QUOTES
"Believe nothing,
travelers, merely because you have been told it... or because it
is traditional, or because you yourselves have imagined it.
But
whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be
conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings;
that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide".
~ Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada
Great Book - easy read - INSPIRING
|
Anger
If you look
from a different angle, then surely the person who caused this
anger in you will have a lot of other positive aspects, positive
qualities. If you look carefully, you will also find that the
act which has made you angry has also given you certain
opportunities, something which otherwise would not have been
possible from your point of view.”
the Dalai
Lama
Attitude
"I know and
recognize my oneness with all things. I know that all form and
all circumstances are the creation of an infinite intelligence
that is in and around me. I know that all things are the result
of conception and desire, that my world is ordered according to
my own thoughts and convictions. Therefore I concentrate on
harmony. I see nothing but order and constructiveness all about
me. I do not accept thoughts of destructiveness and disharmony.
In my friends, my loved ones, my fellow workers, I see nothing
but cooperation and assistance. I know that we all seek the same
answers and the same goals. I know that each person must follow
a different path toward his vision, and I understand the
searchings and the copings of everyone I know and see. I have
sympathy and tolerance for all things and all people. I know
that inasmuch as I help others I help myself. In my brother's
eye there is my own soul. In my friend's smile there is my own
humor. In my neighbor's sorrow there is my own loss. I have
compassion and understanding for all things, for this life in
which I have my being strives for understanding of itself. I
deny error; it is simply progress toward truth. I know that it
is impossible to fail when faith is present. I do not order
things to be made in my time or in my place, but trust the
Universal Mind in its own knowledge of the time and the place
and the need and the way. Each moment of each day brings my life
closer to this realization. The objects of my work are being
accomplished this very minute. Success and harmony, peace and
confidence are mine." -
Uell Stanley Andersen
Beauty
"Some people are like stained-glass windows. they sparkle and
shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their
true beauty is revealed only if there is alight within?"
~ Elizabeth Kubler Ross
"These bodies
are perishable; but the dwellers in these bodies are eternal,
indestructible and impenetrable."
~ The Bhagavad
Gita, Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers
"When
you look at a face and miss the eyes--
it's like looking at the mountains and missing the skies,
or listening to a story and missing who talks,
or looking at the waves and missing the shells....
Beauty swims deep." ~
Kristin
Change
"You must be
the change you wish to see in the world."
~Mahatma
Gandhi
Commitment
"Struggle ends where commitment begins."
~Sumner
Davenport
"Many things
are lost for want of asking." ~
English Proverb
Communication
"The two
words "information" and "communication" are often used
interchangeably, but they signify quite different things.
Information is giving out; communication is getting through."~
Sydney J. Harris
Courage
"Spiritual
courage grows through our willingness to keep on remembering, to
keep on searching for the sacred behind all the seemingly
mundane and even terrible facets of life." ~
Joan Borysenko,
Ph.D., Fire In The Soul
"Tis is not
the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most
intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." ~
Charles Darwin
" If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to
ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had done"
~John
Lubbock
Destiny
"Be aware of your thoughts, for they will become your words
Be aware of your words, for they will become your habits
Be aware of your habits, for they will become your character
Be aware of your character, for it will become your Destiny."
~ Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada
"We are
co-creators with God, not puppets on a string waiting for
something to happen." ~
Father Leo Booth, Creation Spirituality
"It is never
too late to be what you might have been."
~T.
S. Eliot
Failure
"The effects of failure are immediately wiped out the moment you
get back on the tract and continue to carry out your mission." ~
Napoleon Hill
"Life is
fundamentally a matter of growing, a growth experience. Missing
the mark is one of the ways in which we learn to hit the target.
Failure is a vital part of achieving success. We have
erroneously thought of success as "getting there" while actually
success is "earning the right to be there." And earning means
learning. Setbacks, even failures, may be an important part of
that learning." ~
Eric Butterworth, Spiritual Economics
Faith
"A leap of
faith is not a leap from Point A to Point B, but a leap FROM
Point A" ~
Anonymous
"When you
come to the edge of all the light you know,
And are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown,
Faith is knowing one of two things will happen:
There will be something solid to stand on
or you will be given wings to fly."
