Saturday, December 31, 2016

Prayers

Nature is impartial; it cannot be flattered by prayers. It does not grant any special favours on request. - Venerable K. Sri Dhammananda Maha Thera

Prayer is the sign of your weakness. Rely on your inner strength. You will be the winner. - Amit Ray

Prayer is the stimulant of the feeble. - Abraham Miller

Friday, December 30, 2016

Karma

Bad karma is the spiritual debt one has accumulated for one's mistakes from all previous lives and this life. It includes killing, harming, taking advantage, cheating, stealing, and more. On Mother Earth, when you buy a house, you take out a mortgage from a bank. This mortgage is your debt to the bank. You pay every month for fifteen, twenty, or thirty years to clear your financial debt. In the spiritual realm, if you have bad karma, you may have to pay for many lifetimes to clear your spiritual debt. - Zhi Gang Sha

Debts that must be paid ... that sums up the concept of karma. But I would add that karma is not a burden that you have to carry. It is also an opportunity to learn, a chance to practice love and forgiveness, a chance to learn lessons that are valuable to us. Karma offers us the chance to wipe our dirty slate clean, to erase the wrong doings of the past. - J. P. Vaswani

Thursday, December 29, 2016

Spirituality

Spiritual awakening is the most essential thing in man's life, and it is the sole purpose of being. Is not civilization, in all its tragic forms, a supreme motive for spiritual awakening? - Kahlil Gibran

All that affliction of the darkest kind ever can work to the true soul is to awaken it up to spiritual things, to open the clear eye, to make the spiritual reality the more real. If you rightly comprehend it, it only strikes that which is round about you, it only removes that which is outward and physical, but it leaves you all the same a greater and a better man for your trial. - E.H. Chapin

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, babes and sages with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never. In a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. - William Henry Channing

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

Religion

I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap. My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth and the teachings of science. Superstition must go. Let them worship as they will; every man can follow his own conscience, provided it does not interfere with sane reason or bid him against the liberty of his fellow-men. - Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

I have no objection to any person's religion, be it what it may, so long as that person does not kill or insult any other person, because that other person don't believe it also. But when a man's religion becomes really frantic; when it is a positive torment to him; and, in fine, makes this earth of ours an uncomfortable inn to lodge in; then I think it high time to take that individual aside and argue the point with him. - Herman Melville

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Chi / Energy

Did you Know …

… that your heart emits electromagnetic fields that change according to your emotions?
… the human heart’s magnetic field can be measured up to several feet away from the body?
… that positive emotions create physiological benefits in your body?
… that you can boost your immune system by conjuring positive emotions?
… that negative emotions can create a nervous system chaos, but positive emotions do the opposite? … that the heart has a system of neurons that have both short and long-term memory, and their signals sent to the brain can affect our emotional experiences?
… in fetal development the heart forms and starts beating before the brain is developed?
… a mother’s brainwaves can synchronize to her baby’s heartbeats?
… the heart sends more information to the brain than vice versa?
… that positive emotions help the brain in creativity and innovative problem solving?
… positive emotions can increase the brain’s ability to make good decisions?

These facts were brought to you by the Institute of HeartMath Research Center where on-going research is being conducted to help explain the connection and the role of the heart in our emotion-based experiences.

Monday, December 26, 2016

Truth

            A king asked a sage to explain the Truth. In response the sage asked the king how he would convey the taste of a mango to someone who had never eaten anything sweet.
            No matter how hard the king tried, he could not adequately describe the flavour of the fruit, and, in frustration, he demanded of the sage, "Tell me then, how would you describe it?"
            The sage picked up a mango and handed it to the king saying "This is very sweet. Try eating it!"

Sunday, December 25, 2016

The Teachings of The Buddha

            Monks, even if a monk should take hold of the edge of my outer garment and should walk close behind me, step by step, yet if he should be covetous, strongly attracted by pleasures of the senses, malevolent in thought, of corrupt mind, an purposed, templative, scatter-brained, his sense-faculties uncontrolled, then he is far from me and I am far from him.
            Monks, if a monk should be staying even a hundred miles away, yet if he is not covetous, not strongly attracted by the pleasures of the sense, not malevolent in thought, not of corrupt mind and purpose, his recollection firmly set, attentive, contemplative, his thought be one-pointed, restrained in his sense-faculties, then he is near me and I am near him. - The Buddha

Nevertheless, my friend, I do not say that without reaching the world's end, an end of suffering cannot be made. For, my friend, in this fathom – long body with its sense impressions and its thoughts and ideas, I do declare to you, are the world and the origin of the world and the cessation of the world and likewise the way that leads to its cessation. - The Buddha

Thursday, December 22, 2016

Spiritual

If you practice spiritual discipline for some time in a solitary place, you will find that your mind has become strong, and then you can live in any place or society without being in the least affected by it. When the plant is tender, it should be hedged around. But when it has grown big, not even cows and goats can injure it. Spiritual practices in a solitary place are essential. - Sarada Devi

The spiritual journey does not consist in arriving at a new destination where a person gains what he did not have, or becomes what he is not. It consists in the dissipation of one’s own ignorance concerning one’s self and life, and the gradual growth of that understanding which begins the spiritual awakening. - Aldous Huxley

One of the most spiritual things you can do is embrace your humanity. Connect with those around you today. Say, “I love you”, “I’m sorry”, “I appreciate you”, “I’m proud of you”… whatever you’re feeling. Send random texts, write a cute note, embrace your truth and share it… cause a smile today for someone else… and give plenty of hugs. - Steve Maraboli

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

God

It is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. In a way, the traditional notion of God is outdated. One can be spiritual but not religious. It is not necessary to go to church and give money – for many, nature can be a church. Some of the best people in history did not believe in God, while some of the worst deeds were done in His name. - Pope Francis

God – if he really exist – is good, alive, self-conscious, and governs all things according to his benevolent and holy providence; but the world shows no indications of such a benevolent and holy Providence. This earth appears to be a hell, or at best a planet condemned – a sort of purgatory: it is filled with violence, tyranny and injustice, and yet God, if he exist, is absolute sovereign, and has willed that things should be as they are! – Therefore there is no God. - William Batchelder Greene

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Universe

It was as if the universe itself stretched out its finger to touch me. And in touching me, singling me out, it only heightened my awareness of my own insignificance. That was somehow very comforting. When you confront the absolute indifference of magnitudes and vistas so overwhelming, the swollen ego of your own self-important suffering is diminished. - Joan D. Vinge

Never forget that the universe is a single living organism possessed of one substance and one soul, holding all things suspended in a single consciousness and creating all things with a single purpose that they might work together spinning and weaving and knotting whatever comes to pass. - Marcus Aurelius

Our sun is one of 100 billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy is one of billions of galaxies populating the universe. It would be the height of presumption to think that we are the only living things in that enormous immensity. - Wernher Von Braun

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Buddhist Quotes

By oneself is evil done; by oneself is one made impure. By oneself only is evil stopped, by oneself is one made pure. Purity and impurity depend on oneself. No one can purify another.

