Inspiring Words

A place to discuss casual topics amongst spiritual friends.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Inspiring Words

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Uplifting notions, not necessarily from Buddha or his followers:
But what is the purpose of all this? That we may understand—since we have been born into this condition of being what we choose to be—that we ought to be sure above else that it may never be said against us that, born to a high position, we failed to appreciate it, but fell instead to the estate of brutes and uncomprehending beasts of burden; and that the saying of Asaph the Prophet, “You are all Gods and sons of the Most High,” might rather be true; and finally that we may not, through abuse of the generosity of a most indulgent Father, pervert the free option which He has given us from a saving to a damning gift. Let a certain saving ambition invade our souls so that, impatient of mediocrity, we pant after the highest things and (since, if we will, we can) bend all our efforts to their attainment.
Excerpt From: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Oration on the Dignity of Man.
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

The term taste, like all other figurative terms, is not extremely
accurate; the thing which we understand by it is far from a simple
and determinate idea in the minds of most men, and it is therefore
liable to uncertainty and confusion. I have no great opinion of a
definition, the celebrated remedy for the cure of this disorder. For,
when we define, we seem in danger of circumscribing nature within
the bounds of our own notions, which we often take up by hazard,
or embrace on trust, or form out of a limited and partial consideration
of the object before us; instead of extending our ideas to take
in all that nature comprehends, according to her manner of combining.
We are limited in our inquiry by the strict laws to which
we have submitted at our setting out.
Edmund Burke, "On Taste"
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Kusala
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Kusala »

Image
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
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Aloka
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Aloka »

.

When the great lord passes, the wise peasant bows deeply and silently farts.

(Ethiopian Proverb)


:o
chownah
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by chownah »

Aloka,
What a great proverb! Can you share with us how this inspires you in your daily life perhaps?
chownah
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Aloka
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Aloka »

chownah wrote:Aloka,
What a great proverb! Can you share with us how this inspires you in your daily life perhaps?
chownah
It inspires me to remember that I have a sense of humour, chownah.


:)
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Kusala
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Kusala »

Image
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Man would fain be great and sees that he is little; would fain be happy and sees that he is miserable; would fain be perfect and sees that he is full of imperfections; would fain be the object of the love and esteem of men, and sees that his faults merit only their aversion and contempt. The embarrassment wherein he finds himself produces in him the most unjust and criminal passions imaginable, for he conceives a mortal hatred against that truth which blames him and convinces him of his faults.
Blaise Pascal, Pensees
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

The idea of the good is the greatest discipline.
Socrates, The Republic
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

For if we are temperate, we shall still continue to be so, though these calamities may befall us, and if we are contemplators of true beings, neither shall we be plundered of this habit; but all these dreadful events taking place, we shall still persevere in celebrating the rulers of all things, and in investigating the causes of effects.
- Proclus, On Providence, Fate, and that which is in our Power, 22, 20
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

If powers fail, there shall be praise for daring; and in great undertaking, to have willed is enough.
Propertius II, 10, 5-6
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Nicholas Weeks
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

It is the characteristic of the impotent (as Seneca writes) to have their knowledge all written down in note-books, as though the discoveries of those who preceded us had closed the path to our own efforts, as though the power of nature had become effete in us and could bring forth nothing which, if it could not demonstrate the truth, might at least point to it from afar. The farmer hates sterility in his field and even more then must the divine mind hate the sterile mind with which it is joined and associated, because it hopes from that source to have offspring of such a higher nature.
Excerpt From: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Oration on the Dignity of Man., Caponigri trans.
Good and evil have no fixed form. It's as easy to turn from doing bad to doing good as it is to flip over the hand from the back to the palm. It's simply up to us to do it. Master Hsuan Hua.
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Kusala
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Kusala »

Image
"He, the Blessed One, is indeed the Noble Lord, the Perfectly Enlightened One;
He is impeccable in conduct and understanding, the Serene One, the Knower of the Worlds;
He trains perfectly those who wish to be trained; he is Teacher of gods and men; he is Awake and Holy. "

--------------------------------------------
"The Dhamma is well-expounded by the Blessed One,
Apparent here and now, timeless, encouraging investigation,
Leading to liberation, to be experienced individually by the wise. "
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robertk
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by robertk »

"Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box."
- Italian Proverb
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Mkoll
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Re: Inspiring Words

Post by Mkoll »

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj wrote:Whatever you come across -- go beyond.
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
Namo tassa bhagavato arahato samma sambuddhassa
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