~
Barbara
J. Winter ©
Gibson Greetings
"Into this
silent night
as we make our weary way
we know not where,
just when the night
becomes it's darkest
and we cannot see our path,
just then
is when the angels rush in,
their hands full of stars."
~ Ann
Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem
"Have
confidence in the truth, although you may not be able to comprehend it, although you may suppose its sweetness to be
bitter, although you may shrink from it at first. Trust in the
Truth...Have faith in the Truth and live it." ~
Gautama Buddha, The Dhammapada
"If I
believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing
it.
When I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it, even
if I did not have the ability in the beginning."
~ Mahatma
Gandhi
Fasting
"There's hidden sweetness in the stomach's emptiness.
We are lutes, no more, no less. If the sound box
is stuffed full of anything, no music.
If the brain and the belly are burning clean
with fasting, every moment a new song comes out of the fire.
the fog clears, and new energy makes you
run up the steps in front of you.
Be emptier and cry like reed instruments cry.
Emptier, write secrets with the reed pen.
When you're full of food and drink, an ugly metal
statue sits where your spirit should. When you fast,
good habits gather like friends who want to help>
Fasting is Solomon's ring. Don't give it
to some illusion and lose your power,
but even if you have, if you've lost all will and control,
they come back when you fast, like soldiers appearing
out of the ground, pennants flying above them.
A table descends to your tents.
Jesus' table.
Expect to see it, when you fast< this table
spread with other food, better than the broth of cabbages.
~
Rumi
Fear
"We fear things in proportion to our ignorance of them." ~
Livy
"We can
forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of
life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato
Forgiveness
"Forgiveness
is primarily for our own sake, so that we no longer carry the
burden of resentment. But to forgive does not mean we will allow
injustice again." ~Terry Cole Whittaker
Friendship
"Keep away
from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people
always do that, but the really great make you feel that you,
too, can become great." ~
Mark Twain
"True
friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known
until it be lost."
~ Charles Caleb Colton
"A
Friend....
Accepts you as you are
Believes in "you"
Calls you just to say "HI"
Doesn't give up on you
Envisions the whole of you (even the unfinished parts)
Forgives your mistakes
Gives unconditionally
Helps you
Invites you over
Just "be" with you
Keeps you close at heart
Loves you for who you are
Makes a difference in your life
Never Judges
Offers support
Picks you up
Quiets your fears
Raises your spirits
Says nice things about you
Tells you the truth when you need to hear it
Understands you
Values you
Walks beside you
X-plain things you don't understand
Yells when you won't listen and
Zaps you back to reality
Friends make
a difference."
Golden Rule
"Treat
others as you would desire them to treat you."
"Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."
(Udana-Varga 5:18) Buddhism
"No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother
that which he desires for himself " ~(Sunnah) Islam
"All things whatsoever ye would that man should do to you, do
ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." ~
(Matthew 7:12) Christianity
"What is hateful to you, do not to your fellow man. That is
the entire law; all the rest is commentary. " ~(Talmud, Shabbat
31a) Judaism
"That nature alone is good which refrains from doing unto
another whatsoever is not good for itself." ~ (Dadistan-I-dinik
94:5) Zoroastrianism
"Regard your
neighbor's gain as your own gain and your neighbor's loss as
your own loss " ~(T'ai Shang Kan Ying P'ien) Taoism
"Surely it is the maxim of loving kindness: do not du unto
others what you would not have them do unto you. " ~(Analects
15:23) Confucianism
"This is the sum of duty: Do naught unto others which would
cause you pain if done to you." ~ (Mahabharata 5:1517)
Brahmanism
" The more virtuous any man is, the less easily does he
suspect others to be vicious." ~Cicero
" When you
run into someone who is disagreeable to others, you may be sure
he is uncomfortable with himself; the amount of pain we inflict
upon others is directly proportional to the amount we feel
within us."
Happy Day
No moving
parts, no batteries.
No monthly payments and no fees;
Inflation proof, non-taxable,
In fact, it's quite relaxable;
It can't be stolen, won't pollute,
One size fits all, do not dilute.
