God - Memes

Atheism - Images

Buddhism

Meditation

There is a story regarding the Buddha which recounts how he once gave teaching to a famous sitar player who wanted to study meditation. The musician asked, “Should I control my mind or should I completely let go?”

The Buddha answered, “Since you are a great musician, tell me how you would tune the strings of your instrument.”

The musician said, “I would make them not too tight and not too loose.”

“Likewise,” said the Buddha, “in your meditation practice you should not impose anything too forcefully on your mind, nor should you let it wander.”

That is the teaching of letting the mind be in a very open way, of feeling the flow of energy without trying to subdue it and without letting it get out of control, of going with the energy pattern of mind. This is meditation practice…

Poor - A Parable

Allegories, when well chosen, are like so many tracks of light in a discourse, that make everything about them clear and beautiful. - Joseph Addison

A poor man asked the Buddha, “Why am I so poor?”
The Buddha said, “You do not learn to give.”
The poor man said, “If I’m not having anything?”
Buddha said: “You have a few things. The Face, which can give a smile; The Mouth, you can praise or comfort others; The Heart, it can open up to others; The Eyes, they can look at others with the eyes of goodness; The Body, which can be used to help others.”

So, actually we are not poor at all. Poverty of spirit is the real poverty.

- Source Unknown

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Spiritual - Quotes

To truly hear, you must quiet the mind. - Sherri Bishop

Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose. - Jedi Master Yoda

Trust the process of life to unfold just the way it needs to for your soul’s perfect path. - Sherri Bishop

Ultimately you are not a person, but a focal point where the universe is becoming conscious of itself. - Unknown

Understanding means throwing away your knowledge. - Thich Nhat Hanh

We are all the leaves of one tree. We are all the waves of one sea. - Thich Nhat Hanh

Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate. - Carl Jung

We are here to awaken from our illusion of separateness. - Thich Nhat Hanh

We are born again, and truly, when the Light of Purpose illuminates our lives and we see clearly the Path on which we are to walk. - George Petavine

We are not human beings trying to be spiritual. We are spiritual beings trying to be human. - Jacqueline Small

Yin and Yang

Yang and yin are in some ways parallel to the Buddhist view of form and emptiness, of which the Heart Sutra says, “That which is form is just that which is emptiness and that which is emptiness is just that which is form. - Alan Watts

The yin-yang principle is not, therefore, what we would ordinarily call a dualism, but rather an explicit duality expressing an implicit unity. - Alan Watts

Thoughts

The moment you start watching your thoughts, a higher level of consciousness becomes activated. - Eckhart Tolle

Enlightenment - Dogen Zenji

Enlightenment is like the moon reflected on the water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky. The depth of the drop is the height of the moon. Each reflection, however long or short its duration, manifests the vastness of the dewdrop, and realizes the limitlessness of the moonlight in the sky. - Dogen Zenji

Working with plants, trees, fences and walls, if they practice sincerely they will attain enlightenment. This is because the four elements and five clusters and plants, trees, fences and walls are fellow students; because they are of the same essence, because they are the same mind and the same life, because they are the same body and the same mechanism. - Dogen Zenji

Studying the Buddha way is studying oneself. Studying oneself is forgetting oneself. Forgetting oneself is being enlightened by all things. Being enlightened by all things is to shed the body-mind of oneself, and those of others. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment continues endlessly. - Dogen Zenji

Life and death are of supreme importance. Time swiftly passes by and opportunity is lost. Each of us should strive to awaken. Awaken. Take heed, do not squander your life. - Dogen Zenji

Enlightenment is intimacy with all things. - Dogen Zenji

God - Images/Memes

A Fable

Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space. - Orson Scott Card

Aesop, that master storyteller of old, told this fable: 

A jar of honey was upset in a housekeeper's room, and a number of flies were attracted by its sweetness. Placing their feet in it, the flies ate greedily. Their feet, however, became so smeared with honey that they could not use their wings, nor release themselves, and they were suffocated. Just as they were dying, they exclaimed: "Oh, foolish creatures that we are, for the sake of a little pleasure we have destroyed ourselves."  - Aesop 