Just as water cools both good and bad and washes away all impurity and dust, in the same way you should develop thoughts of love to friend and foe alike, and having reached perfection in love, you will attain enlightenment.

No matter how far out on the sea of suffering we’ve sailed, all that is required is to turn toward awakening. It’s never too late, but it takes that turning, and no one can do that for us.

If you let go a little, you will have a little peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Parable

Student: "Is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?"
Teacher: "As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning."
Student: "Then what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?"
Teacher: "To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise."
- Anthony de Mello

Friday, December 16, 2016

Karma

Karma is best expressed in popular phrases like, "what goes around, comes around" and "what you sow, you will reap." Karma has also been referred to as having a "boomerang effect" where the thoughts and actions that you send out into the world turn around and come back at you. In the New Testament, Jesus says, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Karma goes a step further and dictates that "What you do unto others will come back to you." I think Jesus and the Hindus really had the same idea. Think about that the next time you want to say or do something nasty to someone else! - Carmen Harra

As no cause remains without its due effect from greatest to least, from a cosmic disturbance down to the movement of your hand, and as like produces like, Karma is that unseen and unknown law which adjusts wisely, intelligently, and equitably each effect to its cause, tracing the latter back to its producer. - H. P. Blavatsky

Thursday, December 15, 2016

Mysticism

All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force… We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter. - Max Planck, Nobel Prize-winning Father of Quantum Theory

The mysterious powers of the human mind – and man’s amazing psychic powers – operate under universal laws. These laws operate regardless of anyone’s lack of understanding, disbelief, or ignorance. - Unknown

All lives are so profoundly and intricately intertwined – those dead, those living, those generations yet to come – that the fate of all is the fate of each, and the hope of humanity rests in every heart and in every pair of hands. - H.R. White

Although each of us obviously inhabits a separate physical body, the laboratory data from a hundred years of parapsychology research strongly indicate that there is no separation in consciousness. - Russell Targ

The universal order and the personal order are nothing but different expressions and manifestations of a common underlying principle. - Marcus Aurelius

Never think of any right effort as being fruitless - all right effort bears good fruit, whether we see results or not. - Unknown

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Religion

I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of God. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. - Hospitaller

I say people who feel they must have a faith or religion in order to face life are showing a kind of cowardice, which in any other sphere would be considered contemptible. But when it is in the religious sphere it is thought admirable, and I cannot admire cowardice whatever sphere it is in. - Bertrand Russell

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that it's modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking. - H. L. Mencken

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Energy Healing

            Disease is simply part of our bodies vibrating out of tune, says pioneering sound therapist Jonathan Goldman. ‘Every organ, bone, tissue and other part of the body has a healthy resonant frequency. When that frequency alters, that part of the body vibrates out of harmony and that is what is termed disease. If it were possible to determine the correct resonant frequency for a healthy organ and then project it into that part which is diseased, the organ should return to its normal frequency and a healing should occur.
            Goldman firmly believes that, by creating sounds that are harmonious with the correct frequency of the healthy organ, we could all learn how to heal ourselves, bringing our bodies back into balance. He, along with other sound researchers, have been focusing most of their attention on the sacred chants of varying traditions, believing that the high-frequency harmonics that most of them share, could be having profound effects on both the mind and body.

The fundamental principle of Energy Medicine is that an underlying energy field generates physical, emotional, and mental behaviours or symptoms. If we change the energy field, the physical, emotional, and mental behaviours will also change. - Dr. John Beaulieu, ND, PHD

The key to getting the very best out of life lies in understanding and working with this energy. - Unknown

Monday, December 12, 2016

Atheism

It is the absolutism of theism, its pernicious influence upon humanity, its paralyzing effect upon thought and action, which Atheism is fighting with all its power. - Emma Goldman

Stripped of the opportunities for satire which organised religion cannot help but supply, the case for atheism has very little substance. - Bill Saunders

Although atheism might have been logically tenable before Darwin, Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. - Richard Dawkins

Sunday, December 11, 2016

On Dharma

Dharma is a Sanskrit word. In Buddhism, it is generally taken to mean the Teachings of The Buddha. There is no equivalent single word translation for dharma in western languages.

            When you listen to the Dharma you must open up your heart and compose yourself in the centre. Don't try to accumulate what you hear or make a painstaking effort to retain what you hear through memory. Just let the Dharma flow into your heart as it reveals itself, and keep yourself continuously open to its flow in the present moment. What is ready to be retained will be so, and it will happen of its own accord, not through any determined effort on your part.
            Similarly, when you expound the Dharma, you must not force yourself. It should happen on its own and should flow spontaneously from the present moment and circumstances. People have different levels of receptive ability, and when you're there at that same level it just happens, the Dharma flows. - The Buddha

Friday, December 9, 2016

Meditation

Meditation will give strength to our purposes. Reason is the strongest when it is most in action. Now meditation stirs up reason into act. Before, it was a standing water, which moves nothing else when itself moves not; but now it is as the speedy stream which bears down all before it. - Henry George Salter

Mind without agitation is meditation. Mind in the present moment is meditation. Mind that has no hesitation, no anticipation is meditation. Mind that has come back home, to the source, is meditation. Mind that becomes no mind is meditation. - Sri Ravi Shankar

Sitting silently, one should experience quietly all that is happening around and do nothing else. You are hearing sounds, listen to them silently; a bird is singing, listen to it silently; the breath is moving in and out, go on watching it silently – nothing else has to be done. - Osho