It uses little energy,
But yields results enormously.
Relieves your tension and your stress,
Invigorates your happiness;
Combats depression, makes you beam,
And elevates your self-esteem!
Your circulation it corrects
Without unpleasant side effects
It is, I think the perfect drug:
May I prescribe, my friend,...the hug !
(and, of course, fully returnable!)
Gratitude
"Gratitude,
like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it
grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If
you do not practice gratefulness, its benefaction will go
unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be
diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything.
This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are
blessings in everything. " ~
Alan Cohen, I
Had It All The Time
"Living your life
through Gratitude, is not one of comparing how
you are better than someone else; or Gratitude
only for what you own or obtain or achieve.
Living your life through Gratitude, is standing
still in the moment and seeing that the world
would be missing something very valuable if you
were not in it." ~ Original quote, from book:
the "G" Spot, The ecstasy of life through
Gratitude, by Sumner M. Davenport, plus
co-contributors ~
Growth
"Human
nature is not a machine to be built after a model, and set to do
exactly the work prescribed for it, but a tree, which requires
to grow and develop itself on all sides, according to the
tendency of the inward forces which make it a living thing."
~ John Stuart Mill
Habits
"We rarely
hear the inward music, but were all dancing to it nevertheless."
~
Rumi
Healing
"The
healing is instant. What takes time is our acceptance of the
healing."
"These
bodies are perishable; but the dwellers in these bodies are
eternal, indestructible and impenetrable." ~
The Bhagavad
Gita, Book of Daily Thoughts and Prayers
The 12
Warning Signs of Health
1. Persistent presence of support network
2. Chronic positive expectations; tendency to frame events in
a constructive light.
3. Episodic peak experiences
4. Sense of spiritual involvement
5. Increased Sensitivity
6. Tendency to adapt to changing conditions
7. Rapid response and recovery of adrenaline system due to
repeated challenges.
8. Increased appetite for physical activity
9. Tendency to identify and communicate feelings.
10. Repeated episodes of gratitude, generosity or related
emotions.
11. Compulsion to contribute to society
12. Persistent sense of humor.
If five or
more of these indicators are present, you may be at risk for
full-blown health.
Hope
"There are
no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown
hopeless about them." ~
Clare Boothe
Luce
"Hope is not
the conviction that something will turn out well but the
certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns
out." ~
Vaclav Havel
Life
"Life is
fundamentally a matter of growing, a growth experience. Missing
the mark is one of the ways in which we learn to hit the target.
Failure is a vital part of achieving success. We have
erroneously thought of success as "getting there" while actually
success is "earning the right to be there." And earning means
learning. Setbacks, even failures, may be an important part of
that learning."
~ Eric Butterworth, Spiritual Economics
"The
most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I mean, life is
tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What do you get at the
end of it? A death. What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle
is all backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way.
Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out when you're
too young, you get a gold watch, you go to work. You work forty
years until you're young enough to enjoy your retirement. You do
drugs, alcohol, you party, you get ready for high school. You go
to grade school, you become a kid, you play, you have no
responsibilities, you become a little baby, you go back into the
womb, you spend your last nine months floating...you finish off
as an orgasm."--
George Carlin
"Work like you don't need the money, dance like nobody's
watching, and Love like you've never been hurt." ~
Kathy Mattea song, "Come from
the Heart
"I have a
friend who lives by a three-word philosophy: Seize the
moment.
Just
possibly, she
may be the wisest woman on this planet. Too many people put
off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought
about
it, don't have it on their schedule, didn't know it
was coming, are too
tired to think about it or are too rigid to depart from their
routine.
I got to thinking one day about all those women on the Titanic
who passed up
dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then
on, I've tried to be a little more flexible.
How many women out there will eat at home because their husband
didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had
been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" come to mind?
How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence
while you watched Jeopardy on television?
And I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How
about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gasp and
stammer, "I can't."
Check one:
"I have clothes on the line."
"My hair is dirty." or "I look like a mess.
"I wish I had known yesterday."
"I had a late breakfast".
"It looks like rain".
And my personal favorite: "It's Monday".
She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because
Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule
our headaches.
