5 things you didn't know about Zen meditation

This is a guest post by Louise Baker. Louise ranks online degrees for Zen College Life. She most recently wrote about the best colleges online.

After a hard day at work, we need an opportunity to relax and unwind. An excellent way to clear one's mind at the end of the day is through Zen meditation. This Buddhist practice will help relieve the body, calm the mind, and relax the soul. However, many people are unaware of the fantastic benefits that Zen meditation can provide. These five facts regarding Zen meditation will help you bring calmness to your everyday lifestyle.

1. The Traditional Aim of Zen Meditation is to Discover Your 'Buddha-Nature'

The religion of Buddhism states that all living being possess a 'Buddha-Nature,' or a type of unlimited wisdom, which is accessed by experiencing the mind's most natural state. In Zen meditation, you try to achieve this state by tuning out the outside world and focusing on your inner nature. It is believed that by tapping into your 'Buddha-Nature,' you will gain a deeper understanding of the world and its inhabitants.

2. You Don't Have to Be Buddhist to Practice Zen Meditation

Although the practice of Zen meditation is rooted in religious traditions and beliefs, you do not have to practice the religion of Buddhism to enjoy the benefits of meditating. Many people find Zen meditation's search for inner knowledge to be very relieving after a long day. By retreating into your own mind and ignoring the outside world, you can focus on promoting your own well-being, rather than constantly thinking about the issues you must deal with in your day-to-day life. This break from the trials of everyday life has a remarkably soothing effect.

3. You Can Meditate Anytime, Anywhere

There is no 'right' time or place to practice Zen meditation. As long as you can create an atmosphere within yourself that is suitable for fostering a Zen state of mind, you can meditate anywhere and at any time of day. The important part is that you ensure that you are in a place where you can sit comfortably for at least fifteen minutes.

4. Zen Meditation Can Take Practice

Many people have difficulty achieving a Zen state of mind the first few times they try to meditate. It can be difficult to ignore the distractions that are presented both in the outside world and in your own mind. However, you simply need to practice. In time, you will develop the ability to tune out all other sounds but the wisdom of silence.

5. Zen Meditation Provides Universal Understanding

After tapping into one's 'Buddha-Nature,' many people feel endowed with a new sense of knowledge. Meditation enables you to understand yourself and the world around you, adding peace and harmony to the world.

Image : Nitobe Memorial Garden at UBC by hermida

Back to Beginnings

The first promising days of Spring are here. Our hardened, light-starved souls perk up naturally with the arrival of the sun and the departure of the cold biting wind. So, we made it through another winter, we made it through to another beautiful Spring. Let us be thankful and remember to enjoy it.
There exists a very special book which I have had it in the back of my mind to tell you about for some time. And thinking about Spring brought it to mind because the seasons are a central theme of its wisdom. The book is called ‘Back to Beginnings – Reflections on the Tao’ by Huanchu Daoren, translated by Thomas Cleary. You probably never heard of him, and I only know him by the sheer luck of falling on his book in a second-hand bookstore. But I am here to tell you that there is more concentrated wisdom in this little book than in any other I know.

As soon as the plants and trees have withered, they show sprouts at the roots. Even though the order of the seasons brings freezing cold, eventually it brings back sunny energy. In the midst of purging and killing, the sense of continually renewing life is always in control. Thereby one can see the heart of heaven and earth.

The book was written around 1600 by a retired Chinese scholar and civil servant named Hong Yingming who took the Taoist name of Huanchu Daoren, which means ‘A Wayfarer Back to Beginnings’. The book is in the form of a collection of meditations on the seasons of life, on serenity, on discerning truth in a complex society and on practical ways to live in harmony with the Tao.

Wealth, status, honour, and praise that come from enlightened qualities are like flowers in the mountains, growing and blossoming naturally. Those that come from achievements in one’s career are like flowers in pots, being moved about, removed, replanted. Those that are gained by temporal power are like flowers in vases, without roots, soon to wilt.

The teachings are a synthesis of several Chinese schools of thought. In his introduction to the book, Thomas Cleary says:

In it can be seen a form of lay Taoism dating many centuries further back into history, in which the historical and sociological insights of pristine Confucianism were combined with the advanced educational and psychological knowledges and methodologies of Buddhism and Taoism.

Here is a passage supporting that assertion, and we should not be surprised to see the importance attached to sincerity, should we?

There is a true Buddha in family life; there is a real Tao in everyday activities. If people can be sincere and harmonious, promoting communication with a cheerful demeanour and friendly words, that is much better than formal meditation practice.