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Spiritual

In an evolutionary context, the goal of the spiritual life is not peace; it’s perpetual development. Evolutionary enlightenment is about the ecstasy that compels us to create the future. And it’s not a future that’s going to unfold by itself while we go back to sleep. It’s a future that we forge the hard way through direct, conscious, intentional engagement with the life-process itself. - Andrew Cohen

What is common to all paths that are spiritual is, of course, the Spirit-breath, life energy, that is why all true paths are essentially one path, because there is only one Spirit, one breath, one life, one energy in the universe. It belongs to none of us and all of us. We all share it. Spiritually does not make up otherworldly; it renders us more fully alive. - Matthew Fox

No piece of evidence – or lack of evidence – can either support or refute faith. Unfortunately, few people realize that. Some people search for proof of spiritual things in the material world. That is foolish and doomed, because nothing material has any bearing on anything spiritual. Spiritual truths can only be learned via spiritual means. - Bob Lonsberry

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

God

Though I dislike to differ with such a great man, Voltaire was simply ludicrous when he said that if god did not exist it would be necessary to invent him. The human invention of god is the problem to begin with. - Christopher Hitchens

I don't understand worshipping a god who denigrates women and whose 'true believers' feel it's their right to look down on anyone who doesn't think exactly as they do. - P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Universe

In the long run, when we get right down to the fundamental stuff of the universe, we'll find that there's nothing there at all – just no-things moving no-place through no-time. - James Blish

It is our station to live within laws that give us being, but offer of themselves no purpose or promise, no triumph as a species. The universe allows us a place in its systematic workings but only cares for the system itself, not us. - Gregory Benford

It may be – I hope it is – redemption to guess and perhaps perceive that the universe, the hell which we see for all its beauty, vastness, majesty, is only part of a whole which is quite unimaginable. - William Golding

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Buddhism

Excerpts from Buddhist texts.

A man may be an intellectual giant endowed with the power to perceive quickly and express clearly and accurately, but if he pays no attention to his actions and if he is only bent on fulfilling his own longings and inclinations at any cost he is, according to the Buddha, a fool, a man of inferior intelligence and he indeed destroys his own progress here and hereafter. - Unknown

We are the results of what we were. And will be the results of what we are. We must learn to let go of conditions and not try to oppose or resist them. Know your own body, heart, and mind. Be content with little. Don't go and hold on to emotions. - Unknown

Let me not pray to be sheltered form dangers but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain but for the heart to conquer it.
Let me not crave in anxious fear to be saved but hope for the patience to win my freedom. - Unknown

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Prayers

If you just sit around praying, nothing gets done. - Nora Roberts

If you pray for rain long enough, it does eventually fall. If you pray for flood-waters to abate, they eventually do. The same happens in the absence of prayers. - Steve Allen

It is in vain to expect our prayers to be heard, if we do not strive as well as pray. - Aesop

Friday, December 2, 2016

Karma

Karma refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual (cause) influence the future of that individual (effect). It is a doctrine and tenet of Buddhism. However, one doesn’t need to be a Buddhist to believe in it. The principle of cause and effect is happening everywhere in everyday life.

The doctrine of Karma, which is the great peculiarity of Buddhism and the main source of its moral excellence, is the complement of the doctrine of Transmigration. It is the teaching of Buddha "that there is no such thing as what is commonly called a soul." I quite agree with him in that "the real man is the net result of his merits and demerits; that a man is what he does, and the character of his acts depends upon his intentions." "All that we are is the result of what we have thought." - James Platt

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Mysticism

Universal law always follows a pattern. Everything that moves or grows has a cycle and trend. It is nature’s law that every natural or man-made growing organism grows to maturity, levels off, and dies – unless there is rebirth through new life, new blood, new ideas, or new activity. - Unknown

A full-spectrum approach to human consciousness and behaviour means that men and women have available to them a spectrum of knowing – a spectrum that includes, at the very least, the eye of flesh, the eye of mind, and the eye of spirit. - Ken Wilber

Everything is vibratory in nature. Vibrations impinge on our outer senses, leading to perception and formation of realities. Perceptions and realities help us to understand the physical world about us. Colour, in its pure form as vibration, is an actuality. Colour, as we perceive it, is a reality. - Rosicrucian Digest

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Religion

It is your organized religions that have made it clear through their most sacred scriptures that cruelty and killing is an acceptable response to human frailty and human differences. This goes against every human instinct, but organized religion has reorganized human thoughts. Some humans have even been turned against their own instinct for survival. And so people go around maiming and killing each other, because they've been told quite directly that this is what God does to them – and what God wants them to do to each other. - Neale Donald Walsch

Organised religions in general, in my opinion, are dying forms. They were all very important when we didn’t know why the sun moved, why weather changed, why hurricanes occurred, or volcanoes happened. Modern religion is the end trail of modern mythology. But there are people who interpret the Bible literally. - Bruce Willis

Organized religion has too often followed the road of other people's institutions. It has made adjustments, compromises, and surrenders to a materialistic civilization for the benefit of material security in spite of occasional twinges of conscience and moral protests. The result has been that today much of organized religion is materialistically solvent but spiritually bankrupt. - Saul Alinsky

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Energy / Chi

Chi or Qi is the cosmic vital energy that enables beings to survive and links them to the universe as a whole.

Chi is the basic material of all that exists. It animates life and furnishes functional power of events. Qi is the root of the human body; its quality and movement determine human health. Qi can be discussed in terms of quantity, since having more means stronger metabolic function.

This, however, does not mean that health is a by-product of storing large quantities of qi. Rather, there is a normal or healthy amount of qi in every person, and health manifests in its balance and harmony, its moderation and smoothness of flow.

This flow is envisioned in the texts as a complex system of waterways with the ‘Ocean of Qi’ in the abdomen; rivers of qi flowing through the upper torso, arms, and legs; springs of qi reaching to the wrists and ankles; and wells of qi found in the fingers and toes. Even a small spot in this complex system can thus influence the whole, so that overall balance and smoothness are the general goal.

Human life is the accumulation of qi; death is its dispersal. After receiving a core potential of primordial qi at birth, people throughout life need to sustain it. They do so by drawing postnatal qi into the body from air and food, as well as from other people through sexual, emotional, and social interaction. But they also lose qi through breathing bad air, overburdening their bodies with food and drink, and getting involved in negative emotions and excessive sexual or social interactions.

