These pages contains quotations I originally shared on the nondual quotes list. Enjoy!
While the concept of oneness may be intellectually appealing, it is nevertheless difficult to put into practice. It's no hardship to feel oneness with great and noble beings or those we already love. It's also not too much of a stretch to experience a sense of unity with the trees, the ocean, and the sky. But most of us balk at experiencing oneness with the cockroach or the rat-let alone the obnoxious co-worker whom we barely tolerate. Yet this is precisely where we need to apply Vedanta's teachings and realize that all these manifold aspects of creation are united in and through divinity. The Self that is within me, the Atman, is the same Self that is within you-no matter whether the "you" in question is a saint, a murderer, a cat, a fly, a tree, or that irritating driver at the four-way stop. From: http://www.vedanta.org/wiv/oneness.html
Deepening The Wonder Death is a favor to us, But our scales have lost their balance. The impermanence of the body Should give us great clarity, Deepening the wonder in our senses and eyes Of this mysterious existence we share And are surely just traveling through. If I were in the Tavern tonight, Hafiz would call for drinks And as the Master poured, I would be reminded That all I know of life and myself is that We are just a midair flight of golden wine Between His Pitcher and His Cup. If I were in the Tavern tonight, I would buy freely for everyone in this world Because our marriage with the Cruel Beauty Of time and space cannot endure very long. Death is a favor to us, But our minds have lost their balance. The miraculous existence and impermanence of Form Always makes the illumined ones Laugh and sing. 'The subject tonight is Love - 60 wild and sweet poems of Hafiz' Versions by Daniel Ladinsky
When you look into a mirror you see your face as it is; you may wish that some parts of it were different, but the actual fact is shown in the mirror. Now, can you look at your conditioning in a similar way? ~J. Krishnamurti
You must understand the whole of life, not just one little part of it. That is why you must read, that is why you must look at the skies, that is why you must sing and dance, and write poems, and suffer, and understand, for all that is life. ~J.Krishnamurti
From: Kensho - The Heart of Zen Ed. Thomas Cleary Wan-sung says: "Someone who presented a jewel in the matrix three times to a king did not escape punishment. Thrown a luminous pearl, few are those who do not react defensively. There may be a sudden guest, but not a sudden host; what may be suitable temporarily is not suitable in reality. If rarities and treasures cannot be used, bring forth something whose price can't be named."
From: Kensho - The Heart of Zen Ed. Thomas Cleary Emperor Wu of Liang asked the great teacher Bodhidharma, "What is the ultimate meaning of the holy truths?" Bodhidharma replied, "Empty, without holiness." 'The emperor said, "Who is in my presence? Bodhidharma answered, "Don't know."
Having realized the Self, which is soundless, intangible, formless, undecaying, and likewise tasteless, eternal, and odorless; having realized That which is without beginning and end, beyond the Great, and unchanging--one is freed from the jaws of death. Katha Upanishad 1.3.15
There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment. Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else. No one seems to have noticed this fact. But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience. And once one has come to this understanding he will be a different person from that point on, though he may not always bear it in mind. When one understands this settling into single-mindedness well, his affairs will thin out. from "Hagakure" by Yamamoto Tsunetomo
*Abandon Every Idea About Enlightenment*
In order to be successful in your quest for Freedom, it is imperative
that you unconditionally abandon every idea that you have about
Enlightenment. As long as you think that Enlightenment is something that
can be understood by the mind, the cycle of blindly perpetuating your own
ignorance will never cease.
from "Enlightenment is a Secret" By Andrew Cohen
Where one sees nothing but the One, hears nothing but the One, knows nothing but the One--there is the Infinite. Where one sees another, hears another, knows another--there is the finite. The Infinite is immortal, the finite is mortal. It is written, He who has realized eternal Truth does not see death, nor illness, nor pain; he sees everything as the Self, and obtains all. Chandogya Upanishad 7.23, 27
To love is to know Me, My innermost nature, The truth that I am. Bhagavad Gita 18.55
Isaiah 11.6-9:
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf and the lion and the fatling together,
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall feed;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The sucking child shall play over the hole of the asp,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as waters cover the sea.
