long battle of getting our Ego and Senses under control. And the joy obtained from the victories over ourself leads to true everlasting success, happiness and joy. At the same time defeat leads to untold sorrows that might make hell seem a great place to be in. The old adage of "Its all in the mind" was probably trying to say the same thing, albeit in a nutshell.

We are what we are because of the hard work, insights and achievements of countless others.

To the good I would be good; to the not-good I would also be good, in order to make them good.

Aiki is to pull when you are pushed, and to push when you are pulled. It is the spirit of slowness and speed, of harmonizing your movement with your opponent's ki. Its opposite, kiai, is to push to the limit, while aiki never resists. The term aiki has been used since ancient times and is not unique to Daito-ryu. The ki in aiki is go no sen, meaning to respond to an attack. Daito-ryu is all go no sen — you first evade your opponent's attack and then strike or control him. Likewise, Itto-ryu is primarily go no sen. You attack because an opponent attacks you. This implies not cutting your opponent. This is called katsujinken (life-giving sword). Its opposite is called setsuninken (death-dealing sword).

Constantly observe and study the workings of the Ego. Understand it to control and use it. Failing which, the Ego takes over the control of our lives.

God and Dog. Is it not too much of a coincidence that these very same two words can also be used to describe the two extreme states of mind that every human is capable of? Strive for the one while being wary of the other.

If I had my life to live over again, I would ask that not a thing be changed, but that my eyes be opened wider.

A person may rise to the highest degree of contemplation even when busily occupied.

The source of a true smile is an awakened mind. Smiling helps you approach the day with gentleness and understanding.

Fear is a dark cloudy mist of ignorance. And Knowledge is like the Sun, in whose presence the dark cloudy mist disappears instantaneously, resulting in clarity of thought and profound wisdom.

Fain would we remain barbarians, if our claim to civilization were to be based on the gruesome glory of war.

Life becomes simple, once a man learns how to deal with the infinite stupidity of fools. And, sometimes, it is himself.

Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.

The point of diving in a lake is not immediately to swim to the shore, but to be in the lake. To luxuriate in the sensation of water. You do not work the lake out; it is an experience beyond thought. Poetry soothes and emboldens the soul to accept mystery.

One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple.

Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace.

When a person lives heedlessly, his craving grows like a creeping vine. He runs now here and now there, as if looking for fruit: a monkey in the forest. If this sticky, uncouth craving overcomes you in the world, your sorrows grow like wild grass after rain. If, in the world, you overcome this uncouth craving, hard to escape, sorrows roll off you, like water beads off a lotus. -The Dhammapada

The Vedanta recognizes no sin it only recognizes error. And the greatest error, says the Vedanta is to say that you are weak, that you are a sinner, a miserable creature, and that you have no power and you cannot do this and that.” “It is our own mental attitude which makes the world what it is for us. Our thought make things beautiful, our thoughts make things ugly. The whole world is in our own minds. Learn to see things in the proper light

Wish I am free from barriers when I die, and Buddha will welcome me from far away. - Buddha

In the space between your thoughts there is your truth.

Without mindful awareness, the shadows of your past may haunt your present.

Especially in times of collective neurosis, the existence of . . . mature people is of crucial importance.

Self-awareness is an act of self-kindness.

I'm not actually a fan of thoughts; the irony being that i act like i am.

When you mind is made up, there's no point trying to change it, but YOU still have a choice.

With mindful awareness, negative self judgements make an excellent reference point for who you are not.

The objective of a dream isn't for it to end after you've awoken, but rather to continue dreaming, and in essence, manifest it.

Look not mournfully into the past, it comes not back again. Wisely improve the present, it is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear and with a manly heart.

Seek the extremes. Identify the boundaries in order to conquer self-imposed limits and rule everything with freedom.

Everyday is a celebration of your life. Celebrate life by looking your very best. Being well-dressed imprints your comprehension of self to others. Knowledge of self is the key to unlocking the gates of your desires.

You are not separate from the whole. You are one with the sun, the earth, the air. You don’t have a life. You are life.

Life is a great and wondrous mystery, and the only thing we know that we have for sure is what is right here and right now. Don't miss it.

Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can never learn from books.

In still moments by the sea life seems large-drawn and simple. It is there we can see into ourselves.

Since my house burned down I now own a better view of the rising moon.

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

When all else fails you ... be glad you can still draw breath into your being!

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass unter the trees on a spring day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.

There is a spiritual obligation, there is a task to be done. It is not, however, something as simple as following a set of somebody else's rules. The noetic enterprise is a primary obligation toward being. Our salvation is linked to it. Not everyone has to read alchemical texts or study superconducting biomolecules to make the transition. Most people make it naively by thinking clearly about the present at hand, but we intellectuals are trapped in a world of too much information. Innocence is gone for us. We cannot expect to cross the rainbow bridge through a good act of contrition; that will not be sufficient.

Life exists only at this very moment, and in this moment it is infinite and eternal, for the present moment is infinitely small; before we can measure it, it has gone, and yet it exists forever.

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance towards the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point.

You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment. Fools stand on their island of opportunities and look toward another land. There is no other land; there is no other life but this.

In today's rush we all think too much - seek too much - want too much - and forget about the joy of just being.

If you walk into a forest - you hear all kinds of subtle sounds - but underneath there is an all pervasive silence.

If your relationship to the present moment is not right - nothing can ever be right in the future - because when the future comes - it's the present moment.

We have forgotten what rocks and plants still know - we have forgotten how to be - to be still - to be ourselves - to be where life is here and now

‎"Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.

Wanna be always happy? Always carry some chocolate with you. ;)

Everything you need is already within you. The beauty of life is that your DESTINY lies always in your hands. The time has come for you to STEP UP and BE GREAT.

There are two regrets in life : You get what you don't want. Or you don't get what you want.

The most fatality in human nature is greedy and selfish.

Need to be smart by existing. Need to be wise by living.

Life is like a taste of honey, sour, bitter, spice, salty. Hope you will taste the honey one day.......SOON !

Life is faded away in the everlasting awaited.

You can destroy your now by worrying about tomorrow.

Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today.

It is a mistake to look too far ahead. Only one link in the chain of destiny can be handled at a time.

Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to ...listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach undeterred by particulars, the ancient law of life.

You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.

Perhaps then, some day far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted.

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.

I don't think we are here for anything. We're just products of evolution. You can say, "Gee, your life must be pretty bleak if you don't think there's a purpose." But I'm anticipating a good lunch.

My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened.

You find everything in your Mind, not in your head. Your head is in your Mind. What needs to be healed is the Mind.

If You come from a place of Love Then You are Free and fear dispells itself into nothing If You live in the Moment – In the Present Then You don’t fear because You can let all the Good , The miracles in.

The next message you need is always right where you are.

When we Get out of our Own way – WE Find This Inner Peace

Between Courage and Vulnerability, There is a place called Peace.

If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?

Life is – ‘believing that there is a lot to learn’. Living is – ‘learning it every day.’

A definitive moment whether good or bad is not finite, it stays with you.

I have learned that one thing I know for sure is that I have a lot to learn

For many years, at great cost, I traveled through many countries, saw the high mountains, the oceans. The only things I did not see were the sparkling dewdrops in the grass just outside my door.

All the way to heaven is heaven.

Zen is not a particular state but the normal state: silent, peaceful, unagitated. In Zazen neither intention, analysis, specific effort nor imagination take place. It's enough just to be without hypocrisy, dogmatism, arrogance -- embracing all opposites.

Misunderstandings and neglect occasion more mischief in the world than even malice and wickedness.

Something precious is lost if we rush headlong into the details of life without pausing for a moment to pay homage to the mystery of life and the gift of another day.

Knowledge is knowing that we cannot know.

All women should know how to take care of children. Most of them will have a husband some day.

When we are in the midst of chaos, let go of the need to control it. Be awash in it, experience it in that moment, try not to control the outcome but deal with the flow as it comes.

The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking.