- Livia Kohn, Health and Long Life: The Chinese Way

Monday, November 28, 2016

Atheist

As an atheist, I am angry that we live in a society in which the plain truth cannot be spoken without offending 90% of the population. - Sam Harris

Being an atheist is kind of like being the only sober person in the car and nobody will let you drive. - Unknown

For those who are born into atheism, it's a faith like any other. The only real atheist is an ex-believer. - Gabriel Lauber

Sunday, November 27, 2016

Teachings of the Buddha

This is what convinced me Buddhism was for me. No blind faith, and no coercion. I listen to what was expounded, I think it through, and then I judge whether they are sensible, and then I decide whether to believe it or not.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it. - The Buddha

As a wise man tests gold on a touch-stone, heating and cutting, so you, monks should test my words by practice, and not accept them simply due to the reverence to me. - The Buddha

If you judge by yourselves – these actions are not meritorious, these are wrong, these are despised by the wise and these are conducive to the prejudice and grief of him who commits them – then do shun them.
If you judge by yourselves – these actions are meritorious, these are right, these are praised by the wise, these are conducive to well-being for the happiness of him who performs them - then act accordingly. - The Buddha

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Lotus Flower


The traditional Indian and Buddhist explanation of the glorious lotus flower is that it appears not to spring from the sordid earth but from the surface of the water and it is always unsullied and pure, no matter how impure the water. This symbolizes all first created objects arising from primordial chaos – confusion and darkness. In other words, from out the darkness came light, beauty, and form. No matter what one’s environment, the spiritual truth latent in one’s nature may blossom forth and remain uncontaminated if one turns toward the light. - Unknown


Friday, November 25, 2016

Meditation


Buddha was asked, “What have you gained from meditation?”
He replied, “Nothing! However, let me tell you what I have lost: anger, anxiety, depression, insecurity, fear of old age and death.” - Unknown

Thursday, November 24, 2016

Spiritual

Every moment and every event of every man’s life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men. Most of these unnumbered seeds perish and are lost, because men are not prepared to receive them: for such seeds as these cannot spring up anywhere except in the good soil of freedom, spontaneity and love. - Thomas Merton

Be fearless and pure; never waver in your determination or your dedication to the spiritual life. Give freely. Be self-controlled, sincere, truthful, loving, and full of the desire to serve... Learn to be detached and to take joy in renunciation. Do not get angry or harm any living creature, but be compassionate and gentle; show good will to all. Cultivate vigour, patience, will, purity; avoid malice and pride. Then, you will achieve your destiny. - Krishna

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

God

I think that if there were a God, there would be less evil on this earth. I believe that if evil exists here below, then either it was willed by God or it was beyond His powers to prevent it. Now I cannot bring myself to fear a God who is either spiteful or weak. I defy Him without fear and care not a fig for his thunderbolts. - Marquis de Sade

I do not mind if I lose my soul for all eternity. If the kind of God exists Who would damn me for not working out a deal with Him, then that is unfortunate. I should not care to spend eternity in the company of such a person. - Mary McCarthy


Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Universe

In this interconnected universe, every improvement we make in our private world improves the world at large for everyone. We all float on the collective level of consciousness of mankind, so that any increment we add comes back to us. We all add to our common buoyancy by our efforts to benefit life. It is a scientific fact that what is good for you is good for me. - Dr. David Hawkins

We do not ‘come into’ this world; we come out of it, as leaves from a tree. As the ocean ‘waves,’ the Universe ‘peoples.’ Every individual is an expression of the whole realm of Nature, a unique action of the total Universe. - Alan Watts

In my youth, I regarded the universe as an open book, printed in the language of physical equations, whereas now it appears to me as a text written in invisible ink, of which in our rare moments of grace we are able to decipher a small fragment. - Arthur Koestler

Sunday, November 20, 2016

Buddhism

Excerpts from Buddhist texts.

Loving kindness

Do not forget to have loving-kindness for yourself. You are also a living being who deserves, who needs love and compassion. In fact, you can’t really love others until you learn to love yourself. That doesn’t mean being selfish and egotistical. It means being a friend to yourself, accepting yourself as you are with your faults and limitations, knowing that you can change and grow. - Unknown

Be aware of Impermanence

Everything is subject to change. What is born, must die. See this in things around you. Notice in your current experience how happiness, sadness, boredom, all come and go. Watch how the more you cling to something, the harder it is when it eventually has to disappear. - Unknown

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Bible

The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief – call it what you will – than any book ever written; it has emptied more churches than all the counterattractions of cinema, motor bicycle and golf course. - A. A. Milne

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. - Isaac Asimov

Friday, November 18, 2016

Meditation

Meditation is not a matter of trying to achieve ecstasy, spiritual bliss, or tranquility, nor is it attempting to become a better person. It is simply the creation of a space in which we are able to expose and undo our neurotic games, our self-deceptions, our hidden fears and hopes. - Chogyam Trungpa

Meditation aspires to rediscover the Light by removing the layers of unwanted thoughts that are covering it. Once you free yourself from unwanted thoughts, there will be room to observe learn, reflect and accept. - Unknown

Meditation is a method to access the insight and wisdom which lie hidden in your Divine Nature. It is a form of spiritual training that will help you find harmony between body, and mind.- Unknown

Meditation tends to free a great deal of energy that is usually tied up in various kinds of mental and emotional tensions. When these tensions are released we have more energy available to live full and creative lives. - Unknown

I believe that reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found. By reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well. This to me is a miracle. - Kurt Vonnegut

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Mysticism

To no longer resist the present is to see that there is nothing but the present - no beginning, no end, nothing behind it, nothing in front of it. When the past of memory and the future of anticipation are both seen to be present facts, then the slats to this present collapse. The boundaries around this moment fall into this moment, and then there is nothing but this moment, with nowhere else to go. - Ken Wilber

You are eternal Consciousness, currently in this wonderful physical body for the thrill and exhilaration of specific focus and creation. The physical being that you define as 'you' stands on the Leading Edge of thought, while Consciousness, which is really your Source, pours through you. And in those moments of inexpressible elation, those are the times when you are wide open and truly allowing your Source to express through you. - Unknown

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Religion

All religions, with their gods, their demi-gods, and their prophets, their messiahs and their saints, were created by the prejudiced fancy of men who had not attained the full development and full possession of their faculties. - Mikhail Bakunin

