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It is said, “The sign of wisdom is self-control, and the sign of mature spiritual experience is the absence of conflicting emotions.” This means that to the same degree that you become wise and learned, you also become serene, peaceful and subdued – not reckless and busting with pride and arrogance. Year after year, however much your practice progresses, you will be unconcerned about comfort and discomfort, and will have no pride at all. You will always be at peace, untroubled by outer events, with a humble mind, beyond hopes and doubts, and indifferent to the eight worldly concerns – gain and loss, joy and suffering, praise and blame, fame and obscurity. - His Holiness Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche
Most people stand in sight of the spiritual mountains all their lives and never enter them, being content to listen to others who have been there and thus avoid the hardships. Some travel into the mountains accompanied by experienced guides who know the best and least dangerous routes by which they arrive at their destination. Still others, inexperienced and untrusting, attempt to make their own routes. Few of these are successful, but occasionally some, by sheer will and luck and grace, do make it. Once there they become more aware than any of the others that there's no single or fixed number of routes. There are as many routes as there are individual souls. - Robert M. Pirsig
We are part of the Universe.
The microcosm of the self is essentially the same as the macrocosm of the universe. - Unknown
A human being is part of the whole, called by us ‘Universe’, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion, of his consciousness. The delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires, and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures, and the whole of nature in its beauty. - Albert Einstein
It is especially important in this discussion to recognize the unity of the total process, from that first unimaginable moment of cosmic emergence through all its subsequent forms of expression until the present. This unbreakable bond of relatedness that makes of the whole a universe becomes increasingly apparent to scientific observation, although this bond ultimately escapes scientific formulation or understanding. In virtue of this relatedness, everything is intimately present to everything else in the universe. Nothing is completely itself without everything else. This relatedness is both spatial and temporal. However distant in space or time, the bond of unity is functionally there. The universe is a communion and a community. We ourselves are that communion become conscious of itself. - Thomas Berry
More quotes on Yin and Yang. I hope you have grasp the idea behind this Yin and Yang polarities in life.
Yin and Yang in themselves are of course opposites, so we use Yin and Yang to generalise opposing elements such as up and down, left and right, day and night, water and fire, male and female, inside and outside. But Yin and Yang do not exist in separated and independent forms. Yin and Yang are two faces of a whole, or, it may be said, Yin and Yang join together and combine into a whole. - JinGhan He
Yang is known to be more will-oriented, and dynamic in nature. It is eternal motion and cosmic action. Yin on the other hand is receptive, supportive and magnetic. It is eternally stabilizing and of cosmic potentiality. Both Yin and Yang possess the needed qualities for creation and evolution. In terms of natural law, no sex is above the other. Whenever one is generally overemphasized, the natural harmony is thrown out of balance. Both of these forces and their associated qualities must stay in perpetual balance. - S. K. Paul
Yin is stronger and more abundant than Yang, but Yang is more obvious and active. There is more water on earth than fire, for example, but fire phenomena such as lightning are more exciting and attract more attention. Still, ever since the term Yin/Yang first appeared in China, the word "Yin" has always preceded the word "Yang", and in Chinese this indicates a position of Yin superiority that long antedates the advent of patriarchy in Chinese society. - Daniel Reid
Excerpts from Buddhist text and publications.
