Mayan Poem

Spiritual Wisdom

If you want to know who you are, you will have even to close your eyes; you will have to go withinwards. You will have to forget the whole world, you will have to forget what they say about you. You will have to go deep inside you and encounter your own reality. Osho

Food for Thought

“Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life,
but the ability to cope with it.” N.N.

Weekly Spiritual Wisdom

Signs of one who progresses with meditation : he does not blame anyone, he does not praise anyone, he does not complain about anyone, he accuses no-one, he does not say anything of himself as someone important or who knows something . When he is embarrassed or upset, he looks only into himself.
Epictetus

What is your Life Purpose?

Read this wonderful comment by Chris on the question "What is your Life Purpose?"; comment on it yourself, like it, share it. Enjoy!

What is your Life Purpose

Spiritual Wisdom

When your thinking rises above concern for your own welfare,
wisdom which is independent of thought appears.
Ha Gakure

Being free from concepts

Being free from concepts is like going backstage in a theater
and suddenly realizing how much of our engagement with the drama has come from mere appearances: the costumes,the makeup, the staging, the lighting, and actors projecting artificial personae. ...It is liberating to realize that we are, in effect,"making it all up."

We are playing on the stage set,lost in the costumes and the lighting. We are creating boundaries and divisions according to our histories, our fears, our needs, and our habits.

But what is the substance of these boundaries?

Where can they be found, in truth?

~ Sharon Salzberg ~

Weekly Spiritual Wisdom

Once you know meditation, you don't have to follow anybody. You have your own eyes open, and you have your light just ahead of you showing the path, and all that is right and all that is good happens choicelessly.
Osho

On Meditation

"Meditation is not a solution of any problem in particular; it solves nothing. It simply helps you to get rid of the mind, the problem-creator. It simply helps you to slip out of the mind like a snake slips out of the old skin.  Once you know you are not the mind the great transcendence has happened. Suddenly all problems become insignificant; slowly, slowly they evaporate. You are left with a profound peace; a great silence prevails.  This silence is the solution. This peace is the answer, the answer of all answers." Osho

Spiritual Wisdom

If one does not think about right and wrong,
then the mind is naturally at ease.
If one has no thought of peace of mind,
that is true peace.
Chuang Tzu

Two Great Days

There are two great days in a person’s life—the day we are born and the day we discover why. N.N.

Motivation

Questioner:But isn’t it important to meditate?
Ngak’chang Rinpoche: Of course—it’s crucial [laughs]. But that’s just us tellingyou that. What do you think? How important do you think it is?
Q: TheDharma books say—
NR: Yes,“the Dharma books” say all kinds of things. People sometimes knock on our doorand tell us what their book says—but what does that mean? What do yousay?
Q: I guessI’m confused.
NR: That’sbetter! Splendid! That’s a much better place to find yourself.The next step is to accept that with a certain sense of humor.No one enjoys confusion, but as long as we cling to our dualistic vision, wewill always translate not knowing as “confusion.” We don’t likeconfusion because within the space of confusion definitions become vague andintangible. That makes us feel insecure. Accepting or relaxing in thatinsecurity is in itself a practice. This is the wisdom of insecurity. To bemotivated, you have to develop your understanding of what the process of shi-nèhelps you to discover. To develop motivation, you have to take a serious lookat your life.
Khandro Déchen: It could also be humorous . . .  seriously humorous.
NR: Quite![laughs]
KD: Notwanting to sit is not feeling motivated to change. Not feeling motivated tochange is either being afraid of change or seeing no reason to change. If wehave a good understanding of Buddhism through reading, reflecting, andlistening—through checking these teachings against our ownexperience—motivation naturally develops. But take your time; be kind to yourself.
NR: Behonest and question your present motivations accurately—allow your attunedintent to grow. This is your experiment, so don’t have to complicate it withguilt and frustration. You’ll enter into practice when it makes sense at anexperiential level. If we want to meditate because we think it’s a religiousobservance, then real motivation may never arise from that.
KD: Acceptyourself as you are, and start from there. How does that sound?
Q: Itsounds like a big relief!
—from the book Roaring Silence

Weekly Spiritual Wisdom

The sages do not consider that making no mistakes is a blessing. They believe, rather, that the great virtue of man lies in his ability to correct his mistakes and continually make a new man of himself.

-- Wang Yang-Ming (1472-1529) Chinese Philosopher

Enjoy the Roundness

Questioner:I’ve always been very interested and impressed by Buddhism and what it has totell us about reality. I can’t imagine a superior outlook on life—but I can’tseem to find time for meditation. I want to meditate and I often promise myselfI will get going with daily meditation, but then when I do get going it getsinterrupted and I let weeks or months slip by. Can you give me some advice onthis?


Ngak’chang Rinpoche: How much do you want to practice?


Q: It’svery important to me.


NR: That’sinteresting. I wonder why that is? [pause]Let me see if I understand you correctly. You want to do something. It’simportant to you—but you don’t do it. Have I understoodyou correctly? Was that the gist of what you said?


Q: Yes.


NR: Well,the answer is fairly simple then. When you want to meditate more than you wantto use your free time in other ways, you’ll find less difficulty. I mustapologize if that sounds somewhat blunt, but it’s a simple statement of themanner in which motivation functions. We could look at it another way. What ifI told you, “I want to get thinner, but I keep eating too much and don’t exercise.” Your response might be the same: “You obviouslylike eating and not exercising more than you’d like to be thinner.”


Khandro Déchen: We’re not making a value judgment here either—we’re just saying, “Enjoythe roundness of your belly as much as the taste of your food.”


NR: Orenjoy your moderation as much as your envisioned thinness.


—from the book Roaring Silence/aromeditation.org

Weekly Spiritual Wisdom

All the Buddhas of all the ages
have been telling you a very simple fact:
Be - don't try to become.
Within these two words,
be and becoming,
your whole life is contained.
Being is enlightenment,
becoming is ignorance.

OSHO

The Power of Purpose

Can there be more to life than just going to work everyday and doing your job? Is there work that is unique to you? Is there a job that you are uniquely called to do? In The Power of Purpose, Richard Leider provides a practical process for answering these questions and creating a life filled with meaning and passion.

Follow your bliss (and your grunt)