The very desire to seek spiritual enlightenment is in fact nothing but the grasping tendency of the ego itself, and thus the very search for enlightenment prevents it. The 'perfect practice' is therefore not to search for enlightenment but to inquire into the motive for seeking itself. You obviously seek in order to avoid the present, and yet the present alone holds the answer: to seek forever is to miss the point forever. You always already are enlightened Spirit, and therefore to seek Spirit is simply to deny Spirit.

Among the great things which are to be found among us, the Being of Nothingness is the greatest.

When I heard the sound of the bell ringing, there was no bell, and there was no I- there was only the ringing.

First, we must do our own personal work, then we tend the necessary work of our family, then our community, then the world.

Once you stop clinging and let things be, you’ll be free, even of birth and death. You’ll transform everything…And you’ll be at peace wherever you are.

When we have our body and mind in order, everything else will exist in the right place, in the right way. But usually, without being aware of it, we try to change something other than ourselves, we try to order things outside us. But it is impossible to organize things if you yourself are not in order.

Even as fire finds peace in its resting place without fuel, when thoughts become silence the soul finds peace in its own source. When the mind is silent, then it can enter into a world which is far beyond the mind: the highest End. The mind should be kept in the heart as long as it has not reached the highest End. This is wisdom, and this is liberation.

The secret something that is shared by all effective healing methods is the process of leading the patient to an honest and truthful self-discovery. This self-discovery is required for the initiation and continuation of self-healing; for it is only through self-healing- in contrast to curing- that patients can experience both permanent recovery and spiritual growth…the closer our perception of self approaches, the deeper our capacity for self-healing becomes. When there is a very close correspondence between self-image and truth, our self-healing powers may be virtually unlimited.

The practice of introspection has helped to create the object it was meant to investigate.

He who has broken the five fetters- lust, hate, delusion, pride, false views- is one who has crossed to the other shore.

Zazen practice is the direct expression of our true nature. Strictly speaking, for a human being, there is no other practice than this practice; there is no other way of life than this way of life.

Be a lamp unto yourselves! Work out your liberation with diligence! Fill your mind with compassion!

One must be truly able to say I in order to know the mystery of the Thou in its whole truth.

We see things not as they are, but as we are.

Sit all together in meditation. Become peacefully calm and quiet, without motion, without stillness, without birth, without destruction, without coming or going, with no judgments of right or wrong, neither staying nor going. This, then, is the Great Way.

Suchness is neither that which is existence, nor that which is nonexistence, nor that which is at once existence and nonexistence, nor that which is not at once existence and nonexistence.

The threat to man does not come in the first instance from the potentially lethal machines and apparatus of technology. The actual threat has already afflicted man in his essence.

Not only does the psyche exist, but it is existence itself. It is an almost absurd prejudice to suppose that existence can only be physical…We might well say, on the contrary, that physical existence is a mere inference, since we know of matter only in so far as we perceive psychic images mediated by the senses.

Consciousness must always remain the smaller circle within the greater circle of the unconscious, an island surrounded by the sea, an endless and self-replenishing abundance of living creatures, a wealth beyond our fathoming.

If you being forth what is within you, what you being forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.

Duality is the real root of our suffering and of all our conflicts. All our concepts and beliefs, no matter how profound they may seem, are like nets which trap us in dualism. When we discover our limits we have to try to overcome them, untying ourselves from whatever type of religious, political, or social conviction may contain us. We have to abandon such concepts as ‘enlightenment’, ‘the nature of the mind’, and so on, until we no longer neglect to integrate our knowledge with our actual existence.

But what after all, behind appearance, is the seeming mystery? We can see that it is the Consciousness which had lost itself, returning to itself, emerging out of its giant self-forgetfulness, slowly, painfully, as a life that is would-be sentient, to be more than sentient, to be again divinely self-conscious, free, infinite, immortal.

All experience and phenomena are understood to be a dream, this should not be just an intellectual understanding, but a vivid and lucid experience…Genuine integration of this point produces a profound change in the individual’s response to the world. Grasping and aversion is greatly diminished, and the emotional tangles that once seemed so compelling are experienced as the tug of dream stories, and no more.

One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious.