Detachment is one of the most important factors for the attainment of Enlightenment. The attainment of enlightenment is by way of non-attachment. Most of life's troubles are caused by attachment. We get angry; we worry; we become greedy and complain bitterly. All these causes of unhappiness, tension, stubbornness, and sadness are due to attachment. When we investigate any trouble or worry we have, the main cause is always attachment. Thus a person should maintain an attitude of detachment from worldly pleasures rather than being selfishly attached to them. - Unknown
One of the best ways to overcome possessive-attachment to loved ones is to reflect on impermanence. Everything changes, nothing lasts. One day death will separate us from the people we love. Separation could occur even before that if one of us is posted overseas or if we quarrel and come to hate each other. The more attached we are the more pain and stress we will suffer at this separation. Therefore it is wise to give up attachment. But that doesn’t mean giving up love! We can love people without being attached to them by living with the awareness of our inevitable separation. We can love and care for them now and at the same time be ready to say goodbye to them when the time comes. - Unknown
Cosmos is a Greek word for the order of the universe. It is, in a way, the opposite of Chaos. it implies the deep inter-connectedness of all things. it conveys awe for the intricate and subtle way in which the universe is put together. - Carl Sagan
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
The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us – there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries. - Carl Sagan
The real glory of meditation lies not in any method but in its continual living experience of presence, in its bliss, clarity, peace, and most important of all, complete absence of grasping. The diminishing of grasping in yourself is a sign that you are becoming freer of yourself. And the more you experience this freedom, the clearer the sign that the ego and the hopes and fears that keep it alive are dissolving, and the closer you will come to the infinitely generous "wisdom of egolessness." When you live in the wisdom home, you'll no longer find a barrier between "I" and "you," "this" and "that," "inside" and "outside;" you'll have come, finally, to your true home, the state of non-duality. - Sogyal Rinpoche
Above all, it is not necessary that we should have any unexpected, extraordinary experiences in meditation. This can happen, but if it does not, it is not a sign that the meditation period has been useless. Not only at the beginning, but repeatedly, there will be times when we feel a great spiritual dryness and apathy, an aversion, even an inability to meditate. We dare not be balked by such experiences. Above all, we must not allow them to keep us from adhering to our meditation period with great patience and fidelity. It is, therefore, not good for us to take too seriously the many untoward experiences we have with ourselves in meditation. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Metaphysics… has been developed from the first, by the union and conflict of two very different human impulses, the one urging men toward mysticism, and the other urging men toward science. But the greatest men who have been philosophers have felt the need both of science and of mysticism: the attempt to harmonise the two was what made their life, and what always must, for all its arduous uncertainty, make philosophy, to some minds, a greater thing than either science or religion. - Unknown
When we speak of man, we have a conception of humanity as a whole, and before applying scientific methods to, the investigation of his movement we must accept this as a physical fact. These ties cannot be seen, but we can feel them. I cut myself in the finger, and it pains me: this finger is a part of me. I see a friend hurt, and it hurts, me, too: my friend and I are one. And now I see stricken down an enemy, I care least for, and it still grieves me. Does this not prove that each of us is only part of a whole? We are all one. - Nikola Tesla
The trick to good marketing is to make the targets feel incomplete without your product. Herein lies one of the secrets to religion’s success. - Michael Sherlock
When our Vital Energy is sluggish or unawakened, life seems dull or difficult. We seem to move thorough life as if through treacle. Relationships seem difficult; we feel constantly under par in our bodies; work is a chore; our homes never feel quite right. On the other hand, if our energy is running out of control, life is a roller-coaster: we feel constantly stressed and strained, our nerves jangle, we seem to exist in a melee of arguments and irritability. However, once we start to recognize vital energy and begin to work with it, everything can change. Our lives can take on fresh meaning and purpose. When our own vital energy is moving smoothly and serenely through us, we can enjoy radiant good health, abundant vitality and a sense of ease in our bodies. Our relationships become honest, exciting and supportive. Our homes become places of serenity and joy, filled with a warm, embracing atmosphere. We start to feel a link of kinship with the whole of creation – from urban cityscape to the wild elements of nature. Work and play become intermingled – fulfilling, exciting and creative. Best of all, we no longer feel alone in a large, often frightening universe: we become linked to spirit, joined to the source of all energy. - Unknown
I think I use the term radical rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as "Atheist," some people will say, "Don't you mean 'Agnostic'?" I have to reply that I really do mean Atheist. I really do not believe that there is a god – in fact I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one. It's easier to say that I am a radical Atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it's an opinion I hold seriously. It's funny how many people are genuinely surprised to hear a view expressed so strongly. In England we seem to have drifted from vague, wishy-washy Anglicanism to vague, wishy-washy Agnosticism – both of which I think betoken a desire not to have to think about things too much. People will then often say, "But surely it's better to remain an Agnostic just in case?" This, to me, suggests such a level of silliness and muddle that I usually edge out of the conversation rather than get sucked into it. (If it turns out that I've been wrong all along, and there is in fact a god, and if it further turned out that this kind of legalistic, cross-your-fingers-behind-your-back, Clintonian hair-splitting impressed him, then I would choose not to worship him anyway.) - Douglas Adams
The following are excerpts from Buddhist text and / or publications.