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Spiritual - Quotes

The soul becomes dyed with the colour of its thoughts. - Marcus Aurelius

The truly spiritual life does not remove us from the world; it leads us deeper into it. - Henri J.M. Nouwen

The wave does not need to die to become water. She is already water. - Thich Nhat Hanh

The wind howls, but the mountain remains still. - Japanese Proverb

There is no need for temples, no need for complicated philosophies. My brain and my heart are my temples; my philosophy is kindness. - Dalai Lama

Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light. - Bruce Lee

To see and understand the big picture, you’ve got to meet the Master Painter. - Unknown

To the illumined man or woman, a clod of dirt, a stone, and gold are the same. - Bhagavad Gita

The one who carries things thinks he's got things, but the one who looks on only sees the heaviness. Throw away things, lose them, and find lightness. - Unknown

The question is not why good people have trials, but how shall good people respond when they are tried? - Marion D. Hanks

Fastest Growing Religion

Do you know what is the fastest growing religion?

Read the article published in the National Geographic HERE

Click on the link, or copy and paste the link to read the article.

http://hackspirit.com/new-study-reveals-worlds-fastest-growing-religion-not-christianity-islam/

Atheism - Memes

Truth

The ultimate truth is beyond words. Doctrines are words. They are not the Way. - Bodhidharma

Quantum Physics and Spirituality

The Dalai Lama explains the connection between Quantum Physics and Spirituality

Click on the link, or copy and paste the link to read the article.

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2017/12/28/the-dalai-lama-explains-the-connection-between-quantum-physics-spirituality/

or read the article Here

Faith

The Kitten and the Fly - A Zen Parable

A young student approached the master who was seated in the garden and asked “Master, no matter how hard I try I just can’t achieve mindfulness."

The master said nothing but pointed to a corner of the garden where a kitten was attempting to capture a fly.

The kitten lunged, gasped and stalked the fly. Yet for all of her efforts, the fly stayed just out of her reach.

Finally the kitten wore herself out and curled up in a ball at the master’s feet.

The fly, promptly landed, of its own accord, right on the tip of the sleeping kitten’s nose.

The young student, seeing this, understood.

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Spiritual - Quotes

The dance of the flower in the wind, in the sun, in the rain, cannot be understood by the head; the heart has to be open for it. - Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

The end of our exploring will be to arrive at where we started, and to know the place for the first time. - T. S. Eliot

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. - Joseph Campbell

The heart is peaceful and joyful when we no longer imagine that we need something. - Eric Baret

The Heart is the only Reality. The mind is only a transient phase. To remain as one’s Self is to enter the Heart. - Sri Ramana Maharshi

The heart of all spiritual teaching is simple. Be love. Be peace. Be harmony. Be compassion. Be joy. - Unknown

The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all. This puts one in accord with nature, in her manner of operation. - John Cage

The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path, I walk in peace. With each step, the wind blows. With each step, a flower blooms. - Thich Nhat Hanh

The quieter you become the more you can hear. - Ram Dass

The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind. - Caroline Myss

Newest Major Religion

The World’s Newest Major Religion: No Religion

Click on the link, or copy and paste the link to read the article.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/04/160422-atheism-agnostic-secular-nones-rising-religion/

Or read the article Here

Images / Memes

Hold on to Nothing

Hold on to nothing.

Try to keep your mind in the present. Whatever there is that arises in the mind, just watch it. Let go of it.

Don't even wish to be rid of thoughts. Then the mind will reach its natural state. No discriminating between good and bad, hot and cold, fast and slow. No me and no you, no self at all. Just what there is.

No need to cling to isolation or seclusion. Wherever you are, know yourself by being natural and watching. If doubts arise, watch them come and go.

It's very simple. Hold on to nothing.

It is as though you are walking down a road. Periodically you will run into obstacles. When you meet defilements, just see them and just overcome them by letting go of them. Don't think about the obstacles you have passed already.

Don't worry about those you have not yet seen. Stick to the present. Don't be concerned about the length of the road or about the destination.

Everything is changing. Whatever you pass, do not cling to it.

Eventually the mind will reach its natural balance where practice is automatic. All things will come and go of themselves.

Don't try to get anywhere in the practice. The very desire to be free or to be enlightened will be the desire that prevents your freedom.