As editor of the largest newspaper in West Virginia, I scan hundreds of reports daily and I am amazed by the frequency with which religion causes people to kill each other. It is a nearly universal pattern, undercutting the common assumption that religion makes people kind and tolerant. - James Haught

Before you speak to me about your religion, first show it to me in how you treat other people; Before you tell me how much you love your God, show me in how much you love all his children; Before you preach to me of your passion for your faith, teach me about it through your compassion for your neighbours. - Cory Booker

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Energy / Chi

Vital energy is always there. It runs through all of life. It connects our bodies with our minds and souls. It links us with other people, with our homes and nature, with the universe and with the highest spiritual power. - Unknown

If our heart is at peace, our whole body of energy is at peace. If our heart is righteous, our whole body of energy is righteous. - Zhang Dai

Pay attention to whom your energy increases and decreases around, because that’s the universe giving you a hint of who you should embrace or stray from. - Unknown

The smooth, balanced flow of chi – your life-force energy – is the single most important determinant to your health, vitality and happiness. - Bruce Frantzis

The wise who know the arcane art go into deep meditation, breathe in cosmic energy, and through constant practice, eventually acquire supernormal abilities. - Nei Jing

Discard all irrelevant thoughts, breathe in cosmic energy, so as to open your mental faculties. - Nei Jing

Monday, November 14, 2016

Atheism

All thinking men are atheists. - Ernest Hemingway

I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. - Stephen Roberts

A man who parades his piety is one who, under an atheist king, would be an atheist. - Jean de La Bruyere

Sunday, November 13, 2016

Buddhism

Excerpts from Buddhist texts.

The Buddha does not attempt to solve all the ethical and philosophical problems that perplex mankind. He is chiefly concerned with one practical and specific problem; that of Suffering and its destruction. All side issues are completely ignored. - Unknown

When the senses touch sense objects and the thoughts touch thought objects, the fires of lust and desire are kindled. Your ears hear praises of yourselves and then your thoughts think of self-importance and you are fearful lest you lose the self-importance. You forget that this self is not the true self of you which is universal and deathless. - Unknown

When we are thinking generously, we give allowance to the inconsiderate, the unkind, the selfish and mean people in the world. Thereupon, we become generous in our speech; to speak well of others behind their backs, to rejoice in their success, to understand their errors, then our deeds become generous too. - Unknown

Saturday, November 12, 2016

A Parable

            A monk decides to meditate alone, away from his monastery. He takes his boat out to the middle of the lake, moors it there, closes his eyes and begins his meditation.
            After a few hours of undisturbed silence, he suddenly feels the bump of another boat colliding with his own. With his eyes still closed, he senses his anger rising, and by the time he opens his eyes, he is ready to scream at the boatman who dared disturb his meditation.
            But when he opens his eyes, he sees it’s an empty boat that had probably got untethered and floated to the middle of the lake.
            At that moment, the monk achieves self-realization, and understands that the anger is within him; it merely needs the bump of an external object to provoke it out of him.
            From then on, whenever he comes across someone who irritates him or provokes him to anger, he reminds himself, “The other person is merely an empty boat. The anger is within me.”

Friday, November 11, 2016

Meditation

Don't think that only sitting with the eyes closed is practice. Steady practice is keeping mindful in every posture, whether sitting walking, standing or lying down. When coming out of sitting, don't think that you're coming out of meditation, but that you are only changing postures. If you reflect in this way, you will have peace. Wherever you are, you will have this attitude of practice with you constantly. You will have a steady awareness within yourself. - Unknown

Meditation practice is like piano scales, basketball drills, ballroom dance class. Practice requires discipline; it can be tedious; it is necessary. After you have practiced enough, you become more skilled at the art form itself. You do not practice to become a great scale player or drill champion. You practice to become a musician or athlete. Likewise, one does not practice meditation to become a great meditator. We meditate to wake up and live, to become skilled at the art of living. - Elizabeth Lesser

One practice I rely on all the time is basic meditation which allows me to strip away the noise. It’s like the old-fashioned dial on the radio, where you were getting static and then you found that clear, sweet spot on the dial, where the music would come through. That's what meditation is for me. Dialling out the static, the noise, the anxiety, the fear, and coming into a place that's deep and quiet. It's like dropping into a well of inspiration and wisdom. - Elizabeth Lesdser

Thursday, November 10, 2016

Spirituality

Spirituality does not come from religion. It comes from the soul. Unknown

Spirituality exists wherever we struggle with the issue of how our lives fit into the greater cosmic scheme of things. This is true even when our questions never give way to specific answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. We encounter spiritual issues every time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or what happens when we die. We also become spiritual when we become moved by values such as beauty, love, or creativity that seem to reveal a meaning or power beyond our visible world. An idea or practice is ‘spiritual’ when it reveals our personal desire to establish a felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or powers governing life. - Robert C. Fuller

Wednesday, November 9, 2016

God

For those who believe in God, most of the big questions are answered. But for those of us who can’t readily accept the God formula, the big answers don’t remain stone-written. We adjust to new conditions and discoveries. We are pliable. Love need not be a command nor faith a dictum. I am my own god. We are here to unlearn the teachings of the church, state, and our educational system. We are here to drink beer. We are here to kill war. We are here to laugh at the odds and live our lives so well that Death will tremble to take us. - Charles Bukowski

If he is infinitely good, what reason should we have to fear him? If he is infinitely wise, why should we have doubts concerning our future? If he knows all, why warn him of our needs and fatigue him with our prayers? If he is everywhere, why erect temples to him? If he is just, why fear that he will punish the creatures that he has filled with weaknesses? If grace does everything for them, what reason would he have for recompensing them? If he is all-powerful, how offend him, how resist him? If he is reasonable, how can he be angry at the blind, to whom he has given the liberty of being unreasonable? If he is immovable, by what right do we pretend to make him change his decrees? If he is inconceivable, why occupy ourselves with him? If he has spoken, why is the universe not convinced? If the knowledge of a God is the most necessary, why is it not the most evident and the clearest? - Percy Bysshe Shelley

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Universe

I know that much of the structure and plan of the universe is beyond my understanding and not at all similar to anything of our earthly world that I have experienced so far. I marvel at the intellect and attention to detail, the precision manifested by the workings of this great and often unseen force of which we are all a part. - Rosemary Altea

It doesn't seem to me that this fantastically marvellous universe, this tremendous range of time and space and different kinds of animals, and all the different planets, and all these atoms with all their motions, and so on, all this complicated thing can merely be a stage so that God can watch human beings struggle for good and evil – which is the view that religion has. The stage is too big for the drama. - Richard Feyman

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning. - C.S. Lewis

Monday, November 7, 2016

Yin and Yang

Yin Yang is the principle of natural and complementary forces, patterns and things that depend on one another and do not make sense on their own.