A Buddhist must be a free man with an open mind and must not be subservient to anyone for his spiritual development. He seeks refuge in the Buddha by accepting Him as a source of supreme guidance and inspiration. He seeks refuge in the Buddha, not blindly, but with understanding. To Buddhists, the Buddha is not a saviour nor is He an anthropomorphic being who claims to possess the poser of washing away others' sins. Buddhists regard the Buddha as a Teacher who shows the Path to salvation. - Unknown
A Buddhist cannot conceive of an unchanging entity, any being in the form of a deva, a man or an animal. These forms are merely temporary manifestations of the karmic force. "Being" is only a term used for conventional purposes. Strictly speaking what we call a "being" is nothing but a mere composition of mind and matter. - Unknown
You never find happiness until you stop looking for it. My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness: and this, in the minds of most people, is the worst possible course... If you ask "what ought to be done" and "what ought not to be done" on earth in order to produce happiness, I answer that these questions do not have an answer. There is no way of determining such things. Yet at the same time, if I cease striving for happiness, the "right' and the "wrong" at once become apparent all by themselves. Contentment and well-being at once become possible the moment you cease to act with them in view, and if you practice non-doing (wu wei), you will have both happiness and well-being. - Chuang Tzu
The art of meditation is a way of getting in touch with reality, and the reason for it is that most civilized people are out of touch with reality because they confuse the world as it is with the world as they think about it, and talk about it and describe it. For on the one hand, there is the real world and on the other there is a whole system of symbols about that world which we have in our minds. These are very useful symbols, all civilization depends on them, but like all good things they have their disadvantages, and the principle disadvantage of symbols is that we confuse them with reality, just as we confuse money with actual wealth. - Alan Watts
Over the years my religion has changed and my spirituality has evolved. Religion and spirituality are very different, but people often confuse the two. Some things cannot be taught, but they can be awakened in the heart. Spirituality is recognizing the divine light that is within us all. It doesn't belong to any particular religion; it belongs to everyone. - Muhammad Ali
Spirituality is much wider than any particular religion, and in the larger ideas of it that are now coming on us, even the greatest religion becomes no more than a broad sect or branch of the one universal religion, by which we shall understand in the future man's seeking for the eternal, the divine, the greater self, the source of unity and his attempt to arrive at some equation, some increasing approximation of the values of human life with the eternal and the divine values. - Sri Aurobindo
Religion: A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable. - Ambrose Bierce
Religion: Humanity’s greatest folly, greatest curse. - Kevin Harris
Religion is a symptom of irrational belief and groundless hope. - Dr. Gregory House
Every religion is true one way or another. It is true when understood metaphorically. But when it gets stuck in its own metaphors, interpreting them as facts, then you are in trouble. - Joseph Campbell
All dogmatic religions are false and should not be accepted by self-respecting persons as final. - Hypatia
Where knowledge ends, religion begins. - Benjamin Disraeli
This might seem ridiculous at first read, but it is actually, a simple truism. Everything in life is made of matter; matters are made of Energy. And energy are but electromagnetic waves, frequency and vibration. So, the universe is nothing more than a vibrating, scintillating frequency of Energy.
Hence, it is not wrong to say that:
If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration. - Nikola Tesla
Meditate on that.
