August 2009
“He who does not trust enough, will not be trusted.”
—Lao Tzu (via reluctantbuddha)
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.”
—Mahatma Gandhi (via reluctantbuddha)
“Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me cope, with this heavy load, trying to, touch and reach you with, heart and soul.”
—George Harrison (via justbesplendid) (via baringmysoul)
“Make your ego porous. Will is of little importance, complaining is nothing, fame is nothing. Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything.”
—Rainer Maria Rilke
“Every person, all the events of your life, are there because you have drawn them there. that you choose to do with them is up to you.”
—Richard Bach (via justbesplendid)
“Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next door neighbor… Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God’s kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”
—Mother Theresa (via justbesplendid)
“What are you saying to yourself every day?
Is it positive, encouraging, challenging and enriching?” —Ralph Marston (via myfengshuilife)
Is it positive, encouraging, challenging and enriching?” —Ralph Marston (via myfengshuilife)
Mettā
Mettā (Pāli: मेत्ता) or maitrī (Sanskrit) has been translated as “loving-kindness”, “friendliness”, “benevolence”, “amity”, “friendship”, “good will”, “kindness”, “love”, “sympathy”, and “active interest in others”; It is one of the ten pāramitās of the Theravāda school of Buddhism, and the first of the four Brahmavihāras. The mettā bhāvanā (“cultivation of mettā”) is a popular form of meditation in Buddhism.
The object of mettā meditation is loving kindness (love without attachment). Traditionally, the practice begins with the meditator cultivating loving kindness towards themselves, then their loved ones, friends, teachers, strangers, enemies, and finally towards all sentient beings. Buddhists believe that those who cultivate mettā will be at ease because they see no need to harbour ill will or hostility. Buddhist teachers may even recommend meditation on mettā as an antidote to insomnia and nightmares. It is generally felt that those around a mettā-full person will feel more comfortable and happy too. Radiating mettā is thought to contribute to a world of love, peace and happiness.
Mettā meditation is considered a good way to calm down a distraught mind by people who consider it to be an antidote to anger. According to them, someone who has cultivated mettā will not be easily angered and can quickly subdue anger that arises, being more caring, more loving, and more likely to love unconditionally.
Recent neurological studies have shown that compassion meditation can increase one’s capabilities for empathy by changing activity in brain areas such as the temporal parietal juncture and the insula, and increase the subject’s ability to understand the mental and emotional states of others as well as deal more effectively with external stressors.
Mettā signifies friendship and non-violence as well as “a strong wish for the happiness of others”, but also less obvious or direct qualities such as showing patience, receptivity, and appreciation.
Though it refers to many seemingly disparate ideas, Mettā is in fact a very specific form of love – a caring for another independent of all self-interest – and thus is likened to one’s love for one’s child or parent.
> MEDITATION ON METTA <
“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.”
—Buddha (via reluctantbuddha)
“My religion is simple. My religion is kindness.”
—Dalai Lama (via maluna) (via quote-book) (via teatime-with-nikki) (via passthemike) (via eccentriccelia) (via opendoor) (via yellowburst)
“Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances.”
—Benjamin Franklin (via justbesplendid)
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”
—Epictetus (via justbesplendid)
“Congratulations! You’re not perfect! It’s ridiculous to want to be perfect anyway. But then, everybody’s ridiculous sometimes, except perfect people. You know what perfect is? Perfect is not eating or drinking or talking or moving a muscle or making even the teensiest mistake. Perfect is never doing anything wrong - which means never doing anything at all. Perfect is boring! So you’re not perfect! Wonderful! Have fun! Eat things that give you bad breath! Trip over your own shoelaces! Laugh! Let somebody else laugh at you! Perfect people never do any of those things. All they do is sit around and sip weak tea and think about how perfect they are. But they’re really not one-hundred-percent perfect anyway. You should see them when they get the hiccups! Phooey! Who needs ‘em? You can drink pickle juice and imitate gorillas and do silly dances and sing stupid songs and wear funny hats and be as imperfect as you please and still be a good person. Good people are hard to find nowadays. And they’re a lot more fun than perfect people any day of the week.”