These may be masculine and feminine, but they could be darkness and light (which is closer to the original meaning of the dark and light sides of a hill), wet and dry or action and inaction.

These are opposites that fit together seamlessly and work in perfect harmony. You can see this by looking at the yin yang symbol.

The yin yang concept is not the same as Western dualism, because the two opposites are not at war, but in harmony.

This can be seen very clearly in the symbol: the dark area contains a spot of light, and vice versa, and the two opposites are intertwined and bound together within the unifying circle.

Yin and yang are not static, the balance ebbs and flows between them - this is implied in the flowing curve where they meet.

- Taken BBC website Concepts Within Taoism

Sunday, November 6, 2016

The Four Qualities of Love Taught by the Buddha

The teachings on love given by the Buddha are clear, scientific, and applicable… Love, compassion, joy, and equanimity are the very nature of an enlightened person. They are the four aspects of true love within ourselves and within everyone and everything. -Thich Nhat Hanh

https://creativesystemsthinking.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/the-four-qualities-of-love-by-thich-nhat-hanh/

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Humour

I have lived with several Zen masters – all of them cats. - Eckhart Tolle

Calling Atheism a religion is like calling bald a hair colour. - Don Hirschberg

In heaven, all the interesting people are missing. - Friedrich Nietzsche

After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands. - Friedrich Nietzsche

People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them. - Dave Barry

To me there's no real difference between a fortune teller or a fortune cookie and any of the organized religions. They're all equally valid or invalid, really. And equally helpful. - Woody Allen

Friday, November 4, 2016

Meditation

{While meditating} I sit quietly and rest in the nature of mind; I don't question or doubt whether I am in the "correct" state or not. There is no effort, only rich understanding, wakefulness, and unshakable certainty. When I am in the nature of mind, the ordinary mind is no longer there. There is no need to sustain or confirm a sense of being: I simply am. - Sogyal Rinpoche

In meditation, one returns to one’s breath. So you see your thinking arising and you just let it go. You don’t push it away, you don’t prevent it; you don’t hold it, you return to your breath. Return to your breathing. Then over time, you get to see that your thinking has no substance. Good thinking, bad thinking, has no substance. Then it can’t control you. - Venerable Hyon Gak

Just go into the room, open the doors and windows, sit in the center of the room and see who comes to visit. You will witness all kinds of scenes and actors, all kinds of temptations and stories, everything imaginable. Your only job is to stay in your seat. You will see it all arise and pass, and out of this, wisdom and understanding will come. - Ajahn Chah

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Mysticism

            We can never know how greatly an individual may have changed the course of his life. We cannot know the extent of his suffering, struggling, and battling against odds that we might consider insurmountable. We can never know what he may be sacrificing. We cannot know what the Cosmic is directing him to do.
            Let each of us make sure that he is doing what the Master Within has pointed out for him to do. Let each live according to his own Light, doing what he feels the divine urge to do even thought it be menial or casual work, seemingly unimportant and unrelated. There will be no time to note whether others are living the life as we think they should. - Unknown

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Religion

Does religion fill a much needed gap? It is often said that there is a God-shaped gap in the brain which needs to be filled: we have a psychological need for God – imaginary friend, father, big brother, confessor, confidant – and the need has to be satisfied whether God really exists or not. But could it be that God clutters up a gap that we'd be better off filling with something else? Science, perhaps? Art? Human friendship? Humanism? Love of this life in the real world, giving no credence to other lives beyond the grave? - Richard Dawkins

Consider the long history of the activities inspired by moral fervour: human sacrifices, persecutions of heretics, witch-hunts, pogroms leading up to wholesale extermination by poison gases ... Are these abominations, and the ethical doctrines by which they are prompted, really evidence of an intelligent Creator? And can we really wish that the men who practised them should live for ever? The world in which we live can be understood as a result of muddle and accident; but if it is the outcome of a deliberate purpose, the purpose must have been that of a fiend. For my part, I find accident a less painful and more plausible hypothesis. - Bertrand Russell

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Energy

Energy fills every part of the infinite cosmos, and acts as a universal medium connecting everything. - Zhang Dai

Energy is the currency of the universe. - Emily Marcoutian

Every change of condition in matter is brought about by the action of energy on it. - Dolbear

The source of life, of birth and change is chi; everything under heaven and earth obeys this law. Chi in the periphery envelops the cosmos; chi in the interior activates all. - Nei Jing

Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics. - Albert Einstein

The physical body is actually a body of energy. - Mencius

Monday, October 31, 2016

Atheism

All children are Atheists; they have no idea of God. - Paul-Henri Holbch

I'm an atheist, and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for other people. - Katherine Hepburn

The opposite of the religious fanatic is not the fanatical atheist but the gentle cynic who cares not whether there is a god or not. - Eric Hoffer

Sunday, October 30, 2016

Buddhism

Excerpts from Buddhist texts. Buddha-dharma is the Teachings of the Buddha.

Buddha-dharma

The Buddha-dharma does not invite us to dabble in abstract notions. Rather, the task it presents us with is to attend to what we actually experience, right in this moment. You don't have to look "over there." You don't have to figure anything out. You don't have to acquire anything. And you don't have to run off to Tibet, or Japan, or anywhere else. You wake up right here. In fact, you can only wake up right here. So you don't have to do the long search, the frantic chase, the painful quest. You're already right where you need to be. - Steve Hagen

Buddha

Buddha is not to be worshipped, one has to become a Buddha. Except for that, there is no worship, no prayer. You don't need any priest, you don't need any scriptures, you don't need to be in any religious organization, you have to be just yourself – silently, peacefully settling within your home. - Osho

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Religion

I do understand that some people need to believe in a religion. I have no problem with that. And I do not mean to belittle any religion, but when hypocrites and ignorant fools spout falsehood, or try to mislead others with nonsense, they deserved to be ridiculed.

