Saturday, February 25, 2012

Curious

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

Friday, February 24, 2012

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.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

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.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

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.

Monday, February 20, 2012

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”.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

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.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Home

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

Friday, February 17, 2012

Rose


















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

Sunday, February 12, 2012

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.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

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.