The Call of the Beloved Every morning a voice comes to thee from heaven: 'When thou lay'st the dust of the way, thou win'st thy way to the goal.' On the road to the Ka'ba of Union, lo, in every thorn-bush Are thousands slain of desire who manfully yielded up their lives. Thousands sank wounded on this path, to whom there came not A breath of the fragrance of Union, a token from the neighbourhood of the Friend. ~Rumi (trans F Hadland Davis)
"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony." ~Mohandas K. Gandhi
The Rhodora: On Being Asked, Whence Is the Flower? In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes, I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods, Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook, To please the desert and the sluggish brook. The purple petals, fallen in the pool, Made the black water with their beauty gay; Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool, And court the flower that cheapens his array. Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why This charm is wasted on the earth and sky, Tell them, dear, that if eyes were made for seeing, Then Beauty is its own excuse for being: Why thou wert there, 0 rival of the rose! I never thought to ask, I never knew: But, in my simple ignorance, suppose The self same Power that brought me there brought you. RALPH WALDO EMERSON
Disappearance Thich Nhat Hanh The leaf tips bend under the weight of dew. Fruits are ripening in Earth's early morning. Daffodils light up in the sun. The curtain of cloud at the gateway of the garden path begins to shift: have pity for childhood, the way of illusion. Late at night, the candle gutters. In some distant desert, a flower opens. And somewhere else, a cold aster that never knew a cassava patch or gardens of areca palms, never knew the joy of life, at that instant disappears- man's eternal yearning.
Those who practice the Art of Peace must protect the domain of Mother Nature, the divine reflection of creation, and keep it lovely and fresh. Warriorship gives birth to natural beauty. The subtle techniques of a warrior arise as naturally as the appearance of spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Warriorship is none other than the vitality that sustains all life. ~Morihei Ueshiba
Inside this clay jar there are meadows and groves and the One
who made them.
Inside this jar there are seven oceans and innumerable stars, acid
to test gold, and a patient appraiser of jewels.
Inside this jar the music of eternity, and a spring flows from the
source of all waters.
Kabir says: Listen, friend! My beloved Master lives inside.
~Kabir
Translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Robert Hass
The world is no more than the Beloved's single face;
In the desire of the One to know its own beauty, we exist.
Each place, each moment, sings its particular song of not-being
and being.
Without reason, the clear glass equally mirrors wisdom and
madness.
Those who claim knowledge are wrong; prayer just leads to
trance;
Appearance and faith are mere lees in the Unknowing Wine.
Wherever the Footprint is found,
that handful of dust holds the oneness of worlds.
This earth, burnished by hearing the Name, is so certain of Love
That the sky bends unceasingly down, to greet its own light.
~Ghalib
Even at prayer, our eyes look inward;
If the gate to the holy is shut, we just turn away.
The One is only the One, everyone knows --
What mirroring icon could hold it face to face?
Held back unvoiced, grief bruises the heart;
Not reaching the river, a raindrop is swallowed by dust.
If a story brings only tears and not blood to the eyes,
It is simply a lovers' tale.
Whoever can't see the whole in every part plays at
blind man's buff;
A wise man tastes the entire Tigris in every sip.