If a person is open to a new world view, it can often mean that he is not firmly rooted in the reality of the old world view; as a lunatic or alienated artist, his own neurotic traits can become magnified as they tremble with the new energy pouring in from the universal source.

It is the self within ourselves that we must sacrifice. It is our own heart that has to be torn out of the false being and offered to the light.

Our normal human tendencies are distraction and dissipation. We begin one task, then get seduced by some other option, and lose our focus. We drift away from what is difficult and we know to be true, to what is comfortable and socially condoned.

The unconscious process moves spiral-wise around a center, gradually getting closer, while the characteristics of the center grow more and more distinct.

All work, the genuine work which we must achieve, is that which is most difficult and painful: the work on ourselves. If we do not freely take upon ourselves this pre-acceptance of the pain and torment, they will be visited upon us in an otherwise necessary individual and universal collapse. Anyone disassociated from his origin and his spiritually sensed task acts against origin. Anyone who acts against it has neither a today nor a tomorrow.

Instead of negating the conflicting aspects of a paradox, you advance your understanding when you can hold both sides of a dichotomy in your mind at the same time, reconciling rather than negating…one could embrace paradox as an operating, operative principle, rather than seeking to deny or dissolve or dilute it…Rather than seeking to resolve dualisms and institute some grand ‘theory of everything’, ‘the science of the imagination’ would embrace and explore paradox, going deeper into conundrums, relinquishing delusory attempts to achieve certainty. We may find that thought and language are creative aspects of being, tools for transforming reality. If the universe is actually a projection of subtler levels of the psyche- a loom of maya- then we may discover that the vibratory lattices of interpenetrating worlds elaborated by current physics are descriptions of the psyche itself, in its fully ensouled unfolding.

…The Western ‘God-image’ is a representation of the collective unconscious, an archetype of the psyche that undergoes a continual process of transformation…The God image evolves through its relationship to humanity. Whoever knows God has an effect on ‘him’. For the individual, knowing God, is the process of recognizing and assimilating the pressured and paradoxical contents of the self, which come to consciousness- seek incarnation- within the ego.

If one man kills a hundred men, and another man masters himself, the second man is the much greater warrior.

To think that practice and realization are not one is a heretical view. In the Buddha Dharma, practice and realization are identical. Because one’s present practice is practice in realization, one’s initial negotiating of the Way in itself is the whole of original realization. Thus, even while directed to practice, one is told not to anticipate a realization apart from practice, because practice points directly to original realization.

The mind is like tofu. By itself, it has no taste. Everything depends on the flavor of the marinade it steeps in.

The foundation of all mental illness is the unwillingness to experience legitimate suffering.

People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to stop from facing their souls.

The gigantic catastrophes that threaten us today are not elemental happenings of a physical or biological order, but psychic events. To a quite terrifying degree we are threatened by wars and revolutions which are nothing other than psychic epidemics. At any moment several million human beings may be smitten with a new madness, and then we shall have another world war or devastating revolution. Instead of being at the mercy of wild beasts, earthquakes, landslides, and inundations, modern man is battered by the elemental forces of his own psyche.

Yoga is mind wave quieting.

Conditioned Awareness is where we live our lives in guilt over the past and anxiety over the future and never get to experience the present.

Everything on earth is beautiful, everything -- except what we ourselves think and do when we forget the higher purposes of life and our own human dignity.

A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor.

Habit is necessary; it is the habit of having habits, of turning a trail into a rut that must be incessantly fought against if one is to remain alive.

All Profound things, and emotions of things are preceded and attended by Silence…Silence is the general consecration of the Universe. Silence is the invisible laying on of the Divine Pontiff’s hands upon the world. Silence is at once the most harmless and the most awful thing in all Nature. It speaks of the Reserved Forces of Fate. Silence is the only Voice of our God.

As every man knows, meditation and water are weded forever.

Zazen is the ultimate practice. This is indeed the True Self. The Buddhadharma is not to be sought outside of this.

In nature there are neither rewards nor punishments; there are consequences.

Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.

Take a moment as though it were a canvas. Begin to paint on it creative blends of colors. In every moment we can find and live our purpose.