We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when
all the
conditions are perfect. We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we
get Stevie toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the
living-room carpet. We'll go on a second honeymoon when we get
two more kids out of
college.
BUT HERE'S
THE PUNCHLINE PEOPLE: Life has a way of accelerating, as we get
older.
The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets
longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our
lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on" and "Someday,
when things are settled
down a bit."
When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to
adventure, and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on
new ideas. Her
enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes,
and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of
Rollerblades and skip an
elevator for a bungee cord.
My lips have
not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just
that I might as well apply it directly to my hips with a spatula and
eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and
bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way
home, I would have
died happy.
Now...go on
and have a nice day. Do something you WANT to.... NOT something
on your SHOULD
DO list.
~ Erma
Bombeck
IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER
I
would have talked less and listened more.
I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet
was stained and the sofa faded.
I would have eaten the popcorn in the "GOOD" living room and
worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a
fire in the fireplace.
I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble
about his youth.
I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a
summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.
I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before
it melted in storage.
I would have sat on the lawn with my
children and not worried about grass stains.
I would have cried and laughed less while watching television
and more while watching life.
I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending
the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for
the day.
I would never have bought anything just because it was
practical, wouldn't show soil or was guaranteed to last a
lifetime.
Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have
cherished every moment realizing that the wonderment growing
inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a
miracle.
When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said,
"Later. Now go get washed up for dinner."
There would have been more "I love yous" ... more "I'm sorrys".....but
mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every
minute.....look at it and really see it ... live it ... and
never give it back.-- by Erma Bombeck
"
INSTRUCTIONS
FOR LIFE
Take into account that great love and great achievements
involve great risk.
When you lose, don't lose the lesson.
Follow the three res. Respect for self, Respect for others, and
Responsibility for all your actions.
Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of
luck.
Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to
correct it.
Spend some time alone every day.
Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.
Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think
back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.
A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your
life.
In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current
situation. Don't bring up the past.
Share your knowledge. It's a way to achieve immortality.
Be gentle with the earth.
Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.
Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love
for each other exceeds your need for each other.
Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get
it.
Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon."
"The quickest way to become an old dog is to stop learning new
tricks." ~
John Rooney
Limitations
"By accepting Life's limits and inevitables and working with
them rather than fighting them, we become free." ~Epicetus
Leadership
"Tell me and
I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand."
~ Chinese
Proverb
Lessons
"People are
born soft and supple;
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
Dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
Is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
Is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail."
~ Tao Te
Ching
FIVE
GREAT LESSONS:
(These could all be urban legends, however, they do make you
think.....)
The
Important Things Life Teaches You...
Number One:
The Most Important Question during my second month of
college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious
student and had breezed through the questions, until I read the
last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the
school?" Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the
cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired, and in
her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper,
leaving the last question blank. Before class ended, one student
asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
"Absolutely," said the professor. "In your careers you will meet
many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention
and care, even if all you do is smile and say 'hello.'" I've
never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was
Dorothy.
Number Two:
Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was
standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a
lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately
needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next
car. A young white man stopped to help her -generally unheard of
in those conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety,
helped her get assistance, and put her into a taxicab. She
seemed to be in a big hurry! She wrote down his address, thanked
him, and drove away. Seven days went by and a knock came on the
man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was
delivered to his home. A special note was attached.
It read: "Thank you so
much for assisting me on the highway the other
night. The rain had
drenched not only my clothes, but my spirits. Then you came
along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away. God bless
you for helping me and unselfishly serving others. Sincerely,
Mrs. Nat King Cole."
Number Three:
Always Remember Those Who Serve
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 year
old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A
waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an
ice cream sundae?" "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The
little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied a
number of coins in it. "How much is a dish of plain ice cream?"
he inquired. Some people were now waiting for a table and the
waitress
was a bit impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she said brusquely.
The little boy again counted the coins. "I'll have the plain ice
cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the
bill on the table, and walked away. The boy finished the ice
cream, paid the cashier, and departed. When the waitress came
back, she began wiping down the table and then swallowed hard at
what she saw There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were
two
nickels and
five pennies - her tip.
