Beauty

Blame

When you blame and criticize others, you are avoiding some truth about yourself.
-- Deepak Chopra

The Wonder of the World

I don’t destroy the wonder of the world
and I don’t kill
with reasoning the mysteries I find
along my way
in flowers, on faces, on lips or graves.

The light of inquiries from others
strangles the magic spell of treasures hidden
in the depth of the unknown.

Instead
my light adorns the mystery of life –
much like the white moonlight
doesn’t diminish, but trembling,
increases even more the mystery of night,
my light intensifies the subtle horizon
with shivers of a mystic secret.

And all the unknowns
become unknowns even bigger
in my eyes –
because I love the same way
the flowers, faces, lips and graves.

Flowers

Don't wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.

Intelligent

"Respond intelligently even to unintelligent treatment."
- Lao Tzu

Each moment is new

“You cannot step in the same river twice” — Heraclitus
Each moment is new, each moment is fresh, life is flowing and changing every moment.

concerned with the being

a man of wisdom is always concerned with the being. a man of ignorance is always concerned with questions of doing, what is to be done.

Who are you trying to trick?

Who are you trying to trick, who are you trying to deceive? The other, God, yourself? Once you understand the wholeness of life, you will stop being cunning. You are not separate; you are not the individual; only the whole exists.

Ambition

Ambition and desire are the food of human misery.

Freedom

One should not interfere in anybody else’s freedom.

Perfect Virtue

Perfect virtue produces nothing. Because it needs nothing else. Only imperfection desires to produce something.

the question is: are you ready?

whenever the disciple is ready the master appears

don't ask for repetition

Whenever a blissful moment happens, don’t ask for it again. Don’t ask for it to be repeated, because all repetition is of mind. Don’t ask for it again. If you ask, then the mind will say, “I know the trick. I will do it for you.” The mind will destroy the mystery of a new moment.

When it happens, feel happy and grateful and forget. The fish is caught, forget the trap. The meaning is caught, forget the word.

Prayer

“When I started praying, I would go to the church and talk to God. I talked to him for many years, and then suddenly I realized that this was useless. How can you talk before God? One has to be silent. What is there to be said? And what can I say which will help God to know more? So I stopped talking, I became silent.

Then after many years I realized that even silence wouldn’t do. So I started listening. First I was talking, then I was not talking, and then I was listening.

When this listening happened, then for the first time prayer happened.”

— Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher

A wise man yields

When there is a strong wind, the trees resist and die, and the grass bends. The storm goes by and again the grass stands straight, laughing and enjoying. The big tree thinks so much of himself and will fight the storm: “Who can bend me? Who can force me to yield?” It is foolish to fight with the storm, because the storm has not come for you. It is nothing special, the storm is simply passing and you happen to be there.

A wise man yields. A foolish man always resists. A wise man can see the total of life and accept what is; a foolish man can only see the fragment and always suffer from his choice.

The Total of Life is Always The Same

A monkey trainer went to his monkeys and told them:
“As regards to your chestnuts, you are going to have three measures in the morning, and four in the afternoon.”
On hearing this all the monkeys became angry.

So the keeper said:
“All right then, I will change it to four measures in the morning, and three in the afternoon.”
The monkeys were satisfied with this arrangement.

——

Ultimately, if you can look at the total, the total in life is always the same, regardless of how many times you change the arrangement. You can be rich or poor, you can own more or less, but that will not change the wholeness of life. The total is always “seven” - this is “the law of three in the morning”.

And the monkey is your mind.

Responsible

I am responsible. I am fully responsible for my life. I am responsible for happiness as well as hunger in the world. I am responsible when someone is angry at me. I am responsible for the simple fact of being here.

Blossom

“I said to the almond tree, ‘Sister, speak to me of God.’
And the almond tree blossomed.”
-- Nikos Kazantzakis

Perfect Love

Perfect love is without demonstrations.

Perfect sincerity offers no guarantee.

Curious

"I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious"

Albert Einstein

Ah, this cake is delicious!

“Master, you are leaving us soon, what do you want us to remember?” – asked the disciples of a Zen master on his deathbed.

The master smiled, took a bite from his favorite cake and said:
“Ah, this cake is delicious.” And then he closed his eyes for the last time.

For a man who lives in the here and now, even death is irrelevant. The next moment is meaningless. This moment this cake is delicious.