Perhaps the hand of the translator has something to do with it, but there is a direct, simple, easy to grasp message in each of the meditations. There is nothing obtuse or requiring extensive footnotes here. The language is plain and pertinent as if the author were living today.

The learned should be vigorous and diligent, but they should also be free-spirited. If they are too rigorous and austere, they have the death-dealing quality of autumn but lack the life-giving quality of spring. How can they develop people then?

There was a period when I carried this book around with me. Just reading one or two of the quotes in a spare minute several times a day is a sure way to keep your day in perspective. It is like taking a step back to observe events through the eyes of the ‘observer within’. Through the eyes of this great wisdom, you can see things for what they really are.

In adversity, everything that surrounds you is a kind of medicine that helps you refine your conduct, yet you are unaware of it. In pleasant situations, you are faced with weapons that will tear you apart, yet you do not realize it.

Reading these quotes again is like meeting an old friend. A wise and knowledgeable friend whose ‘adoption is tried’ and who I should ‘grapple to my soul with hoops of steel’. Now I have introduced him to you and I encourage you to do the same.

Be deferential in dealing with the world; deference is the starting line of progress. Be generous in your treatment of others; helping others is really the basis on which you help yourself.

Open a cool eye in the midst of intense activity, and you save yourself that much bitter thought. Keep an enthusiastic attitude in hard times, and you gain that much true enjoyment.

Those who turn things around by themselves do not rejoice at gain or grieve over loss; the whole world is the range they roam. Those who are themselves used by things hate it when events go against them and love it when they go their way; the slightest thing can create binding entanglements.

Whatever meets the eye is the realm of immortals for the contented, the realm of mortals for the discontented. All the bases of activity in society have life-giving potential if used well and death-dealing potential if not used well.

How to become a Work of Art - Step One

In my last post The Art of Becoming Art, we discovered a great truth: that the practitioner of a ‘way’, or ‘Do’ in Japanese, transforms it into an art form, and then, the art form transforms the practitioner into a work of art.

Yes, yes, you say, that is all very well and good, a capital idea, very noble, but what the heck does it mean? How can I, who do not practice Judo or Karate-do, put this powerful insight into practice in my daily life, right now?

Well, it is funny you should ask that because I am about to tell you what I think it means and how I plan to put it into use right now.

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I intend to stop worrying about the future and the tasks at hand - the outcome. I intend to concentrate on ‘travelling well’ rather than ‘arriving’. ‘Travelling well’ to me means putting the most important things first: health and personal fulfillment, something that I am guilty of neglecting. (As I have told you elsewhere, the reason I know something about philosophy is because I need it!) Health and personal fulfillment will be my watchwords, and the rest will have to take a number.

Step One

We do not have to practice Judo etc. to have a ‘way’. Any task worth doing can be undertaken in a spirit of practicing a way, that is, we can do it by ‘concentrating on the flawless execution of the task’ rather than ‘watching or wishing for the desired outcome'. But we can also apply that attitude as a global philosophy: whenever we worry about the future, about what needs to be done, about what is lacking, we are concentrating on outcomes instead of concentrating on doing what lies to hand. If we spend a lot of time reliving the past, we are not concentrating on the task that lies to hand.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. Buddha

If you are like me, you sometimes feel overwhelmed, oppressed even, by ‘things that need to be done’. My basement is half-painted. The snow has melted and the major garden projects are calling. The pergola is half-finished. My big re-filing project remains unbegun. A dozen tasks, big and small, vie for my free time. And guess what? I have decided to stop worrying about them. To quote John-Roger and Peter McWilliams, authors of the ‘Life 101’ books:

Whenever he thought about it, he felt terrible. And so, at last, he came to a fateful decision. He decided not to think about it.

Meanwhile, the important things like health and personal fulfillment get put on the back-burner ‘until such and such a project gets finished’. The philosophy of living in the present, of travelling well, can be summed up by this quote from Goethe:

Things which matter most should never be at the mercy of things which matter least.

When we look back at our lives one day in old age (not that long from now) it is unlikely that we will wish we had spent more time working. It is unlikely that we will wish we had spent more time worrying about money, the kitchen renovations, the pergola. What we will wish we had spent more time doing is something that each person must answer for himself. Indeed it is a very important question. But no one can go far wrong if he puts health and personal fulfillment at the top of his list.
Yes, I will still do ‘the things that need to be done’. After I have been to the gym. When I get back from the Chinese painting course. Yes, finances and financial goals are important. But not as important as health and a good conscience.