More explanation of Yin and Yang
Reality, the ancient Chinese concluded, is full of polarities such as day and night, bitter and sweet, winter and summer, male and female. They called this natural harmony of opposites yin and yang. That is why everything, including meals (we notice this in Chinese cooking) should be in conformity with this bipolarity, balancing sour and sweet, peppery and bland. This reality of which we are born, with its yin and yang, is a reality in which everything and everybody are made of the same material. They call this material ch'i. Ch'i is the basic reality of all that is, including the rocks, the lilies, and us! - Daniel C. Maguire
The concept of Yin-Yang is essentially simple, yet its influence on Chinese culture has been extensive. There is no aspect of Chinese civilization – including philosophy, medicine, sexology, politics, government, literature, and art – that has not been touched by this simple, powerful idea. According to Yin-Yang philosophy, all objects and events are the products of two elements, forces, or principles: Yin, which is negative, passive, weak, and destructive, and Yang, which is positive, active, strong, and constructive. It is quite possible that the two sexes, whether conceived in terms of female and male essences, the different social roles of women and men, or the structural differences between female and male sex organs, are not only the most obvious results of the workings of Yin and Yang forces, but major sources from which the ancient Chinese derived these concepts as well. - Fang Fu Ruan
The starting point for Buddhism is not dogma or belief in the supernatural, but the fact of the existence of sorrow and suffering, not merely the sorrow and suffering of the poor and the wretched, but also of those that live in the lap of luxury. Its goal is not heaven or a union with God or Brahman, but to find a refuge for man from the miseries of the world in the safe haven of an intellectual and ethical life through self-conquest and self-culture. - Pokala Lakshmi Narasu
Buddhism is neither pessimistic nor optimistic. If anything at all, it is realistic, for it takes a realistic view of life and the world. It looks at things objectively. It does not falsely lull you into living in a fool's paradise, nor does it frighten and agonize you with all kinds of imaginary fears and sins. It tells you exactly and objectively what you are and what the world around you is, and shows you the way to perfect freedom, peace, tranquillity and happiness. - Walpola Rahula
Everyone should take some time off to meditate. We may never achieve the state of ‘awareness’ that monks and mystics reached, but still, meditation clears our mind, giving us inner peace and inner calm. Through meditation, we will have a clearer view of the whole picture, of life. This will help us deal better with the realities of life.
Although one can meditate in a group, meditation is still a very individual and private activity. When you close your eyes to meditate, you are on your own. In fact, it might be better to meditate on your own, as there would be less distractions. The other advantage of meditating on your own is that you can meditate as and when you want to, for however long you wish.
What does meditation involve? Simply put, you just sit silently and witness your mind-process, while keeping your attention on the breath.
Nothing needs to be done. However, there are a few essential things to be remembered: The first is a relaxed state - no fight, no control, no concentration. The second is watchfulness - witness whatever is going on inside of you. And the third is, don't have any judgment or evaluation about it. Just be a watcher, ‘looking’ at the traffic of the mind - thoughts passing by, desires, memories, dreams, and fantasies. Once you get the knack of it, it is the most simple thing in the world.
As we work – in meditation – we find ourselves more at home in the universe, more at ease with ourselves, more able to work effectively at our tasks and towards our goal, closer to our fellow man, less anxious and less hostile.
A person who has trained his body and is confident of it feels far less vulnerable and therefore behaves differently in many situations than a person with an untrained and uncoordinated body.
If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, you are on your way to Spiritual Enlightenment.
12 Symptoms of Spiritual Enlightenment
1. An increased tendency to let things happen rather than make them happen.
2. Frequently smiling.
3. Feelings of being connected with others and nature.
4. Frequent overwhelming episodes of appreciation.
5. A tendency to think and act spontaneously rather than from fears based on past experience.
6. An unmistakable ability to enjoy each moment.
7. A loss of tendency to worry.
8. A loss of interest in conflict.
9. A loss of interest in interpreting the actions of others.
10. A loss of interest in judging others.
11. A loss of interest in judging self.
12. Gaining the ability to love without expecting anything.
2. The belief that direct knowledge of spiritual truth, or ultimate reality can be attained through subjective experience (as intuition or insight).