You can try as hard as you wish, practise ardently night and day, but if it is still with the desire to achieve in mind, you will never find peace.

The energy from this desire will be a cause for doubt and restlessness. No matter how long or how hard you practise, wisdom will not arise from desire.

So, simply let go. Watch the mind and body mindfully but don't try to achieve anything.

Don't cling even to the practice of enlightenment.

- Ajahn Chah

Text source: Questions & Answers with Ajahn Chah

Dalai Lama

We can spend our life trying to ‘tame’ the world, a task that would never end; or we can take the more practical path of ‘taming’ our own minds. The latter is by far the more effective approach, and brings the most immediate, stable and lasting solution. It contributes to our own inner happiness, and also contributes to establishing an atmosphere of peace and harmony in the world around us. - Dalai Lama

If you can cultivate wholesome mental states prior to sleep and allow them to continue right into sleep without getting distracted, then sleep itself becomes wholesome. - Dalai Lama 

I have come to the conclusion that whether or not a person is a religious believer does not matter. Far more important is that they be a good human being. - Dalai Lama

Prayers - Images

The King and the Sage

The metaphor is probably the most fertile power possessed by man. - José Ortega Y Gasset

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!"

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Spiritual - Quotes

Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul. - Unknown

Religion is belief in someone else’s experience. Spirituality is having your own experience. - Deepak Chopra

Rely entirely on your clarity of thought, purity of motive and integrity of action! - Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. - Carl Sagan

Separate we come, and separate we go, And, this be it known, is all that we know. - Conrad Aiken

Simply being with other people who are also seekers and who are involved in the same quest you are is very meaningful. - Dan Wakefield

Sit quietly and tune into your Self. You will find that within that calm and peace, there are many answers. - Unknown

Sometimes we have to stop looking at our problems and start appreciating how beautiful our lives have become. - Antonie Crowley

The awakened sages call a person wise when all his undertakings are free from anxiety about results. - Krishna 

The foundation of all spiritual practice is love. - The Dalai Lama

Religion

American Bishop Explains How Religion is ‘Made Up’ and Used to Control People.

Finally, someone with enough sense, and guts from within the organization. Click on the link to read the article

American Bishop Explains How Religion is ‘Made Up’ and Used to Control People

Images / Meme

Renunciation

Renunciation is not only for the monks and nuns. Whoever is seeking liberation or enlightenment needs renunciation of the senses. The meaning of renouncing the world is that we have less craving for and grasping at sense objects. Renouncing sensory pleasure doesn’t mean throwing nice things away. Even if you do, it doesn’t mean you have renounced them. Renunciation is a totally inner experience. - Unknown

In enjoyment, there is fear of disease; in social position, the fear of falling off; in wealth, the fear of (hostile) kings; in honour, the fear of humiliation; in power, the fear of foe men; in beauty, the fear of old age; in scriptural erudition, the fear of opponents; in virtue, the fear of traducers; in body, the fear of death. All the things of this world pertaining to human beings are attended with fear; renunciation alone stands for fearlessness. - Vairagya Sakatam of Bhartrihari

Dalai Lama

The work of a person laboring in some humble occupation is no less relevant to the well-being of society than that of, for example, a doctor, a teacher, a monk, or a nun. All human endeavor is potentially great and noble. So long as we carry out our work with good motivation, thinking, “My work is for others,” it will be of benefit to the wider community. But when concern for others’ feelings and welfare is missing, our activities tend to become spoiled. Through lack of basic human feeling, religion, politics, economics, and so on can be rendered dirty. Instead of serving humanity, they become agents of destruction. - Dalai Lama 

The work of a person laboring in some humble occupation is no less relevant to the well-being of society than that of, for example, a doctor, a teacher, a monk, or a nun. All human endeavor is potentially great and noble. So long as we carry out our work with good motivation, thinking, “My work is for others,” it will be of benefit to the wider community. But when concern for others’ feelings and welfare is missing, our activities tend to become spoiled. Through lack of basic human feeling, religion, politics, economics, and so on can be rendered dirty. Instead of serving humanity, they become agents of destruction. - Dalai Lama

Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can. - Dalai Lama