Deepak Chopra and the Seven Laws of Spiritual Success in Five Minutes

Spiritual Wisdom

He knows in every way beings passing away, and their re- arising; unattached, awakened, well-gone: he's what I call a Brahmin.

- Dhammapada

Meditation Tip

He who is attached to things will suffer much.
He who saves will suffer heavy loss.
A contented man is never disappointed.

Lao Tzu

Meditation Thought

Giving birth and nourishing, having without possessing, acting with no expectation, leading and not trying to control: this is the supreme virtue.

BBC - Religions - Buddhism: Meditation

This article looks at Buddhist meditation, its purpose and the different approaches to meditation: BBC - Meditation

Spiritual Wisdom

Erroneous views keep us in defilement While right views remove us from it, But when we are in a position to discard both of them We are then absolutely pure.

- The Sutra of Hui Neng

Meditation Tip

	If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. - His Holiness the Dalai Lama

Meditation Thought

We cling to our own point of view, as though everything
depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence;
like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
- Chuang Tzu

Zazen - A Guide to Sitting

Spiritual Wisdom

It is often thought that the Buddha's doctrine teaches us that suffering will disappear if one has meditated long enough, or if one sees everything differently. It is not that at all. Suffering isn't going to go away; the one who suffers is going to go away.

- Ayya Khema

Meditation Tip

By telling the truth; by not growing angry; by giving, when asked, no matter how little you have: by these three things you enter the presence of devas.

- Dhammapada

Meditation Thought

"Get deeper and deeper into yes. Say yes to each and every thing. Say yes to good and bad, to day and night, to summer and winter. Say yes to success and to failure. Say yes to life and to death. Forget everything else; just remember one word, yes, and it can transform your whole being. It can become a radical change, a revolution. " Osho

Deconstructing Your Culturally Created Self

The ego, which has traditionally been the enemy of the spiritual aspirant, is not just an individual entity. It also has a collective dimension. The collective ego is your culturally conditioned self-the conglomeration of conscious and unconscious ideas that represent the way you assume life is supposed to be. It is all of the "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" you have absorbed from those around you and from the shared history of your culture or ethnic background. It is a set of subtle and not-so-subtle beliefs, ideas, and ways of seeing the world that you deeply subscribe to but may not even be aware of. So much of the individual that you experience yourself to be has been created by the cultural worldspace that you were born into. And that's not a bad thing, in and of itself. It only becomes a problem when you don't know how conditioned you are. But the more you are able to shed light on all the different ways in which you are conditioned, the more space will open up for real autonomy-freedom of choice to be the person you want to be. So the culturally created ego is a very significant dimension of the self that needs to be brought to light in your own awareness. And it is not an easy task. It takes an inspired degree of mental focus and a willingness to deconstruct the very foundations of who you think you are-over, and over, and over again. But this process is a critical part of human evolution and spiritual transformation.

Andrew Cohen

Spiritual Wisdom

Subhuti, do not think that when one gives rise to the highest, most fulfilled, awakened mind one needs to see all objects of mind as nonexistent, cut off from life. Please do not think in that way. One who gives rise to the awakened mind does not deny objects or say that they are nonexistent. One who gives rise to the awakened mind should know that what is called a self or a person, a living being or a life span, is not so in essence but only in concept. The names self, person, living being, or life span are names only. Subhuti, you should know that all the things of the world are like this, and you should have confidence in their essence without names.

- Diamond Sutra

Meditation Tip

Q: I can observe anger and work with greed, but how does one observe delusion?

A: You're riding a horse and asking "Where's the horse?" Pay attention.

- Ajahn Chah

Meditation Thought

"A lion chased me up the tree--and I greatly enjoyed the view."

-Confucious