Consider the following quotes and comments

"If enlightenment is not where you are standing, where will you look?"

                                                                                                            Zen Saying

"Knowing others is wisdom;

Knowing the self is enlightenment.

Mastering others requires force;

Mastering the self needs strength.

He who knows he has enough is rich.

Perseverance is a sign of willpower.

He who stays where he is endures.

To die but not to perish is to be eternally present."

                                                                                                                                Dao De Jing - Chapter 33

The Three Jewels

1. Compassion leads to courage.

2. Moderation leads to generosity.

3. Humility leads to leadership.

                                                                                                                                  Dao De Jing - Chapter 67

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

Actually, you are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn't serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will note feel insecure around you.  We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.  And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

                                                                                                                                    Nelson Mandela, 1994  

"If you want to know me, look inside your heart."

                                                                                                                  Dao De Jing

"To hunt and kill for the sake of a livelihood is only a temporary solution to the struggle of living.

To shoot down the delusions within oneself, on the other hand, is to have a total solution to the cares and sorrows of life."

                                                                                                                              Origins of Zen, Asiapac Books - 1990

"Taoists reason that the negative emotions can be transformed to utilize their life force.  Therefore, to expel or suppress unwanted, negative emotions is to expel or suppress life force.  

Rather than suppressing them, you gain more by experiencing these emotions.  This means you permit them to emerge and you observe and accept them, but do not let them run wild or trigger other negative emotions.  Instead you transform them not only into useful life-force energy, but also into another, higher consciousness that is your spiritual energy.

                                                                                                      Master Mantak Chia

Governing People

- Do not emphasize status, intelligence, or possessions.

- Govern with the least visibility and with a serving attitude.

- Reduce laws and govern lightly.

- Take few actions that involve the people.

- Treat other countries non-aggressively.

                                                                                              Dao De Jing

Be still and know that I am

                                                                                             Psalm 46:10

Instructions for Life

TAKE PRUDENT RISKS: "Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk."

LESSONS IN LIFE: "When you lose, don’t lose the lesson."

FOLLOW THE THREE R’s:

- Respect for self.

- Respect for others.

- Responsibility for all your actions."

THANK GOD FOR UNANSWERED PRAYERS: "Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck."

FRIENDS ARE FOR LIFE: "Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship."

CORRECT YOUR MISTAKES: "When you realize you have made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it."

TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF: "Spend some time alone every day."

ACCEPT CHANGE: "Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values."

LEARN TO LISTEN: "Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer."

FORGET PAST PROBLEMS: "Deal only with the current situation in disagreements with loved ones. Don’t bring up the past."

GIVE OF YOURSELF: "Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality."

BE A GOOD STEWARD: "Be gentle with the earth."

CONTINUE TO LEARN: "Once a year, go someplace you have never been before."

FIND YOUR SOUL MATE: "Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other."

REACH FOR THE SKY: "Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it."

On the death of any living creature, the spirit returns to the spiritual world and the body to the bodily world. In this situation, however, only the bodies are subject to change. The spiritual world is one single spirit, who stands behind the bodily world, and who, when any single creature comes into being, shines through that creature as a light shines through a window. According to the kind and size of the window more or less light enters the world. The light itself, however, remains unchanged.

Finish every day and be done with it.

You have done what you could.

Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in;

forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day;

Begin it well and serenely with too high

a spirit to be encumbered with your nonsense.

This day is all that is good and fair.

It is too dear, with its hopes and invitations,

to waste a moment on the yesterdays.

"It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth – that we have no way of knowing when our time is up – that we begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had."

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

"A well-spent day brings happy sleep."

Leonardo Da Vinci

"To do two things at once is to do neither well."

Publiluis Syrus

"Worry gives small things a big shadow"

Swedish Proverb

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