Believers reading this, I hope you are not hanging out with the likes of people in the pictures.

Friday, October 28, 2016

Meditation

All too often people come to meditation in the hope of extraordinary results, like visions, lights, or some supernatural miracle. When no such thing occurs, they feel extremely disappointed. But the real miracle of meditation is more ordinary and much more useful. - Sogyal Rinpoche

Harvard MRI Study Proves Meditation Literally Rebuilds Brain’s Gray Matters In 8 Weeks

http://timewheel.net/tome-harvard-mri-study-proves-meditation-literally-rebuilds-brain-s/

source

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2011/01/eight-weeks-to-a-better-brain/

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Spirituality

Spirituality exists wherever we struggle with the issue of how our lives fit into the greater cosmic scheme of things. This is true even when our questions never give way to specific answers or give rise to specific practices such as prayer or meditation. We encounter spiritual issues every time we wonder where the universe comes from, why we are here, or what happens when we die. We also become spiritual when we become moved by values such as beauty, love, or creativity that seem to reveal a meaning or power beyond our visible world. An idea or practice is ‘spiritual’ when it reveals our personal desire to establish a felt-relationship with the deepest meanings or powers governing life. - Robert C. Fuller

The spiritual presence in your life is ever with you, ever available to you and ever reminding you to look beyond your own judgments. It is forever providing for you the support, the assistance and the guidance necessary to minimize the wrong application of your mind and to strengthen the right application of your mind to allow knowledge to arise within you. - Unknown

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

God

Ignorance of nature's ways led people in ancient times to invent gods to lord it over every aspect of human life. There were gods of love and war; of the sun, earth, and sky; of the oceans and rivers; of rain and thunderstorms; even of earthquakes and volcanoes. When the gods were pleased, mankind was treated to good weather, peace, and freedom from natural disaster and disease. When they were displeased, there came draught, war, pestilence, and epidemics. Since the connection of cause and effect in nature was invisible to their eyes, these gods appeared inscrutable, and people at their mercy. - Stephen Hawking & Leonard Mlodinow

God was always invented to explain mystery. God is always invented to explain those things that you do not understand. Now when you finally discover how something works, you get some laws which you're taking away from God; you don't need him anymore. But you need him for the other mysteries. So therefore you leave him to create the universe because we haven't figured that out yet; you need him for understanding those things which you don't believe the laws will explain, such as consciousness, or why you only live to a certain length of time – life and death – stuff like that. God is always associated with those things that you do not understand. - Richard Feynman

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

Universe

Instead of being overwhelmed by the universe, I think that perhaps one of the deepest experiences a scientist can have, almost approaching a religious awakening, is to realize that we are children of the stars, and that our minds are capable of understanding the universal laws that they obey. The atoms within our bodies were forged on the anvil of nucleo-synthesis within an exploding star aeons before the birth of the solar system. Our atoms are older than the mountains. We are literally made of star dust. Now these atoms, in turn, have coalesced into intelligent beings capable of understanding the universal laws governing that event. - Michiokaku

Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to non-existent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centred on human beings will prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will penetrate its deepest mysteries. - Carl Sagan

Monday, October 24, 2016

Yin and Yang

More quotes on Yin and Yang – the dual polarities in life.

The motion of Yin and Yang generates all things in nature. - Meh Jiuzhang & Guo Lei

The sexual union of male and female is thus regarded as the essential earthly manifestation of the great cosmic dance of Yin and Yang. - Daniel Reid

The world is, was, will always be filled with good and evil, because good and evil is the yin and yang of the human condition. - Philip Zimbardo

The yin and the yang are opposite forces. Yet, they exist together in the harmony of a perfect orb. - R. A. Wise

There's eternal opposition between yin and yang. No third party at all, but treason occurs sometimes. - Toba Beta

Yin and Yang are one vital force – the primordial aura. - YangMing Wang

Sunday, October 23, 2016

Buddhism

Excerpts from Buddhist texts and publications.

If you see things with real insight, then there is no attachment in your relationship to them. They come – pleasant and unpleasant – you see them and there is no attachment. They come and they pass. Even if the worst kinds of defilement come up, such as greed or anger, there's enough wisdom to see their impermanent nature and allow them to just fade away. If you react to them, however, by liking or disliking, that isn't wisdom. You're only creating more suffering for yourself. - Unknown

Once you understand non-self, then the burden of life is gone. You'll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy. Learn to let go without struggle, simply let go, to be just as you are – no holding on, no attachment, free. - Unknown

Friday, October 21, 2016

Meditation

The very aim of meditation is firstly subjugation of the mind, so that it can no longer be an obstacle to a clear vision of the Supreme cliché. Secondly, it is the full silencing of that mind, so that consciousness becomes similar to the mirror-like surface of a quiet lake or pool. I can see the real Reflection of Truth in it then, but not otherwise. - Mouni Sadhu

All that you need is just to be silent and listen to existence. There is no need of any religion, there is no need of any God, there is no need of any priesthood, there is no need of any organization. All those things can be removed. Now all that is left to you is a state of meditation which simply means a state of utter silence. Even the word meditation makes it look heavier. It is better to just call it a simple, innocent silence. - Osho

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Mysticism

Mystical attainment is an individual accomplishment. Others influence our way of approaching life, but the development of the inner self must be undertaken in solitude. It is by retreating within, facing the real self, and relying on his own resources that the way to mastery of life is achieved. - Unknown

The task, and joy, of a mystic is to listen for the stirrings of the sacred in the world and the presence of soul. What the mystic seeks to hear is not a message or even a sound. It is something more subtle and less glamorous. The hearing of a mystic is not really auditory at all but more a deeply focused yet widely extended attentiveness. - Unknown

Once we have seriously embarked upon the mystical path, we begin to look upon the conditions in the world from the higher point of view. - Unknown

Reaching the zenith of one mystic mountain of attainment, we find the base of another still nobler and higher to climb. - Unknown

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Chi

The will is the commander of chi. Chi is the totality of the body. - Mencius

Explanation:

Our will power can control the flow of energy. When we think of a certain organ or area of our body, energy will flow to that part. Energy is the basic ingredient of our whole body. All our organs, tissues and cells as well as all our physiological functions and metal activities are the products of energy.