Number Four:
The Obstacle in Our Path
In ancient times, a king had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then
he
hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove
the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and
courtiers came by and simply
walked
around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads
clear, but none did anything about getting the big stone out of
the way. Then a
peasant came
along carrying a load of vegetables. On approaching the boulder,
the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to
the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally
succeeded. As the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he
noticed a purse lying in the road
where
the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a
note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person
who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned
what many others never
understand.
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one's
condition.
Number Five:
Giving Blood
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at Stanford
Hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was
suffering from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of
recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old
brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease, and had
developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The
doctor
explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the boy
if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw
him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and
saying, "Yes, I'll do it if
it will save Liz." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in
bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the
color returning to her cheeks. Then his face grew pale and his
smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a
trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young,
the boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to
have to give his sister all of his blood. Attitude, after all,
is everything.
Love
"We have to put ourselves "in the other person's skin" and
become one with them, if we want to understand and truly love
them. When that happens, there is no "self" and no "other." ~Thich
Nhat Hahn
"It is
possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love
without giving.' ~
Richard Braunstein
"Love
and romance aid in exchanging for wisdom, the sorrows,
frustrations and failures of the past, and they give refinement
to your soul which could have been attained by no other means.
They help recognize the objective of your earthly destiny and
provide you with the means of surmounting the obstacles you must
surmount to attain your destiny, They help you in making every
day of your life pay off in dividends of joy which more than
compensate for the struggle." --
Napolean Hill
"Infatuation
is when you think that he's as sexy as Robert Redford, as smart
as Henry Kissinger, as noble as Ralph Nader, as funny as Woody
Allen, and as athletic as Jimmy Connors. Love is when you
realize that he's as sexy as Woody Allen, as smart as Jimmy
Connors, as funny as Ralph Nader, as athletic as Henry
Kissinger, and nothing like Robert Redford -- but you'll take
him anyway."
~ Anonymous
A group of
professionals posed the question "What does love mean?" to a
group of 4 to 8 year-olds and the answers they got were broader
and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
"Love is
that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the
way."
"When my
grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the
time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."
"When
someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You
know that your name is safe in their mouth."
"Love is
when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne
and they go out and smell each other."
"Love is
when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french
fries without making them give you any of theirs."
"Love is
when someone hurts you. And you get so mad but you don't yell at
them because you know it would hurt their feelings."
"Love is
what makes you smile when you're tired."
"Love is
when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip
before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
"Love is
when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing,
you still want to be together and you talk more. My mommy and
daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss."
"Love is
what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening
presents and listen."
"When you
tell someone something bad about yourself and you're scared they
won't love you anymore. But then you get surprised because not
only do they still love you, they love you even more."
"Love is
when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it
everyday."
"Love is
like a little old woman and a little old man who are still
friends even after they know each other so well."
"During my
piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the
people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was
the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore."
"My mommy
loves me more than anybody. You don't see anyone else kissing me
to sleep at night."
"Love is
when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken."
"Love is
when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is
handsomer than Robert Redford."
"Love is
when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone
all day."
"I know my
older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes
and has to go out and buy new ones."
"I let my
big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me
because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love
her."
"Love cards
like Valentine's cards say stuff on them that we'd like to say
ourselves, but we wouldn't be caught dead saying."
"When you
love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars
come out of you."
"Love is
when mommy sees daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's
gross."
"You really
shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean
it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
~ Original
author unauthenticated
Meditation
"Mindful
Meditation is being fully present, in each moment, and savoring
all experiences." ~
Sumner M. Davenport
"
Meditation means to be transcendently awake.
When we are this wide awake, a little world disappears in the same way
sleep
does when the alarm clock goes off.
When the little world disappears, the ocean, the sun and the wide awake
world come into clear focus.
Meditation means to be so wide awake that nothing need ever be said."
~ Echoes of
Silence, by Robert Rabbin
"...meditation
is very much like training a puppy. You put the puppy down and
say, "Stay." Does the puppy listen? It gets up and it runs away.