—Stephen Manes, Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days! (via justbesplendid)
“Life is about change. Sometimes it’s painful, sometimes it’s beautiful, but most of the time it’s both.”
—Unknown (via littlemiss) (via chris4tao)
“It is very good to recite the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum, but while you are doing it, you should be thinking on its meaning, for the meaning of the six syllables is great and vast.
The first, Om symbolizes the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
The path is indicated by the next four syllables.
Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: the altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.
The two syllables, Padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom.
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable Hum, which indicates indivisibility.
Thus the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.” —H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, “Om Mani Padme Hum”
The first, Om symbolizes the practitioner’s impure body, speech, and mind; it also symbolizes the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.
The path is indicated by the next four syllables.
Mani, meaning jewel, symbolizes the factors of method: the altruistic intention to become enlightened, compassion, and love.
The two syllables, Padme, meaning lotus, symbolize wisdom.
Purity must be achieved by an indivisible unity of method and wisdom, symbolized by the final syllable Hum, which indicates indivisibility.
Thus the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha.” —H.H. Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama, “Om Mani Padme Hum”
“They must change often, who would be constant in happiness.”
—Confucius
“I was caught in the conundrum of believing that I needed to be different, that the way I was right now was not all right…Eventually I came to understand that it was this very non-acceptance that was keeping me stuck in my patterns.”
—Judith Lasater
“If you begin to understand what you are without trying to change it, then what you are undergoes a transformation.”
—J. Krishnamurti
“One day, [teacher Jean Klien] said to me, ‘Your very trying to change yourself is actually taking you away from what you are.’”
—Richard Miller
“These days, my practice is teaching me to embrace imperfection: to have compassion for all the ways things haven’t turned out as I planned, in my body and in my life – for the ways things keep falling apart, and failing, and breaking down. It’s less about fixing things, and more about learning to be present for exactly what is.”
—Anne Cushman
“I practice now not so much with ambition as with gratitude. And I ask myself frequently, ‘How can I express kindness right now?’ whether I am in a headstand of washing dishes.”
—Judith Lasater
“When you’re experiencing peace, it’s coming from within you, you’re ‘doing’ peace. And this is true of anything else you might be looking for. Love, happiness, contentment, well-being come from within. Nothing external needs to change for you to have what you want. If you want to be happier – be happier. If you want to be more relaxed – relax. If you want more friends – be friendly. Sounds simple. It is.”
—Cheri Huber
“I’ve learned to trust what I call the Braille method of living – relinquishing grand plans and schemes in favor of an intuitive approach, feeling my way from tree to tree, relinquishing my attempts to control the world and learning, instead, to trust a discerning surrender.”
—Stephen Cope
“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”
—Carl Gustav Jung (via kari-shma) (via tryingtofindthewords) (via jmek)
Nazim Hikmet - On Living
Living is no laughing matter :
you must live with great seriousness
like a squirrel, for example -
I mean without looking for something beyond and above living,
I mean living must be your whole occupation.
Living is no laughing matter :
you must take it seriously,
so much so and to such a degree
that, for example, your hands tied behind your back,
your back to the wall,
or else in a laboratory ölebileceksin,
in your white coat and safety glasses,
you can die for people -
even for people whose faces you have never seen,
even though you know living
is the most real, the most beautiful thing.
I mean, you must take living so seriously
that even at seventy, for example, you’ll plant olive trees -
and not for your children, either
but because although you fear death you don’t believe it,
because living, I mean, weighs heavier.
(via placesthatpull)
“Find your place on the planet. Dig in, and take responsibility from there.”
—Gary Snyder (via irockirockirock)
“The only impossible journey is the one you never find the courage to begin.”
—T. Robbins (via maluna)
“He who angers you, conquers you.”
—E. Kenny (via maluna)
“If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”
—Lao Tzu (via reluctantbuddha)
Be good to each other.
(via reluctantbuddha)