This is the way I intend to apply the idea of the Japanese way to my everyday life. But if and when I become ‘transformed into a work of art’, how I will apply it then? Then, it probably won't even occur to me to think about it.

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Photo: Tao (Way) by Samantha Leo

The Art of Becoming Art

I am presently reading an enlightening book entitled The Way of the Warrior-Trader by Dr. Richard D. McCall and what he has to say on the Japanese ‘Way’ or ‘Do’ has a direct bearing on what we have recently seen in my posts on Non-action:

The Japanese word for Way is Do (pronounced ‘dough’), and refers to “a life path, occupation, or discipline that results in the refinement of the follower’s spirit, character, and inner composure.” In other words, it means that regardless of the task, discipline, or behaviour that is undertaken, it is literally transformed by the practitioner into an art form. Then, reciprocally, the art form transforms the practitioner into a work of art as well. (…)
You must first understand that before you can elevate your personal performance in any area, your performance must first be viewed as an art form, and that the pure objective of practicing this art is the refinement of your inner spirit and discipline and ultimately the unconditional enjoyment and appreciation of having done it as well as is currently possible. This pulls you away from the distraction of watching or wishing for the desired outcome … and puts your attention fully on the flawless execution of the act itself …

How well he puts it! I have practiced Karate and I am very familiar with the Way of the samurai but McCall’s phrase ‘the art form transforms the practitioner into a work of art as well’ hit me like an epiphany. A quote from Sogyal Rinpoche instantly came to mind:

To embody the transcendent is why we are here.

The outcome of our actions is not the point! Our actions are the point! If our performance was as perfect as training, talent, insight and unattachment to the outcome could make it, then the outcome is of no importance – it was beyond our control. What matters is that our performance was excellent and sincere. In this way we transcend all obstacles.
So our actions must become an art form, embodying our abilities, our talents, our qualities and taken to a higher, transcendent level by our benevolent, disinterested motives and our unattachment to the outcome.
“Let not the fruits of action be thy motive.” When you have one eye on the destination, you have only one eye left for the path. Buddha summed it up in one phrase:

It is better to travel well than to arrive.

Image from Wikimedia: Depiction of Nasu no Yoichi, legendary archer of the Battle of Yashima 1184. From a hanging scroll, Watanabe Museum, Tottori Prefecture, Japan

Sports terrorism - the two extremes of the human spirit

A terrorist attack against a cricket team? Can such things be? I suppose I must admit they can. ‘The assault, just ahead of a match, was one of the worst terrorist attacks on a sports team since Palestinian militants killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics’. Read the rest of the Fox News article here. Attacking Olympic athletes, attacking cricket players has something of an eerie crazy nightmare parallel universe quality to it. This is a form of terrorism that almost imposes pity, for the victims certainly but also, in another way, for the perpetrators.
I found a lead to an article that sums up my feelings on the subject at one of my regular ports of call Inca Kola News where the noble Otto has posted Simon Barnes' article The terrorists waging a jihad against joy. Simon Barnes is the award-winning chief sports writer for the Times and his article is at once a tribute to the best qualities of the human spirit as exemplified in sportsmen and women and a denunciation of the worst qualities to be found in that same human spirit as exemplified by terrorists.
For example, in Barnes’ article we read of the cowardice of the terrorists: ‘brave souls prepared to risk a battle against men with cricket bats while armed only with rifles and rocket launchers…’ How this contrasts with the bravery of the cricketers as we read in this article at Yahoo News:

Players recounted their ordeal after getting home early Wednesday.
"We were just hearing bullet after bullet thump into the bus. We were hearing gunshots, a few explosions and you could see bullets sometimes hitting a seat," Kumar Sangakkara said.
Jayawardene, the team captain, said it "was just a constant barrage of bullets. We don't know which direction it was coming from. It was just all over."
The team didn't panic, even when the bullets began finding their mark, coach Trevor Bayliss said.
"Everything was very calm and very quiet, and every now and then someone would say, 'I'm hit,' and then someone else said, 'So am I,' and someone else said, 'I'm hit as well,'" Bayliss said.

In the aftermath of this attack Barnes wonders 'if big-time sport will become a worldwide target. If so, sport as we know it will be changed for ever. Big sporting events as we know them will no longer be feasible. What, then, will the world lose?'

