Everyone post some favorite quotes!

[GrandTrinity]

I just happened upon this list of quotes that were extremely good...I had been looking for lao tzu's one about patience on google and typed in "patience tao three"

 

Thank you, Matthew, for the inspirational thoughts. On this Palm Sunday, this first day of spring, this day of troubled news from many parts of our world, I find myself in great need of hope and inspiration to fill my mind and soul with healing thoughts, so that I can help do my part to heal the soul of our country, our world.

 

With that in mind, I offer these thoughts from those masters whom I consider wise.

 

Peace and joy and love and light. Peace, peace, peace.

 

madame defarge

*************

 

 

If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.

-- Thich Nhat Hanh

 

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.

-- Mahatma Ghandi

 

It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.

-- Confucius

 

It is better to live one day ethically and reflectively than to live a hundred years immoral and unrestrained.

-- Buddha

 

Each one has to find his peace from within. And peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.

-- Mahatma Gandhi

 

Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless in facing them. Let us not beg for the stilling of the pain but for the heart to conquer it.

-- Rabindranath Tagore

 

A man becomes like those whose society he loves.

-- Hindu proverb

 

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

-- Lao-tzu

 

When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways -- either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits, or by using the challenge to find our inner strength.

-- Dalai Lama

 

At the end of the way is freedom. Till then, patience.

-- Buddha

[rex]

'The road to truth is long and lined the entire way with annoying bastards.'

From a chanced upon e-mail signature

 

Got some American Indian ones to add later ...

[rex]

[mbanu]

"Whenever I would rest I grasp a cup of wine,

Oblivious of all else in this great capital.

So vast are Heaven and Earth that I remain unknown,

An old man wandering by himself among mankind."

-- Chung-li Ch'uan

 

"None have lived longer than a stillborn child,

And old Peng Tsu died young.

Heaven and Earth are as old as I am,

And the ten thousand things are one."

 

-- Chuang Tsu

 

"You know, if you watch the cyclic energy behind the attacks on this

board, you will see the same cool pattern:

 

It starts with those who have nothing to say. They will author posts like this:

 

'Does anyone know how to maximize yin/yang energy?'

 

'Isn't it cool how I felt this light when I did my microcosmic orbit.'

 

'My meditation and their influence upon the population in Harlem, New York.'

 

Clearly these people have much deeper things the wish to ask, but haven't spent enough time walking the talk to even know what they are, let alone phrase them. So, they half-ass it around looking to start on-line relationships with

other numb-nutz who have less experience than they do.

 

On the other hand...

 

We have those who have gotten a little deeper and see how the problem is in all of that watery, desire-based stuff. They KNOW what the question is, but don't have the courage to say it. The question is:

 

'PLEASE HELP ME WITH THIS FUCKING MESS!!!'

 

Since nobody helps them, they spit all their deep shit on the board, which usually takes the form of ass-fucking, racism, etc.

 

Then again...

 

There is still a final category of idiot. I am talking about those who

THINK they know everything and drone on and on about some obfuscatory practice where on mixes the yin and the yang of some far off person and produces an inverted, upside-down steaming practice in outer space while riding a bicycle or whatever the fuck is the latest rage among IT professionals who also happen to be Taoists.

 

So the solution is:

 

IT professionals have got to get out of their heads and start doing some serious butt-fucking.

 

The ass-fuckers have got to do some steaming (no dead squirrels involved!).

 

The idiots have got to spend a little more time listening instead of talking.

 

Oh, and by the way:

 

FUCK YOU ALL YOU STINKING CUNT MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!"

 

-- Plato

[Cameron]

what was the question?

[peter falk]

" You can observe a lot by watching "

--yogi berra

 

" If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be "

--yogi berra

 

"Think! How the hell are you gonna think and hit at the same time?"

--yogi berra

 

"You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there."

--yogi berra

 

"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded."

--yogi berra

 

"Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel."

--yogi berra

 

"You should always go to other people's funerals; otherwise, they won't come to yours."

--yogi berra

[sean]

The essence of divine experience is unending devastating bliss and an unshakable silent peace.
---Yogani

There are various ways to give it all up. You can ignore the physical world and its realities and trust in the universe. I did that, and it was a powerful experience. And one I wouldn't wish on anyone. Surrendering to your inner awareness, however, and its intelligence and practicality in the worlds you live in, is the higher ground. Trusting yourself and the source of your intelligence is a more elegant version of freedom and personal productivity.
---David Allen

[freeform]

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Edited October 23, 2019 by freeform

[DaoWaDiddy]

"Have you noticed how much they look like orchids? Lovely!"