Man is born of the chi of heaven and of earth, and is nurtured by the ways of the four seasons. - Nei Jing

Explanation:

The very substance of which a man is born is the same as the substance that comprises the whole universe, that is energy. This energy may be manifested as different kinds, which are generalized into two main groups. The fine types are known as heaven energy, and the coarser types as earth energy. This energy, which is in man as well as in the whole universe, is not static. It is forever changing, and the changes can be brought about by different times and environments. The growth and development of a man, therefore, are affected by the seasons, which include not only climatic but also subtle psychological, physiological and other variations.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Atheism

I am not even an atheist so much as I am an antitheist; I not only maintain that all religions are versions of the same untruth, but I hold that the influence of churches, and the effect of religious belief is positively harmful. Reviewing the false claims of religion, I do not wish, as some sentimental materialists affect to wish, that they were true. I do not envy believers their faith. I am relieved to think that the whole story is a sinister fairy tale; life would be miserable if what the faithful affirmed was actually the case. - Christopher Hitchens

I would love to believe that when I die I will live again, that some thinking, feeling, remembering part of me will continue. But as much as I want to believe that, and despite the ancient and worldwide cultural traditions that assert an afterlife, I know of nothing to suggest that it is more than wishful thinking. - Carl Sagan

The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one. The happiness of credulity is a cheap and dangerous quality of happiness, and by no means a necessity of life. - George Bernard Shaw

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Cosmos

The ground we walk on, the plants and creatures, the clouds above constantly dissolving into new formations – each gift of nature possessing its own radiant energy, bound together by cosmic harmony. - Ruth Bernhard

There are no cosmic secrets except as man is ignorant of cosmic phenomena or unable to perceive them. - Validivar

The Cosmos and I live on forever. All things and I are united as one. - Chuang Tzu

We are the cosmos made conscious and life is the means by which the universe understands itself. - Brian Cox

Friday, October 14, 2016

Thursday, October 13, 2016

Spirituality

When you approach spirituality as an adventure of being alive, you start as you would any adventure – with a sense of mystery and not-knowing. Instead of searching for answers that make you feel safe, you set out into the vastness of life and death, with a willingness to continually grow. You open up to the possibility that your ordinary life is an extraordinary adventure, and that your joys and sorrows have meaning. Spiritual practice becomes your rudder, offering direction and insight and discretion as you venture into the unknown. - Elizabeth Lesser

The spiritual presence in your life is ever with you, ever available to you and ever reminding you to look beyond your own judgments. It is forever providing for you the support, the assistance and the guidance necessary to minimize the wrong application of your mind and to strengthen the right application of your mind to allow knowledge to arise within you. - Unknown

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

God

If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise. - Johann Von Goethe

Many deeds are enacted in God's name which fill the Devil's heart with envy. - Abraham Miller

A god of kindness would be charitable to all. Your god of wrath and punishment is but a monstrous phantasy. - Emile Zola

I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time. - Friedrich Nietzsche

I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. - Susan B. Anthony

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Universe

All things are connected with all things throughout the universe, from the insect to the archangel; from the sand-grain to the mountain and the globe; from the dew-drop to the ocean; from the rain-drop to the rainbow; from the pebble on the shore to the sun that blazes in the firmament; from the zephyr that sings among the flowers of the field to the ocean that pours its wild bass in the great anthem of nature. Not only are all things connected with all things, but there is a concatenation of events, so that the character and effects of no one event can terminate in itself. As each event owes some portion of its nature to that which preceded it, so it imparts some of its nature to that which succeeds it, and thus perpetuates the blended good or evil of itself and its predecessors. The single event may thus live on in its influence along the line of all the ages, assuming new shapes, or if clothing itself in the drapery of new events, ever marching onward and upward in the continually growing affairs of time. - John Lanahan

Monday, October 10, 2016

Yin and Yang

More quotes on Yin and Yang – the dual polarities in life.

Yin and Yang are two convenient polar opposites that are used to explain how things function in relation to one another and to the universe. No entity can be seen in isolation; everything is connected. - W. John Diamond

Just as the copulation of the sky (yang) and earth (yin) energies gave birth to humanity and the myriad things of the world, the union of the yin and yang, female and male, is the basis of creating and renewing the energy of life in the body. - Eva Wong

Every whole "thing" – from a tree to a person to a business, an atom, planet, or universe – can be seen as a metaphorical Tai-Chi, with corresponding Yin and Yang aspects. Once Yin and Yang are distinguished, each one can also be seen as a whole and broken down further into its own integral Yin and Yang parts. We can see this creative process unfold all around us. The universal process of Being arising from Non-Being through the fusion of opposites, followed by the differentiation and increase of complexity from oneness to myriad forms, can be observed in the studies of modern cosmology, the evolution of species, the conception and development of individuals, and the arising of ideas. - Simmone Kuo

Sunday, October 9, 2016

Buddhism - Knowledge

Excerpts from Buddhist texts and publications.

The Buddha teaches that no amount of factual knowledge will ultimately free man from the pain of existence. He must strive alone and diligently until he arrives at a true understanding of his own nature and of the changeable nature of the cosmos. To be truly free a man must seek to tame his mind, to destroy his craving for sensual pleasure. - Unknown

Knowledge and going forth will not show the way to the end of this world, nor will they show the way to eternity. Yet without finding the end of the world, you cannot find the ending of suffering. Within this fathom long body has the means whereby time and space first came into your consciousness, and within this fathom long body is the means whereby you can pass beyond time and space and find the end of the world and Deathlessness. For friend, these things are not without you; they are within. - Unknown

Knowledge is like a deep well, fed by perennial springs, and the mind of man is like a bucket that is dropped into it. He will get as much as he can assimilate. Knowledge and mental self-culture will confer incalculable blessings to man. One third of the ills of man are due to human ignorance, delusions, and superstitious beliefs; the rest of the ills, according to the Dharma, are traceable to human selfishness and human malevolence. - Unknown

Saturday, October 8, 2016

Means of Control

I came across this article from the site call ‘Collective Evolution’. Interesting. Do read.

How false flag terrorism and religion are being used as a means for control.

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/09/11/how-false-flag-terrorism-religion-are-being-used-as-a-means-for-control/