“I used to be very reactionary,” said Amy Garrett. “A problem would come up and I would just react. Now, I am able to respond, as opposed to reacting.” Garrett credits her newfound ‘peace of mind’ to the practice of meditation.
The universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. There is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.
- Terry Pratchett
When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments. That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding.
-- Thich Nhat Hahn
Find happiness in the job you have NOW. Many people expect the right job or the right career to dramatically change their level of happiness, but happiness research makes it clear that your level of optimism and the quality of your relationships eclipse the satisfaction you gain from your job. If you have a positive outlook, you will make the best of any job, and if you have good relationships with people, you won't depend on your job to give your life a greater sense of meaning. You'll find it in your interactions with the people you care about. Now that doesn't mean you shouldn't aspire towards a job that will make you happier; it means you should understand that the capacity of your job to make you happy is quite small in comparison to your outlook on life and your relationships with people.
Smile. Science suggests that when you smile, whether you feel happy or not, your mood will be elevated. So smile all the time! In addition having enough money to pay the bills allows you to focus your energies on more productive aspects of your life, such a the pursuit of happiness as opposed to keeping the 'wolves from the door'.
Meditation, especially insight meditation, truly does help us with this simplification process.I do believe in simplicity. It is astonishing as well as sad, how many trivial affairs even the wisest thinks he must attend to in a day; how singular an affair he thinks he must omit. When the mathematician would solve a difficult problem, he first frees the equation of all incumbrances, and reduces it to its simplest terms. So simplify the problem of life, distinguish the necessary and the real. Probe the earth to see where your main roots run.
Philosophy is concerned with that which is, in contrast with that which seems to be. Its aim is to reveal the reality which underlies appearance.
If they can make penicillin out of moldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.
-- Muhammad Ali
Better keep yourself clean and bright. You are the window through which you must see the world.
:-)A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.
-- Steve Martin
Discipline is like moonlight to cool the wild mind that is burning with anger, attachment, ignorance, jealousy and so forth. One becomes calm, concentrated, and magnificent, towering over ordinary beings like Mount Meru rising above the world. Others will be drawn to one's strength and will find great inspiration and confidence in it. It pacifies our own being, and it brings peace into the way other people and sentient beings relate to us. Thus wise practitioners protect their discipline as they would their eyes.
More than anything else, kindness is a way of life. It is a way of living and walking through life. It is a way of dealing with all that is--our selves, our bodies, our dreams and goals, our neighbors, our competitors, our enemies, our air, our earth, our animals, our space, our time, and our very consciousness. Do we treat all creation with kindness? Isn't all creation holy and divine?
-- Jean Maalouf
There is nothing worth thinking but it has been thought before; we must only try to think it again.
Learn to recognize your thoughts. Your mind is always going. The problem is, you have become so detached from it you don't realize what it is doing. Become conscious of your thoughts, and you will discover that they may not be very appealing. Your mind tends to run wild with negativity, constantly playing out confrontational scenarios that cause stress you don't even know about. But, if you spend time "watching" your thoughts, you can recognize what is happening.You might like to go overthere and explore what various people think will help us lead "the good life". You might also like to create a list of your own "five rules".
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Listen to music. It doesn't matter what kind of music you listen to - put on your favorite CD and get lost in the world of someone else's thoughts. Music has personally saved my life and been a voice for me when I couldn't find my own. It has been an outlet and a release. Never underestimate the power words and melodies can have on you.
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Have respect. Not just for your elders or authority but for everything. Animals, the oceans, plant life, our planet, insects, your neighbors. Everything. We all affect one another each and everyday. You aren't the only one here. To expect respect, you have to give it. Freely and abundantly.
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Get a dog. A dog loves you unconditionally. A dog thinks you are the greatest, coolest, smartest, most successful person in the world. Get a dog and work hard to live up to its expectations.
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Don’t make decisions when you’re angry. You can destroy everything you’ve been working for if you act when you’re angry. Breathe, smile and wait - if you do, you’ll realize that you aren`t so angry about what happened...or it may just fix itself.
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Never stop learning. Life is a learning adventure. We should try to capture every learning opportunity and not shut off new ideas, experiences, and adventures. We can learn from books, articles, people, classes, and experiences. When we recognize how great the adventure of life can be, every moment can be spent learning something new about the world.
Bottom line is, even if you see them coming, you're not ready for the big moments. No one asks for their life to change, not really. But it does. So, what are we, helpless? Puppets? Nah. The big moments are gonna come, you can't help that. It's what you do afterwards that count. That's when you find out who you are.
-- Whistler, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The great metaphors from all spiritual traditions - grace, liberation, being born again, awakening from illusion - testify that it is possible to transcend the conditioning of my past and do a new thing.
- Sam Keen
When it seems humanly impossible to do more in a difficult situation, surrender yourself to the inner silence and thereafter wait for a sign of obvious guidance or for a renewal of inner strength.
Now here's the difficulty: most people do not believe they have any choice regarding their thoughts; they believe they have to be thinking whatever thoughts happen to be in their minds at a given moment. I agree that, without training, it is very difficult to exercise such choices. But that's what meditation is for. Consistently bringing the mind back to the meditative support after it wanders or becomes distracted demonstrates to us that we do not have to be taken hostage by what we are inclined to think. Yes, it takes effort. And it is profoundly liberating when we make that effort.Our best friends and our worst enemies are our thoughts. A thought can do us more good than a doctor or a banker or a faithful friend. It can also do us more harm than a brick.
-- Frank Crane
What you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing; it also depends on what sort of person you are.
-- C.S. Lewis
The world we live in is a world of mingled good and evil. Whether it is chiefly good or chiefly bad depends on how we take it. To look at the world in such a way as to emphasize the evil is the art of pessimism. To look at it in such a way as to bring out the good, and throw the evil into the background, is the art of optimism. The facts are the same in either case. It is simply a question of perspective and emphasis.