Mysticism is a path of incarnation, not of escape. - Unknown
In the widest sense, mysticism is every guidance to the immediate awareness of what is not reached by either perception or conception, or generally by any knowledge. The mystic is opposed to the philosopher by the fact that he begins from within, whereas the philosopher begins from without. The mystic starts from his inner, positive, individual experience, in which he finds himself as the eternal and only being, and so on. But nothing of this is communicable except the assertions that we have to accept on his word; consequently he is unable to convince. - Schopenhauer
Religion is divisive. It has to go if the world wants peace. As long as there is religion, there will be conflicts. Only when we understand that we belong to one race – the human race, and acknowledge that religion is hocus pocus invented by those in power to subjugate the ignorant, can we live together peacefully. Take away religion, we are all the same - people. Introduce religion, and we Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and people kill each other over what they think an imaginary figure in the sky would want them to do. Can you understand how ridiculous that seems, or sounds?
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. - Karl Marx
It is doubtless true that religion has been the world’s psychiatrist throughout the centuries. - Karl Menninger
Excessive concern with religion seems to me a last resort for people who have been exhausted by life. - Naguib Mahfouz
I don't think of religion as nasty. Religion kept some of my relatives alive, because it was all they had. If they hadn't had some hope of heaven, some companionship in Jesus, they probably would have committed suicide, their lives were so hellish. But they could go to church and have that exuberance together, and that was good, the community of it. When they were in pain, when they had to go to work even though they were in terrible pain, they had God to fall back on, and I think that's what religion does for the majority of the people. I don't think most people intellectualize about religion. They use it to keep themselves alive. - Octavia E. Butler
From the quotes above, I do get that religion does serve a purpose in this respect. Unfortunately, this is a major weakness, and it is constantly exploited by those in power.
People should educate themselves so that they can differentiate between truth and fantasy. They should be more confident of themselves, and rely on themselves more, instead of depending on some imaginary figure in the sky for help and salvation.
It is a cop-out to believe that, ‘If it’s meant to be, the Lord will make it happen.’ There is no Lord, no God! There is only you and Existence, and Existence is indifferent. You are responsible for yourself.
There is a force in nature, invisible and imperceptible to most of modern humankind, which plays a vital role in health and healing. This force has been called many things – Universal Life Force, ‘chi’, pure Consciousness, Prana ... Regardless of what you choose to call it, this inexplicable source of life courses through all things and in doing so produces an outer energy field referred to as the ‘aura’. And it is this which allows you to interact on a non-physical level with all things. - Unknown
All things, including all the landforms, oceans and living things on earth, the earth itself and all heavenly bodies … are the products of changing states of chi. The current universe is a state in the endless progression of changing chi. This changing chi has its definite principles, order and laws. The cause of this changing chi is its intrinsic nature of opposing yet complementary yin-yang. - Cheng Yi Shan
I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I’ve been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn’t have. Somehow, it was better to say one was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I’m a creature of emotion as well as of reason. Emotionally, I am an atheist. I don’t have the evidence to prove that God doesn’t exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn’t that I don't want to waste my time. - Isaac Asimov
All I say is that I think it is damned unlikely that anything like a central cosmic will, a spirit world, or an eternal survival of personality exist. They are the most preposterous and unjustified of all the guesses which can be made about the universe, and I am not enough of a hair-splitter to pretend that I don't regard them as arrant and negligible moonshine. In theory I am an agnostic, but pending the appearance of radical evidence I must be classed, practically and provisionally, as an atheist. - H. P. Lovecraft
Buddhism teaches us not to judge and believe a thing blindly (even though it was said by the book, by the teacher, by the monk or whoever) but to come, see and prove it yourself that the thing is good for yourself. Then even though it was said by your enemy, if you find it good and useful, you can practise it in your life. - Unknown
Don't just go and believe in the teacher because he says a fruit is sweet and delicious. Taste it for yourself and then all the doubting will be over. - Unknown
Faith alone without wisdom is the blind faith of fanatics. Wisdom alone without faith is the cold knowledge of philosophers. Where wisdom points out the way to faith, and Faith proceeds along the way of wisdom, then there is the true practice of Buddhism. - Unknown
I like this picture. A simple drawing. I feel calm, serene and peaceful, just looking at it.
In our spiritual development we are often required to pull up roots many times and to close chapters in our lives until we are no longer attached to any material things and can love all people without any attachment to them. - Unknown