You sit the puppy back down again. "Stay." And the puppy runs
away over and over again. Sometimes the puppy jumps up, runs
over, and pees in the corner or makes some other mess. Our minds
are much the same as the puppy, only they create even bigger
messes. In training the mind, or the puppy, we have to start
over and over again."
~Jack
Kornfield, A Path With Heart
"Every
person must take time daily for quiet and meditation. In daily
meditation lies the secret of power. No one can grow in either
spiritual knowledge or power without it. Practice the presence
of God just as you would practice music. No one would ever dream
of becoming a master in music except by spending some time daily
alone with music. Daily meditation alone with God focuses the
divine Presence within us and brings it to our consciousness.,"
~
H. Emilie Cady, Lessons In Truth
"There are
two simultaneous processes: One is insight-the willing of
attention, the channeling of awareness to focus precisely on
what you want to see. The other process is surrender-letting go
of all arising thoughts. That is real meditation; that is how
you cut free of the mind." ~Dan
Millman
Mistakes
"The man who
makes no mistakes does not usually make anything." ~
Bishop W.C.
Magee
"Errors,
like straws, upon the surface flow; He who would search for
pearls must dive down below." ~
John Dryden
Money
"The devil
comes where money is; where it is not he comes twice." ~Swedish
Proverb
Opinion
"Opinion
is that exercise of the human will which helps us to make a
decision without information." ~
John Erskine
"It is only
about things that do not interest one that one can give a really
unbiased opinion, which is no doubt the reason why an unbiased
opinion is always valueless." ~Oscar Wilde
"Opinions
are flexible prejudices." ~Gerald
Horton Bath
"Everybody
is ignorant, only on different subjects." ~Will
Rogers
Patience
"Acceptance
or rejection - not tolerance or 'patience' When we ask for
something, and expect we will receive it, it is a matter of
acceptance that it will arrive in time. Or we reject the idea
and accept that we won't get it. When we ask for a healing, and
it appears to take time. The healing has already arrived, it's
our acceptance of the healing that takes time. When we ask for
a relationship, the relationship is already here. It is our
acceptance of our worthiness of the relationship that takes the
time, If we ask for money, it is already here. It is our
acceptance of the worthiness of having it that takes the time.
It is more belief, and acceptance, than it is patience. Persons
practicing patience are attempting to control an outcome, and
because it is not happening according to "their plan" are
frustrating themselves and justifying it by calling it
patience."
Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the
water is clear? Can you remain unmoving till the right action
arises by itself?"
~LaoTzu:
Perception
"One
day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to
the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor
people can be.
They spent a
couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be
considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip,
the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It was
great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked.
"Oh Yeah" said the son.
"So what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.
The son answered, "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they
have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our
garden and they have the stars at night."
"Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole
horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have
fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us,
but they serve others."
"We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around
our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."
With this
the boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks dad for showing me how poor we
are."
Too many
times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don't
have.
What is one person's worthless object is another's prize
possession.
It is all based on one's perspective.
Makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks to God,
Allah, Buddha, Spirit, the Divine for all the bounty we have
been provided, instead of worrying about wanting more.
~Original
author unauthenticated
(more
optical illusions)
Prayer
"Our prayers
are answered not when we are given what we ask but when we are
challenged to be what we can be." ~
Morris Alder
"Prayer is
the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of
view." ~
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance
Prosperity
"Although it
is true that everything you will ever want is already here, it
is up to you to get into harmony with it. Clearly, you will
never get into harmony with prosperity, if you insist upon
holding images of lack and limitation in the storehouse of your
marvelous mind. Since you are always magnetized toward
something, it follows it can never be anyone else's fault, when
something comes into your life you supposedly do not want.
Understand you have ordered it and it is being delivered to you
right on schedule! " ~
Bob Proctor, You Were Born Rich
"If you want
to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand.
If you want to get rid of something, You must first allow it to
flourish.
If you want to take something, You must first allow it to be
given.
This is called the subtle perception
Of the way things are."
~ Tao Te
Ching
Purpose
"If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to
ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had
done."
~
John Lubbock
"The way is prefect like waste space where nothing is lacking
and nothing is in excess."