Save the world

Before you can save others, you have to save yourself. You have to be “selfish” at first. First you have to flower, you have to become fully conscious, aware, alert. You have to blossom first. Is the rose selfish when it blossoms?

While asleep, your urge to save the world is just a product of your ego that wants to be “better” than the others, an ego that searches recognition, respect, followers and worship.

First you save yourself, first you blossom, and your perfume will wake up the rest and they will blossom too. That’s all you have to do to save the word: blossom.

The Path

Two men were once lost in a forest on a very dark night. It was a very dangerous forest, full of wild animals, very dense, with darkness all around. Suddenly, there was a storm, a crashing of the clouds, and a great lightning. One man looked at the sky amazed, wondering “What is happening? This is fascinating!”. The other man looked at the path; in that moment of lightning, the path was before him, illuminated; and he followed it. The man looking at the lighting missed the path.

In life, sometimes a flash of lightning comes – look at the path and act. A Jesus is a lightning, a Buddha is a lightning. Don’t look at the lightning; if you look, you will miss, because lightning lasts only for a moment and those moments are rare. Let the lightning and the learning that comes with it penetrate you and then forget it. Through the learning the path is illuminated but you must act, you must do something. You must follow the path.

Being last

Jesus said: “Blessed are those who are the last in this world because they shall be the first in my kingdom of God”.

but… careful, if you are trying to be the last, you are not the last. If you are trying, you will be missing the whole point.

To be the last - not by effort, not by striving, not by following some prescribed rules and practices, not by comparing, not by ambition, not by competition - but just by simple understanding that “whatsoever I am, I am; there is no need to be anybody else, I’m blissful in my own being”.

Life is like a violin

One gets born, but life has to be molded. Life is not received made out – it has to be patiently, wisely, carefully given shape.

Life is like a violin, we all have it but the art to use it is learned by very few. A violin can be with you for a very long time but touching the strings without training and practice, can create only discordant noises, far from the melodious music that it is capable of producing. One thing to remember, learning the technique to play the violin is only the first step, the technique is only opening the door, the path is lightened in front of you. The jump to the art of living is possible only when the heart takes over, the technique is forgotten, the violinist and the violin become one, and lovable melody pours out.

Home

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.
- Kathleen Norris

Rose

I do not only see the rose, the rose also sees me.

Life's goal

Our goal should be to be much, not to have much.

The Earth

We laid on the grass: you and I.
The air, melting like wax in the heat of the sun,
was flowing across the fields like a river.
A tormenting silence was ruling over the earth
and a question felt deep inside me.

Was there nothing
the earth had to tell me? All this earth,
unbearable large and dreadfully quiet,
nothing?

To hear better I’ve put
my ear against the earth – doubtful and humble –
and through the underground I heard
your heart’s tumultuous beating.

The Earth was answering.

Fishing ideas

The purpose of a fishtrap

Is to catch fish,

And when the fish are caught

The trap is forgotten.

The purpose of words

is to convey ideas.

When the ideas are grasped

The words are forgotten.

Where can I find a man

Who has forgotten words?

He is the one I would like to talk to.

—Chuang Tzu

Avoiding your true being

There was a man

who was so disturbed

by the sight of his own shadow

and so displeased

with his own footsteps,

that he determined to get rid of both.

The method he hit upon was

to run away from them.

So he got up and ran.

But every time he put his foot down

there was another step,

while his shadow kept up with him

without the slightest difficulty.

He attributed his failure

to the fact

that he was not running fast enough.

So he ran faster and faster,

without stopping,

until he finally dropped dead.

He failed to realize

that if he merely stepped into the shade,

his shadow would vanish,

and if he sat down and stayed still,

there would be no more footsteps.

yet another Chuang Tzu Story

Empty Boat

If a man is crossing a river

And an empty boat collides with his own skiff,

Even though he be a bad-tempered man

He will not become very angry. 

But if he sees a man in the boat,

He will shout to him to steer clear.

And if the shout is not heard, he will shout

Again, and yet again, and begin cursing —

And all because there is somebody in that boat.

Yet if the boat were empty, he would not be shouting,

And he would not be angry. 

If you can empty your own boat

Crossing the river of the world,

No one will oppose you,

No one will seek to harm you. 

Who can free himself of achievement and fame

Then descend and be lost

Amidst the masses of men? 