Barnes mentions one big sporting event that could have been a prime target for terrorists, and was not: the Beijing Olympics. For those who are receptive, I think the message the Tibetans sent to the Chinese went something like this:

We could have ruined your Olympics. But we don’t believe in terrorism. We believe in the joy of sport and the beauty of the human spirit. We believe in love. Because…

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. Buddha

Sincerity and the Fate of Nations

With the power of sincerity and the weakness of insincerity in mind, it is revealing to look at history and the fate of nations. Where truth is suppressed and trampled upon by dictatorship, where there is injustice and error, there is no inherent strength and the nation suffers the consequences.
At the 1919 Treaty of Versailles at end of the First World War, Germany was ‘punished’ with the imposition by the victors of excessive war reparations. The sum – 269 billion marks - was later reduced to 132 billion, which was still an astronomical amount and Germany would have been required to pay until 1984. The German people felt betrayed, and I am sure that Marshal Foch of France was speaking the minds of many in France, England and Germany when he said of the Treaty: ‘This is not a peace. It is an armistice for twenty-one years.’

The Germans found their strength in the sincerity of their grievances, expressed forcefully by Adolf Hitler, who galvanized them into a unity of purpose to right the wrongs of Versailles. The moral superiority of sincerity was on Germany’s side and the allied nations, in their heart of hearts, must have felt this and feared it. Then, as Hitler’s lust for and abuse of power increased, the moral advantage slipped away from him, and the German people in their turn must have felt their loss of strength as the justness and sincerity of their cause faded away.

Such is the strength and significance of sincerity for nations as well as for individuals. We had best beware we are sincere.
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Image from Wikimedia: decorative Hindu swastika. The swastika is a recurring ancient and often holy symbol going back 5,000 years to the Neolithic period. It symbolises peace and harmony and can be found in many Eastern traditions, notably Buddhism.

Anger (4) - no fortitude like patience

One moment of anger destroys a thousand eons of wholesome deeds, says Shantideva. At that rate, I at least have probably destroyed more eons of wholesome deeds than you can shake a stick at. On the other hand, I probably don’t have above an eon or two of good deeds to destroy. Humour aside, what are we going to do about it? For it is one thing to be angry through ignorance. It is another to continue to indulge in anger after one has been fortunate enough to come across the Buddhist teachings, among other philosophies, and so to finally realise one’s (awful) mistake. Shantideva does not leave us up in the air as to the answer. The second verse reads:

There is no evil like hatred,
And no fortitude like patience.
Thus I should strive in various ways
To meditate on patience. (2)

Patience then is the virtue we need to disarm anger. (After humility, that primordial virtue. But humility presupposes patience, since humility does not put itself forward). We need patience in the face of all the kinds of suffering we meet in this life. If you are prone to anger or impatience (and even if you are not), I highly recommend you study Healing Anger, by the Dalai Lama. In it he discusses the many verses of Shantideva’s Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life that dissect the nature and causes of anger. We are shown how we can skilfully cultivate patience and tolerance so that we can transcend the bad situations we encounter.
For example, when someone causes us harm, we may get angry because we feel they did it ‘on purpose’ or because ‘they are like that’. But this is a mistake:

Even if it were the nature of the childish
To cause harm to other beings,
It would still be incorrect to be angry with them,
For this would be like begrudging fire for having the nature to burn. (39)

Will getting angry put out a fire? On the other hand, even if we know the person is not to blame or has made a mistake, we may still get angry. What then?

And even if the fault were temporary
In those who are by nature reliable,
It would still be incorrect to be angry,
For this would be like begrudging space for allowing smoke to rise in it. (40)

By meditating on these insights, we become more skilful and aware in handling situations that annoy and anger us. And this enables us to react with compassion instead of anger. It also enables us to ‘keep our treasure’.

Anger (3) - losing our treasure

There is no greater misfortune than to make an enemy lightly; we almost lose our treasure.
Tao Te Ching, verse 69.

How easy it is to get angry! It takes no special skill, no preparation, very little discernment. But no matter how wronged we feel, no matter how justified we feel, the very second we get angry with another person the moral advantage shifts away from us. Where once we felt like a good person, ‘collecting merit’ by our good efforts, trying to be more compassionate in all our interactions, once we have gotten angry all that seems to go out the window. We are brought shamefully low in our spirits when we think of what we said, how we said it; what we did, the way we did it. We 'almost lose our treasure'.

The Buddhist tradition is less equivocal about it: anger certainly makes us lose our treasure. In his ‘Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life’, Shantideva opens the chapter on patience in this way:

Whatever wholesome deeds,
Such as venerating the Buddhas and (practicing) generosity,
That have been amassed over a thousand eons,
Will all be destroyed in one moment of anger.

(From Healing Anger, by the Dalai Lama).