~Sengstan
"The little
space within the heart is as great as the vast universe. The
heavens and the earth are there, and the sun and the moon and
the stars. Fire and lightening and winds are there, and all that
now is and all that is not. " ~The
Upanishads
" The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things
without trying
to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it
is like the
Tao.
In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don't try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.
When you are content to be simply yourself,
And don't compare or compete,
Everybody will respect you."
~ Tao Te
Ching,
"Brenda
was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although
she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous
granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a
hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well,
she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was
hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye
and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock
ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet
above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping
it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there. Here she
was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and
began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to
find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and
her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be
found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party,
waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the
cliff. She looked out across range after range of mountains,
thinking of the Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord
run to and fro throughout the whole earth." She thought, "Lord,
You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf,
and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."
Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom
there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of
the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose
a contact lens?" Well, that would be startling enough, but you
know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the
face of the rock, carrying it. Brenda told me that her father is
a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant,
the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant
lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know
why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's
awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry
it for You." I think it would probably do some of us good to
occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry
this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But,
if you want me to carry it, I will."
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called."
~ Anonymous
Relationships
"The little
space within the heart is as great as the vast universe. The
heavens and the earth are there, and the sun and the moon and
the stars. Fire and lightening and winds are there, and all that
now is and all that is not." ~The
Upanishads
"People come
into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. When you
figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.
When someone is in your life for a
REASON, it is usually to meet a need you have
expressed outwardly or inwardly. They have come to assist you
through a difficulty, to provide you with guidance and support,
to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually. They may
seem like a godsend, and they are. They are there for the reason
you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part
or at an inconvenient time, this person will say or do something
to bring the relationship to an end. Sometimes they die.
Sometimes they walk away. Sometimes they act up or out and force
you to take a stand. What we must realize is that our need has
been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done. The prayer
you sent up has been answered and it is now time to move on.
When people come into your life for a
SEASON, it is because your
turn has come to share, grow, or learn. They may bring you an
experience of peace or make you laugh. They may teach you
something you have never done. They usually give you an
unbelievable amount of joy. Believe it! It is real! But, only
for a season.
LIFETIME relationships
teach you lifetime lessons; those things you must build upon in
order to have a solid emotional foundation. Your job is to
accept the lesson, love the person/people (anyway); and put what
you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of
your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is
clairvoyant." ~
Anonymous
Sanity
"Sanity is the playground of the unimaginative." ~unknown
Self Improvement
"In all
persons, all creatures, the Self is the innermost essence. And
it is identical with Brahman: our real Self is not different
from the ultimate Reality called God." ~The
Upanishads
"Self
“improvement” is an insult to your Creator." ~
Sumner M. Davenport
"Always
remember you are unique, just like everyone else."
Self Worth
"One machine
can do the work of fifty ordinary people. No machine can do the
work of one extraordinary person." ~
Elbert Hubbard
"When you
run into someone who is disagreeable to others, you may be sure
he is uncomfortable with himself; the amount of pain we inflict
upon others is directly proportional to the amount we feel
within us."
Strength
Strong Woman
vs. Woman of Strength
A strong
woman works out every day to keep her body in shape...
but a woman of strength
kneels in prayer to keep her soul in shape...
A strong
woman isn't afraid of anything...
but a woman of strength
shows courage in the midst of her fear...
A strong
woman won't let anyone get the best of her...
but a woman of strength
gives the best of her to everyone...
A strong
woman walks sure footedly..
but a woman of strength
knows her Faith will catch her when she falls....
A strong
woman wears the look of confidence on her face...
but a woman of strength
wears grace...
A strong
woman has faith that she is strong enough for the journey..
but a woman of strength
has faith that it is in the journey that she will remember that
she is already strong!
Struggle
"The basic
principle of spiritual life is that our problems become the very
place to discover wisdom and love." ~Jack
Kornfield, A Path With Heart
"Struggle ends where commitment
begins” ~ Sumner M. Davenport,
oted to be included in the
Top 10 Healthy Thoughts of 2007
Success
"In order to
succeed, you must know what you are doing, like what you are
doing, and believe in what you are doing." ~
Will Rogers
(1879-1935), humorist
"Life is
fundamentally a matter of growing, a growth experience. Missing
the mark is one of the ways in which we learn to hit the target.
