Everyone post some favorite quotes!

[ThisLife]

I'm not sure Lao Tzu said that but it sounds good none-the-less.

 

.

 

That's because he said it in Chinese. English hadn't been invented yet.

 

(But seriously, I have no idea if he said something like that or not. Someone quoted it in an email they wrote to me, and I liked the 'sense' of it. In the end, I think it's only the connection made that matters. The source is simply intellectual baggage - like the label on the bottom of a painting in an art gallery.)

 

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[Mark Foote]

When someone other than the original is supplying their own notion of what they thought the original said, judgement comes in, in the place of accurate description of cause and effect.

All three time frames are the source of trouble according to Gautama the Shakyan:

"Craving for things visible, craving for things audible, craving for things that may be smelt, tasted, touched, for things in memory recalled-- these are the things in this world that are dear, that are pleasant. There does Craving take its rise, there does it dwell.

Pre-occupation about things seen, preoccupation about things heard, preoccupation about things smelt, tasted, tangible, about things in memory recalled-- these are the things in this world that are dear, that are pleasant. There does Craving take its rise, there does it dwell.

Deliberating about things seen, deliberating about things heard, deliberating about things smelt, tasted, tangible, about things in memory recalled-- these are the things in this world that are dear, that are pleasant. There does Craving take its rise, there does it dwell.

(Digha-Nikaya II 309-310, Pali Text Society volume II pg 341)

And again:

That which we will..., and that which we intend to do and that wherewithal we are occupied-- this becomes an object for the persistence of consciousness. The object being there, there comes to be a station of consciousness. Consciousness being stationed and growing, rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and here from birth, decay-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow, and despair come to pass. Such is the uprising of this entire mass of ill.

Even if we do not will, or intend to do, and yet are preoccupied about something, this too becomes an object for the persistence of consciousness... whence birth... takes place.

But if we do neither will, nor intend to do, nor are occupied about something, there is no becoming of an object for the persistence of consciousness. The object being absent, there comes to be no station of consciousness. Consciousness not being stationed nor growing, no rebirth of renewed existence takes place in the future, and herefrom birth, decay-and-death, grief, lamenting, suffering, sorrow, and despair cease. Such is the ceasing of this entire mass of ill.

(SN II 65, Pali Text Society volume II pg 45)

When he says "rebirth of renewed existence" (or "no rebirth of renewed existence"), is he talking about actual rebirth, or something else, I wonder? It's not clear to me- maybe both?

Edited November 12, 2014 by Mark Foote

[silent thunder]

The problem with internet quotes is determining their veracity. ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Marblehead]

The problem with internet quotes is determining their veracity. ~ Abraham Lincoln

Okay, I've had my belly laugh for the day.

[ThisLife]

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Whenever I come across great chunks of 'sacred' scripture it makes me think of Brother Maynard's wonderful sermon. I'm afraid Michael Palin has destroyed forever my ability to walk the dry path of solemn readings from holy books.

 

 

. Edited November 13, 2014 by ThisLife

[zerostao]

from goethe

 

life is the childhood of our immortality

 

we are never deceived;we deceive ourselves

 

whoever wishes to keep a secret must hide the fact that he possesses one

 

human beings, by change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves;

otherwise we harden

[Taomeow]

It is not Russia that is situated between East and West. It is East and West that are situated to the left and to the right of Russia.

 

--Vladimir Putin

[ThisLife]

.

I wish I could show you

 

When you are lonely or in darkness

 

The Astonishing Light

 

Of your own Being.

 

 

 

Hafiz

 

.

[Tibetan_Ice]

The light which shines in the eye

is really the light of the heart.

The light which fills the heart

is the light of God*, which is pure

and separate from the light of intellect and sense.

 

Rumi

[Taomeow]

It is difficult to understand the universe if you only study one planet.

 

--Miyamoto Musashi

[Brian]

“The future remains uncertain and so it should, for it is the canvas upon which we paint our desires. Thus always the human condition faces a beautifully empty canvas. We possess only this moment in which to dedicate ourselves continuously to the sacred presence which we share and create.”

― Frank Herbert, Children of Dune

[Marblehead]

Our Buddhist friends are going to get you for using that word "desires".

[Brian]

I'm not Buddhist.

 

[Marblehead]

I'm not Buddhist.

 

I know. That is why I said "they" are going to get "you".

[Brian]

Bring 'em on!

 

[Brian]

“The truth always carries the ambiguity of the words used to express it.”

― Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune

[Marblehead]

After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands. - Friedrich Nietzsche

[IntuitiveWanderer]

"There are no facts, only interpretations." - Nietzsche

[ThisLife]

"There are no facts, only interpretations." - Nietzsche

 

If I could sit down with Herr Nietzsche in a comfortable pub with a glass of beer, I would quizzically raise my eyebrows, point to myself, and say,... "There is awareness here."

 

And wait for him to point out the non-factual interpretation in that observation.

Edited November 21, 2014 by ThisLife

[Taomeow]

Here today, gone to Maui.

 

-- overheard in someone else's conversation. This instantly filled me with wanderlust, and a desire to post this everywhere where people expect to find me.

[IntuitiveWanderer]

If I could sit down with Herr Nietzsche in a comfortable pub with a glass of beer, I would quizzically raise my eyebrows and say,... "There is awareness here."

 

And wait for him to point out the non-factual interpretation in that observation.

 

Yes, I actually put that quote more as a question mark, in regard as to wheter Nietzsche was truly a lover of truth or a witty rhetorician / sophist.

[IntuitiveWanderer]

"That which is known as the Christian religion existed among the ancients, and never did not exist; from the beginning of the human race until the time when Christ came in the flesh, at which time the true religion, which already existed began to be called Christianity."

Saint Augustine of Hippo, Retractions, Book One, Part 12, "One Book on the True Religion."

 

 

I found this quote to be very interesting (edit: the quote is not rarely stated on the net). I haven't sourced it, so it may be a false. But if it is real, then it is true that there is an esoteric (secret) aspect of Christianity, which may even be traceable back to Egypt, as Gurdjieff sugested.

 

Saint Aquinas may have said it metaphorically, to fool the clergy (or something?). But I highly doubt it. There are powerful parallels which would be almost impossible to occur randomly. (and since we all know that Tao is not random...)

Edited November 21, 2014 by IntuitiveWanderer

[silent thunder]

"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden...But though an old man, I am but a young gardener." ~ Jefferson

[silent thunder]

“One Buddhist monk leaned over to another and quietly asked, “Are you not thinking what I’m not thinking?”” ~ unknown

[Marblehead]

FAIL!!!