Lazarus Long

 

 

"I conceal my amazement..."

Wish I could remember

 

 

"Brought to you by your Department of Redundancy Department, and the Natural Guard"

Firesign Theater

 

 

"It's never too late to have a happy childhood"

button in my drawer

 

 

"And the ship went out into the high sea, and passed on into the West, until at last on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.

---

 

But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once more. And he went on, and there was yellow light, and fire within; and the evening meal was ready, and he was expected. And Rose drew him in, and set him in his chair, and put little Elanor upon his lap.

 

He drew a deep breath. 'Well, I'm back,' he said."

J R R Tolkien

[Pietro]

I found the following quote to be extremly interesting, and extremly good in synthesizing my feeling respect to the general new age mentality that I found in cheap spirituality. It originally comes from Faber, this quote being from p. 116 of New Age Thinking. But I found it in the Blog of Vyoma. A couple of years ago.

 

What we have here, in essence, is the enormously popular and deeply influential New Age notion of anything goes: anything achieves philsophical or, better, epistemological status if I "experience it for myself"; and if I "experience it for myself" in an "altered state of consciousness," why, then, so much the better. It would be difficult, of course, to over-stress the vapidity, the vacuity of such a notion, yet it is a notion that resides at the theoretical centre of New Age thiking. Imagine the poor wretch at the inquisitorial stake, on the verge of incineration, crying out his innocence to the hooded executioner and receiving in return the reply, "Silence, sinner, I know you're the Devil; I've experienced you personally as the Devil on several occasions, and once when I was in an altered state of consciousness." Not only is such thinking philosophically bankrupt and undeserving of professional respect, it is dangerous. It closes debate before debate can get started: "I experience this for myself, baby, so shut up!" Only the converted can participate -- one at a time. Each "theoretician" inahbits a self-contained, monadic capsule from which he determines the authenticity of his own experience, and by extrapolation the truth of the world or the nature of reality, without logical or epistemological or informational criteria beyond his own subjectivity, without intermeshing social, communicational, observational materials, without rigorous discussion and dialogue -- in short, without any standards for judgement. The result: epistemological kick-the-can, a philosophical world in which every position is of equal value and therefore no position is of any particular value -- no matter how diligently, how skillfully it is presented. "Well, man, I think I see what you mean about the many ways an experience can be interpreted, but this was still real for me, OK?" This is among the very worst aspects of New Age thinking -- I mean from an ideational angle, and it attests psychoanalytically to the New Ager's absolute unwillingness to probe the meaning of his wish-fulfilling thoughts and sensations, the ones that restore him to the before-separation-world of symbiotic fusion and omnipotence. Any fool is free to jump in with his "story," and no one dare chllange its "personal" veracity. This is the tyranny of "doctrine" in reverse, the tyranny of "doctrine" from the other side: "I experienced this, so f____ off!" Every person, every egomaniacal guru, every mystic, every doper, every "beginning shaman," every borderline schizophrenic in every borderline cult becomes a shaper of reality, a pronouncer of the truth.

[freeform]

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Edited October 23, 2019 by freeform

[Pietro]

It's all very well to complain about the absurdity of the human 'condition' - but unless this guy has some way to improve the situation, he's just another New Age Thinker who thinks his experiences are incredibly valid, just because they're his.

 

I don't think this guy is complaining about the "absurdity of the human condition". People have lived for thousands of years in multiple cultures without induging in the excessive relativism that comes out of saying: "I experienced this for myself, and so it is true".

[freeform]

.

Edited October 23, 2019 by freeform

[scosmo]

Well I'm a fan of Taiji Classics and a dash of some Zen koans here and there...

For starters:

 

"yong yi bu yong li"

 

Is it the banner (flag) or wind which moves?

[GrandTrinity]

"Do not eat beings that contain blood, delighting in their flavor."

-Sciptural Satutes of Lord Lao

[GrandTrinity]

"The taoists eat the universe"

-Mantak Chia, Greater Kan and Li booklet

[GrandTrinity]

"Mastering others is strength. Mastering yourself is true power."