Every moment is a chance to fulfill our purpose.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you're going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Living an awakened life [...] is just a matter of where our attention is being placed. It is possible for our human-beingness and our true nature or presence to exist wonderfully well together, enriching each other through their closeness. It is through the power of our attention that we experience one or the other or both.

We don't set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people's hearts.

The journey is the destination.

Paradoxically, we achieve true wholeness only by embracing our fragility and sometimes, our brokenness.

The foundation of greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment, instead of pursuing the idea of greatness.

Prayer begins at the edge of emptiness.

Even if one is not hungry and although eat is called HumanBeing Even though one is hungry and although does not eat is HumanBeing

A poet once said, "The whole universe is in a glass of wine." We will probably never know in what sense he meant that, for poets do not write to be understood... How vivid is the claret, pressing its existence into the consciousness that watches it! If our small minds, for some convenience, divide this glass of wine, this universe, into parts-- physics, biology, geology, astronomy, psychology, and so on-- remember that nature does not know it! So let us put it all back together, not forgetting ultimately what it is for. Let it give us one more final pleasure: drink it and forget it all!

You've got to think about big things while you're doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.

I do not think of God theistically, that is, as a being, supernatural in power, who dwells beyond the limits of my world. I rather experience God as the source of life willing me to live fully, the source of love calling me to love wastefully and to borrow a phrase from the theologian, Paul Tillich, as the Ground of being, calling me to be all that I can be.

If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things in nature have a message you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive.

We should notice that we are already supported at every moment. There is the earth below our feet and there is the air, filling our lungs and emptying them. We should begin from this when we need support.

Each minute of life should be a divine quest.

For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money.

What if the universe were whispering in my ear at every moment?

Rational action is generally the slave of our emotional nature, because only when passion is stirred do we then find the will to act rationally.

Colombe Josse is the older Jesse daughter. Colombe Jesse is also a sort of tall blonde leek who dresses like a penniless Bohemian. If there is one thing I despise, it is the perverse affectation of rich people who go around dressing as if they were poor, in second-hand clothes, ill-fitting gray bonnets, socks full of holes, and flowered shirts under threadbare sweaters. Not only is it ugly, it is also insulting: nothing is more despicable than a rich man’s scorn for a poor man’s longing.

All this hurrying soon will be over. Only when we tarry do we touch the holy.

Our listening creates a sanctuary for the homeless parts within another person.

I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves. They didn't bother to find out who and what I was. Instead they would invent a character for me. I wouldn't argue with them. They were obviously loving somebody I wasn't.

The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.

Sometimes people get the mistaken notion that spirituality is a separate department of life, the penthouse of existence. But rightly understood, it is a vital awareness that pervades all realms of our being.

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes.

Imitation is often a shortcut to a solution. We copy when we lack the inclination, the ability or the time to work out an independent solution. People in a hurry will imitate more readily than people at leisure. Hustling thus tends to produce uniformity. And in the deliberate fusing of individuals into a compact group, incessant action will play a considerable role.

Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep.

Retire to the center of your being, which is calmness.

Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing.

Sometimes we behave as though there was something more important than life. But what?

The worst insult I can inflict on life is that I do not reflect on its meaning.

Generosity is another quality which, like patience, letting go, non-judging, and trust, provides a solid foundation for mindfulness practice. You might experiment with using the cultivation of generosity as a vehicle for deep self-observation and inquiry as well as an exercise in giving. A good place to start is with yourself. See if you can give yourself gifts that may be true blessings, such as self-acceptance, or some time each day with no purpose. Practice feeling deserving enough to accept these gifts without obligation-to simply receive from yourself, and from the universe.

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives… not looking for flaws, but for potential.

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

Every morning is like a new reincarnation into this world. Let us take it then for what it is and live each moment anew.

Take more time, cover less ground.

In being with dying, we arrive at a natural crucible of what it means to love and be loved. And we can ask ourselves this: Knowing that death is inevitable, what is most precious today?

Everyday, think as you wake up: Today I am fortunate to have woken up. I am alive. I have a precious human life. I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself to expand my heart out to others for the benefit of all beings.

Do your little bit of good where you are;it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.