~Ghalib
Original Face is the reality of realities: Stretch your hand to the winging bird. Vertical nose, horizontal eyes - and then? What if your mind is empty? - Tokugaku (15th Century)
"Ripple" Grateful Dead Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia. If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung Would you hear my voice come through the music Would you hold it near as it were your own? It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken Perhaps they're better left unsung I don't know, don't really care Let there be songs to fill the air (Chorus) Ripple in still water When there is no pebble tossed Nor wind to blow Reach out your hand if your cup be empty If your cup is full may it be again Let it be known there is a fountain That was not made by the hands of men There is a road, no simple highway Between the dawn and the dark of night And if you go no one may follow That path is for your steps alone (Chorus) You who choose to lead must follow But if you fall you fall alone If you should stand then who's to guide you? If I knew the way I would take you home
Man should discover his own reality and not thwart himself. For he has the self as his only friend, or as his only enemy. A person has the self as a friend when he has conquered himself, But if he rejects his own reality, the self will war against him. Bhagavad Gita 6.5-6
See with your eyes, hear with your ears. Nothing is hidden. ~Tenkei
Everything has its "that," everything has its "this." From the point of view of "that" you cannot see it, but through understanding you can know it. So I say, "that" comes out of "this" and "this" depends on "that"--which is to say that "this" and "that" give birth to each other. But where there is birth there must be death; where there is death there must be birth. Where there is acceptability there must be unacceptability; where there is unacceptability there must be acceptability. Where there is recognition of right there must be recognition of wrong; where there is recognition of wrong there must be recognition of right. Therefore the sage does not proceed in such a way, but illuminates all in the light of Heaven. He too recognizes a "this", but a "this" which is also "that"; a "that" that is also "this". His "that" has both a right and a wrong in it; his "this" too has both a right and a wrong in it. So, in fact, does he still have a "this" and "that"? Or does he in fact no longer have a "this" and "that"? A state in which "this" and "that" no longer find their opposites is called the Hinge of the Way. When the hinge is fitted into the socket, it can respond endlessly. Chuang Tzu 2
All composite things are impermanent, They belong in the realm of birth and death; When birth and death is trancended, Absolute tranquillity is realized and blessed are we. 'Zen and Japanese Culture' D.T. Suzuki
The body is not the Real Man; neither is the mind, for the mind waxes and wanes. It is the Spirit beyond, which alone can live forever. The body and mind are continually changing and are, in fact, only names of series of changeful phenomena, like rivers whose waters are in a constant state of flux, yet present the appearance of unbroken streams. Every particle in this body is continually changing; no one has the same body for many minutes together, and yet we think of it as the same body. So with the mind: One moment it is happy, another moment unhappy; one moment strong, another weak-an ever-changing whirlpool. That cannot be the Spirit, which is infinite. Change can only be in the limited. To say that the infinite changes in any way is absurd; it cannot be. You can move and I can move, as limited bodies; every particle in this uni- verse is in a constant state of flux. But taking the universe as a unit, as one whole, it cannot move~ it cannot change. Motion is always a relative thing. I move in relation to something else. Any particle in this universe can change in relation to any other particle. But take the whole universe as one, and in relation to what can it move? There is nothing besides it. So this infinite Unit is unchangeable, immovable, absolute, and this is the Real Man. Our reality, therefore, consists in the Universal and not in the limited. These are old delusions, however comfortable they are, to think that we are little limited beings, constantly changing. from: 'Vedanta - Voice of Freedom' Swami Vivekananda
That by which our hearts are held, whole worlds love it too. I can't deny the truth - many ways lead to the One. Those whom the Beloved loves, we must also love. If someone is a friend to the Friend, how can we afford not to be friends? If you would be a lover, befriend him who loves your Friend; and if you cannot, don't call yourself a friend of mine. Whomever you tend to despise, hold dear instead. Don't belittle others, respect them. This is where the path leads. If your heart is filled with love, your way is sacrifice. Through sacrifice you will find your place in the ranks of Love. Hearts which truly love the Truth, Truth will open a door wide. Dismantle the house of selfishness. Put away your self-regard. High and low, enemy, neighbor, the Friend serves them all. Whoever wants to spread this word must first go out of his home. This counsel that Yunus gives is like buried gold. Those who love the Friend find peace in both worlds. ~Yunus Emre 'The Drop That Became the Sea' Translated by Kabir Helminski & Refik Algan
Every day, mindful practice. When the mind is disciplined then the Way can work for us. Otherwise, all we do is talk of Tao; everything is just words; and the world will know us as its one great fool. ~Loy Ching-Yuen, The Book of the Heart
How could the love between Thee and me sever? As the leaf of the water abides on the water: so thou art my Lord, and I am thy servant. As the night-bird Chakor gazes all night at the moon: so Thou art my Lord and I am Thy servant. From the beginning until the ending of time, there is love between Thee and me; and how shall such love be extinguished? Kabir says: 'As the river enters into the ocean, so my heart touches Thee.' ~Kabir
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