Dharma Gems

If we can reach the understanding of what we actually are, there is no better remedy for eliminating all suffering. This is the heart of all spiritual practices. ~Kalu Rinpoche

Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return. Each separate being in the Universe returns to the common source. Returning to the source is serenity. ~Lao Tsu

As a mother watches over her child, willing to risk her own life to protect her only child, so with a boundless heart should one cherish all living beings, suffusing the whole world with unobstructed loving kindness. -Metta Sutta

Are you Quiet? Quieten your body, quieten your mind. By your efforts, waken yourself, watch yourself, and live joyfully. Follow the truth of the Way. Reflect upon it. Make it your own. Live it. It will always sustain you. ~Buddha; Dhammapada

In taking ourselves for separate entities we have forgotten our home ground and identified ourselves with an idea, a projection of individuality.. forgetting the source of all expression. This separation from our true nature brings us to false living. We do not allow expres​sion(or thoughts) to dissolve but crystalize it and then identify with -- become lost in -- these crystalizations. ~Jean Klein

See simplicity in the complicated. Achieve greatness in little things. In the Universe the difficult things are done as if they were easy. ~Lao Tsu

For the mind in harmony with the Tao, all selfishness disappears. Without even a trace of self-doubt you can trust the Universe completely. All at once you are free, with nothing left to hold onto. All is empty, brilliant, perfect in its own being. ~Seng Tsan

Our usual understanding of life is dualistic: you and I, this and that, good and bad. But actually these discriminations are themselves the awareness of the universal existance. "You" means to be aware of the universe in the form of you, and "I" means to be aware of it in the form of I. You and I are just swinging doors... ~Shunryu Suzuki

We live in illusion and the appearance of things. There is a reality. We are that reality. When you understand this, you see that you are nothing, and being nothing, you are everything. That is all. ~Kalu Rinpoche

When I see I am nothing, that is wisdom. When I see I am everything, that is love. Between these two my life moves. ~Sri Nisargadatta

You ask why I make my home in the mountain forest, and I smile and am silent, even my soul remains quiet. It lives in the other world which no one owns. The peach trees blossom. The water flows. ~Li Po

When you stop taking the mind so personally and become aware of the process, you see that the mind is actually just a level. It's not who you are, it's an aspect of what you are. ~Stephen Levine

Yield and overcome. Empty and be full. Have little and gain. Have much and be confused. ~Lao Tsu

When water is still it is like a mirror. And if water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of mind? The mind of a sage being in repose becomes the mirror of the Universe. ~Chuang Tzu

Live with cause and leave results to the great law of the Universe. ~Zengetsu

Some lovely quotes there Chris:::... though that Dhammapada one looks a little... erm... 'creative'.

Metta,
Retro.

retrofuturist wrote:Some lovely quotes there Chris:::... though that Dhammapada one looks a little... erm... 'creative'.

Metta,
Retro.

INDEED, that's from Thomas Byron! Which are your favorite Dhammapada verses and translations?

Like people on a mountain peak look down on all below;
So too, those pure-hearted and free from pain,
Who reach the height of the Dharma abode,
Look down on all those suffering with the burdensome pain of birth and death,
And open the door to immortality.
You who want to hear, remove all doubt.

From the Udanavarga

"Can there be bliss when all that lives must suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the whole world cry?" -- Madam Blavatsky

Very nice thread !!!

May the dharma flourish forever more !

peace

xxx

Perhaps I am confused as to the purpose of this website, but the topic here is Buddhism correct? The mixing of Taoist concepts into a thread called Dharma Gems is a tad disconcerting. They definitely are not any teachings of the Buddha, as them being included in this thread would imply.