He will flow unseen…

He will go about like life itself,

With no name and no home.

Simple is he, without distinction.

To all appearances he is a fool.

His steps leave no trace. 

He has no power.

He achieves nothing,

He has no reputation. 

Since he judges no one,

No one judges him. 

Such is the perfect man —

His boat is empty.

—- a Chuang Tzu story

true colors

when you look at an object, your mind colors the object and the object colors your mind

if your mind stops coloring the world, things start appearing in their true being; then you come to see reality as it is

one first begins to experience colors; then colors dissolve and only light remains, a pure white undivided by the mind

Ordinary is beautiful

In a world where everybody wants to be extraordinary, being ordinary is rather extraordinary.

Resist not evil

Jesus said “Resist not evil…”

Because resistance gives life to evil, non-resistance lets it burn itself out; just like the water will eventually defeat the rock.

Be soft like water.

Zorba

Be a Zorba, sing, dance and laugh; love life to the fullest; don’t choose, accept totality, show your gratitude towards existence.

“Boss, only one thing is wrong with you - you think too much. Just come on! This is not the time for thinking; the moon is full, and the whole ocean is dancing. Don’t miss this challenge.”

Fear of uncertainty

Fear of uncertainty. Foolish because life is intrinsically uncertain, but that fear exists. That fear creates the enemy, and then the enemy creates defense, and then defense creates offence. You become violent. You are constantly on guard. You are against everybody. If you are in fear, you are against everybody. Degrees may differ, but then your enemy and your friend are both your enemy. The friend is a little less, that’s all. There is no middle ground; you are either open, accepting existence and you as is or you are closed, on guard. On the surface, it might look that you are not closed, but only on the surface. Your channels of love, joy, gratitude are blocked. Your life is blocked. Only dead things are certain.

Vulnerability

Video: researcher Brene Brown talks at TED on “the power of vulnerability”

If you are really vulnerable, nothing is negative for you – because the negative is your interpretation. Nothing is harmful to you – because the harmful is your interpretation. If you are really open, then nothing can harm you, nothing can be felt as harmful. You feel something is negative and something is harmful because you resist, because you are against it, because there is no acceptance of it.

The enemy exists there because you are protecting yourself against him. The enemy is there because you are not open. If you are open, then the whole existence is friendly; it cannot be otherwise.

If you are vulnerable, it means you are ready to live in insecurity. Deep down it means you are ready even to die. You will not resist, you will not oppose, you will not stand in the way. If death comes, there will be no resistance. You will simply allow it to happen. You accept existence in its totality.

Have the courage to be vulnerable, open, true. Unblock your emotions so that love, creativity, life can flower within you.

Creative potential

Life is the ambition to make the ugly beautiful, the imperfect perfect
and when the perfect is achieved, life is complete.

A great mystic last prayer to God was:
”Send me back. Remember, I am not perfect. Send me back. Your world was too beautiful and you gave me such a precious life. And I don’t want to disappear yet: I have yet to sing many songs, I have yet to paint many paintings, there is yet much in my heart which needs to bloom. Send me back, I am not perfect! Send me back.“

You have infinite capacities to create; you are unlimited, you don’t have any limits to your potential. You are not aware what you can do, and you will never be aware unless you do it!

How to find peace?

WHO CAN FIND REPOSE IN A MUDDY WORLD?

BY LYING STILL, IT BECOMES CLEAR.
says Lao Tzu.

You don’t do anything, don’t try to purify it, otherwise you will muddle it more. Just lie down, wait. By lying still it becomes clear on its own accord. Everybody is directly related to the divine so don’t be worried about changing others.

Be like curious children

Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born.
- Albert Einstein

We have lost the way...

…in this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…

Charles Chaplin - Speech from the Great Dictator

You are right!

A man of understanding understands that somehow everybody has to be right in some sense or other.

Life is very shy

If you want to be happy you cannot move directly like an arrow towards the target of happiness; if you do, you will miss it.

Because life is very shy, it hides from people who are aggressive.
It reveals itself only to those who persuade it in a very subtle and indirect way. You need to be a little more poetic, you need to write beautiful love letters to life.

Devotion

Devotion is a purified love affair.

Worry

"Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose."
- Eckhart Tolle

Free the butterfly

As soon as the honeymoon laughter is gone,

marriage remains a butterfly pinned down, unable to fly to a higher level, to a divine place.