Failure is a vital part of achieving success. We have
erroneously thought of success as "getting there" while actually
success is "earning the right to be there." And earning means
learning. Setbacks, even failures, may be an important part of
that learning."
~ Eric
Butterworth, Spiritual Economics
"The people
who get on in the world are the people who get up and look for
the circumstances they want."
~George
Bernard Shaw
"If we are ever in doubt about what to do, it is a good rule to
ask ourselves what we shall wish on the morrow that we had
done."
~
John Lubbock
"Success is
often the result of taking a misstep in the right direction." ~
Al Bernstein
" Pay no
attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been
erected in honor of a critic. ~
Jean Sibelius
Suffering
“Chaos--or
suffering--is a natural part of life. When you experience some
physical pain or other problem … there’s a feeling of rejection
associated with the suffering, a kind of feeling of ‘Oh, I
shouldn’t be experiencing this.’ But if you can look at the
situation from another angle and realize that this very body …
is the basis of suffering, then this reduces that feeling of
rejection--the feeling that somehow you don’t deserve to suffer,
that you are a victim. So, once you understand and accept this
reality, then you experience suffering as something that is
quite natural.” ~
the Dalai Lama,
The Art of Happiness: a Handbook for Living
Thought
"Thought
rises to contemplate its own innerness until its power of
comprehension is annihilated."
~The
Kabbalah
Trust
"Spiritual
hope is more likely to emerge when we let go of will and open
ourselves to trust." ~
Joan Borysenko,
Ph.D., Fire In The Soul
Truth
"Have
confidence in the truth, although you may not be able to
comprehend it, although you may suppose its sweetness to be
bitter, although you may shrink from it at first. Trust in the
Truth...Have faith in the Truth and live it."
~Gautama
Buddha, The Dhammapada
Virtue
"Humility is
the first of virtues--for other people." ~
Oliver Wendell
Holmes
Visualization
"Positive
thinking is the popular term. However, we do not mean sitting
around mouthing a lot of cheerful platitudes, such as,
'everything is going to be all right.' The fact is, everything
will not be all right until you achieve a consciousness of
all-rightness. Much so-called positive thinking is little more
than wishful thinking, voicing a lot of Pollyanna words that you
really don't believe. It is a matter of synchronizing your self
in mind with the flow of the Infinite. The ideal, of course, is
to think the kind of thoughts that lead to the kind of
conditions that you want to see manifest in your life." ~
Eric
Butterworth, Spiritual Economics
War
Famous Quote
on going to war over religion -- "You're basically killing each
other to see who's got the better imaginary friend."
~Yasir
Arrafat (PLO leader)
Why??
"When we stop asking "Why?" our lives move
forward.
Many cultures don't have the word Why in their language,
however, for those of us who do, it seems to be one of the most
used favorite words. A word that provides no empowerment.
The more we question and demand an answer to the situation in
which we find ourselves, the longer we stay stuck, unmoved and
without clarity and without the answer we so much demand.
As a visual comparison:
See yourself fall into a deep mud hole. How quickly are you
going to get out as you stand or squish there, demanding "WHY
did I fall in here?"
How much more quickly will you get out when you ask:
"HOW can I get out and once out, HOW can I not do that again,
and HOW can I learn from this?
Now let's take that a step further....You have lost your job, or
your relationship or your health.
Does WHY move you forward or empower you?
Please take note that I am not discounting the grieving period.
when something or someone we are attached to has left our life,
there will be a sense of loss and a possible need to grieve the
loss. Even so, our healing process will happen at the rate we
choose to focus on
How
rather than
Why.
Think
about it."
~ Sumner M. Davenport
Wisdom
"All persons
make mistakes, but only wise ones learn from their mistakes." ~Winston
Churchill
"When you
work, you are a flute through whose heart the whisperings of the
hours turn to music.... And to what is it to work with love? It
is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even
as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. " ~Kahil
Gibran, The Prophet
"I can do
only one thing at a time, but I can avoid doing many things
simultaneously."
Asleigh Brilliant
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