One moment of anger can do that? This anger business bears a little more looking into, don’t you think?

Is Buddha a Taurus? from 'Dhamma Delights'

If you are a Taurus, like myself, you may have something of the same stunned reaction I did to learn that the Buddha was a Taurus. (My own birthday is 20 May). I am not someone who reads horoscopes, however I do find the descriptions of the characteristics of each sign to be strangely accurate and I think I am not alone. So here is the post that allowed me to discover this interesting fact, courtesy of the enlightening blog 'Dhamma Delights' by Footiam for which you will find a link in my 'Guide Blogs'. (Thank you Footiam).

Tomorrow is 19 May. It is a holiday in Malaysia and I am sure in Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Cambodia, Taiwan and in Myammar too. 19 May is Vesak Day. Vesak is supposed to be a Sinhalese term. In Cambodia, Vesak Day is known as Visakh Bochea. It is Visakah Puja, Buddha Purnima or Buddha Jayanti in India, Bangladesh and Nepal, Visakha Bucha in Thailand, Phật Đản in Vietnam, Waisak in Indonesia, Saga Dawa in Tibet, Vixakha Bouxa in Laos, Ka-sone-la-pyae in Myanmar and 佛誕 (fó dàn) in Chinese-speaking countries. Vesak Day, I understand, celebrates Buddha's birthday. If you are into Astrology you will perhaps deduce that Buddha is a Taurus since a person under this zodiac sign is born between April 20 to May 20. While Buddhism neither deny nor encourage Astrology, most of us human beings, I suppose, are drawn toward the art and what better time now to look at particularly the positive traits of a Taurus and contemplate the good qualities that should be in an enlightened being...The positive traits of a Taurus include:
disciplined • hard-working • good sense of humour • prudent
great work-ethic • artistic • loving • creative
romantic • sensual • very sexual • affectionate
comforting • strong • steady • steadfast
organized • cautious • harmonious • trustworthy
calm • tenacious • stable • patient • faithful
resourceful • easygoing • careful • dependable
honest • conservative • determined • loyal
protective • practical
Now, which are the qualities that ought to be in a Buddha?

Buddha quotes

A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker.
A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.

All that we are is the result of what we have thought.

We are shaped by our thoughts. We become what we think.

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.

All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain?

Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.

An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.

An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.

Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace.

Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.

Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind.

Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.

Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule.

He is able who thinks he is able.

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

However many holy words you read, However many you speak, What good will they do you If you do not act on upon them?

I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act.

I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done.

In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves.

In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then believe them to be true.

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.

It is better to travel well than to arrive.

Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.

Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.

Let no sleep fall upon thy eyes till thou hast thrice reviewed the transactions of the past day. Where have I turned aside from rectitude? What have I been doing? What have left undone, which I ought to have done? Begin thus from the first act, and proceed; and, in conclusion, at the ill which thou hast done, be troubled, and rejoice for the good.

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful.

Misdirected life force is the activity in disease process. Disease has no energy save what it borrows from the life of the organism. It is by adjusting the life force that healing must be brought about, and it is the sun as transformer and distributor of primal spiritual energy that must be utilized in this process, for life and the sun are so intimately connected.

On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him.

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground.

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows.

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood.

The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast.

The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve.

The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze.

There are five things which no one is able to accomplish in this world: first, to cease growing old when he is growing old; second, to cease being sick; third, to cease dying; fourth, to deny dissolution when there is dissolution; fifth, to deny non-being.

There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting.

There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills.

This is what should be done
By one who is skilled in goodness,
And who knows the path of peace:
Let them be able and upright,
Straightforward and gentle in speech.
Humble and not conceited,
Contented and easily satisfied.
Unburdened with duties and frugal in their ways.
Peaceful and calm, and wise and skillful,
Not proud and demanding in nature.
Let them not do the slightest thing
That the wise would later reprove.

Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.

To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent.

To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.

To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance.

Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two.

Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good.

We are formed and moulded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.

What is the appropriate behaviour for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What is the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?

What we think, we become.

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.

Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think. Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.

When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.

Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering - an image of death.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others.

You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.

As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives.

If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.

Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water...
Little by little a person becomes good, as a water pot is filled by drops of water.

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm.

One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield.

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds.

Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.

Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.

Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.

Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.

Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.

Of all the worldly passions, lust is the most intense. All other worldly passions seem to follow in its train.

To keep the body in good health is a duty. . . otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.

Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.

(Note: I found these quotes on a bare, anonymous web page, like an offering.)