-Lao Tzu

 

When you fix your heart on one point, then nothing is impossible for you.

-Buddha

[sean]

Dear Nietzsche, you've been a reliable friend all these years. I have to admit, it was annoying when you you consumed my interest with such intensity that I failed my junior year of high school and had to go to summer school. But I forgive you because it was worth it.

 

Love,

Sean

 

A selection of Friedrich Nietzsche quotes:

 

Insanity in individuals is something rare - but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule.

 

A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.

 

Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.

 

All things are subject to interpretation whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.

 

Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent.

 

It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.

 

At bottom every man knows well enough that he is a unique being, only once on this earth; and by no extraordinary chance will such a marvelously picturesque piece of diversity in unity as he is, ever be put together a second time.

 

The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.

 

This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love, and keep modest as a giver.

 

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.

 

I would believe only in a God that knows how to Dance.

 

In heaven, all the interesting people are missing.

 

Art is the proper task of life.

[karen]

[sean]

this loaded phallus

has becum

the prevailing metaphor

of the day

 

you've spent your chi

on cheap versions

of the virgin

 

you've worshipped

loopholes in a story

and war shipped

mythic men to glory

 

if in god's image

then your god's

a plastic surgeon

 

a tyrannic dictator

 

a coward behind a curtain

with a megaphone

 

an aging oil tycoon

on viagra

ramming his plow

into the earth

turning up disease

and disaster

out of an ever-drying womb

 

...

 

your prayers

between rounds

do no more

than fasten the fate

of your children

to the hammered truth

of your trigger

 

a truth that mushrooms

its darkened cloud

over the rest of us

so that we too

bear witness

to the short-lived fate

of a civilization

that worships

a male god

 

your weapons

are phallic

all of them

 

--- Saul Williams

[GrandTrinity]

* "So won't you come with me; and I'll take you to ...."

* What song is this lyric from? "Some going east, some going west, some stand aside to try their best."

* "It's been a long long time...."

* "I'm just a .... in the heart of America"

* 'Would you let the system let you kill your brotherman'

* 'From reality I just can't drift, that's why I am staying with this riff'

* "Now you see the light...."

* Just complete the lyric: "Ev'ry time I hear the crack of the whip...."

* 'I'm on the run but I ain't got no gun'

* "One love! One heart! Let's get together and...."

* 'If you make me move, then you know you got the groove'

* 'And then Georgie would make the fire light, log wood burnin' through the night'

* 'Bless my eyes this morning, Jah sun is on the rise again'

* 'When it hits you feel no pain'

* 'This is my invitation, I've got the special vacation'

* 'Life is one big road with lots of signs, so when you are riding through the ruts don't complicate your mind'

* 'And I hear the angel with the seven seals'

* "I remember when we used to sit, in the government yard in ...."

* 'Open your eyes and look within, Are you satisfied with the life you're living?'

* 'You dip so, you dip so, dip through my door'

[MatthewQi]

Came across this the other day...

 

"In those days men's ears heard sounds whose angelic purity cannot be conjured up again by any amount of science or magic."

 

Herman Hesse

The Glass Bead Game

 

Just one more example of the universal stringless lute...

[TwoTrees]

Here's one I've always loved:

 

 

 

I like to walk alone on country paths, vibrant plants and wild grasses on both sides, putting each foot down on the earth in mindfulness, knowing that I walk on the wondrous earth. In such moments, existence is a miraculous and mysterious reality.

 

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child--our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

 

-Thich Nhat Hanh, "Miracle of Mindfulness"

[TwoTrees]

ANOTHER GOODIE:

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anyone who, even for a second, feels a pure, clear confidence on hearing the truth will experience immeasurable happiness. Why? Because, at that moment, that person is not caught up in the concept of a self or a living being or a life span. He is not caught up in concepts about the world, nor is he caught up in concepts about nothingness. He does not take any notice of the idea that this is a sign, or this or that is not a sign.

 

For if you are caught up in ideas, then you will be caught up in the self. And even if you are caught up in ideas about nothingness, you will still be caught up in the self. That's why we should not get attached to the belief that things either exist or do not exist. This is the hidden meaning when I say that my teachings are a raft to be abandoned when you see true being.

 

-Diamond Sutra

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[GrandTrinity]

when i standing in line at the bank

i just do testicle breathing

nobody know that i do

 

-Mantak Chia, Healing Love tape.