Jiddu Krishnamurthy on Dying daily

Questioner: Would you please explain what you mean by dying daily?

Jiddu Krishnamurti: Why is it that we are so frightened of death? Because death is the unknown. We don't know what is going to happen tomorrow; actually, we don't know what is going to happen. Though we build for tomorrow, actually, realistically, we don't know; and so there is always the fear of tomorrow. So, fear is the guiding factor, which is the incapacity to meet the unknown, and therefore we continue taking today over into tomorrow. That is what we are doing, is it not? We give continuity to our idiosyncrasies, to our jealousies, to our stupidities, to our memories; wherever we are, we carry them over from day to day.

Don't we do that? And so there is no dying, there is only an assurance of continuity. That is a fact. Our names, our actions, the things that we do, our property, the desire to be - all these give a continuity. Now, that which continues obviously cannot renew. There can be renewal only when there is an ending. If you are the same tomorrow as you are today, how can there be renewal? That is, if you are attached to an idea, to an experience which you have had yesterday and which you desire to continue tomorrow, there is no renewal; there is a continuity of the memory of the sensation of that experience, but the experience itself is dead. There is only the memory of the sensation of that experience, and it is that sensation you want to continue. And where there is continuity, obviously there is no renewal. And yet it is what most of us want - we want to continue.

We want to continue with our worries, with our pleasures, with our memories; and so most Of us are actually uncreative. There is no possibility of a rebirth, a renewal. Whereas, if each day we died, finished at the end of the day all our worries, all our jealousies, all our idiocies and vanities, our cruel gossip - you know, the whole business - if each day we came to an end and did not carry all that over into tomorrow, then there would be a possibility of renewal, would there not?

So, why do we accumulate? And what is it that we accumulate, apart from furniture and a few other things? What is it that we accumulate? Ideas, words, and memories, do we not? And with these we live - we are those things. With those things we want to live, we want to continue. But if we did not continue, there would be a possibility of a new understanding, a new opening. This is not metaphysical, this is not something fantastic. Experiment with it yourself and you will see that an extraordinary thing takes place. How the mind worries over a problem, over and over and over again, day after day!

Such a mind is incapable, obviously, of seeing something new, is it not? We are caught in our beliefs - religious, sociological, or any other form of belief - and those beliefs are oneself. Beliefs are words, and the word becomes important, and so we live in a sensation which we want to continue, and therefore there is no renewal. But if one does not continue, if one does not give continuity to a worry, but thinks it out, goes into it fully and dissolves it, then one's mind is fresh to meet something else anew.

But the difficulty is that most of us want to live in the past, in past memories, or in the future, future hopes, future longings - which indicates that the present is not significant, and therefore we live yesterday and tomorrow, and give continuity to both. If one actually experiments with this thing, really dying each day, each minute, to everything that one has accumulated, then there is a possibility of immortality. Immortality is not continuity, which is merely time; there is continuity only to memory, to ideas, to words. But, when there is freedom from continuity, then there is a state of timelessness, which cannot be understood if you are merely the result of continuity.

Therefore, it is important to die every minute and to be reborn again - not as you were yesterday. This is really very important, if you would go into it seriously. Because, in this there is a possibility of creation, of transformation. And most of our lives are so unhappy because we don't know how to renew; we are worn out, we are destroyed by yesterday, by yesterday's memories, misfortunes, unhappiness, incidents, failures.

Yesterday burdens our minds and hearts, and with that burden we want to understand something which cannot be understood within the limits of time. And that is why it is essential, if one would be creative in the deep sense of that word, that there be death to all the accumulations of every minute. This is not fantastic, this is not some mystical experience. One can experience this directly, simply, when one understands the whole significance of how time as continuity prevents creativeness.

Source - Jiddu Krishnamurti talk at Ojai, August 27, 1949

Krishnamurti on Awareness

You can’t be totally aware if you are choosing. If you say “This is right and that is wrong,” the right and the wrong depend on your conditioning. What is right to you may be wrong in the Far East. You believe in a savior, in the Christ, but they don’t, and you think they will go to hell unless they believe as you do. …To be aware is to be conscious of all this, choicelessly, it is to be aware totally of all your conscious and unconscious reactions. And you can’t be aware totally if you are condemning, if you are judging, if you are justifying, or if you say, “I will keep my beliefs, my experiences, my knowledge.” Then you are only partially aware, and partial awareness is really blindness. 
Seeing or understanding is not a matter of time, it is not a matter of gradations. Either you see or you don’t see. And you can’t see if you are not deeply aware of your own reactions, of your own conditioning. Being aware of your conditioning, you must watch it choicelessly; you must see the fact and not give an opinion or judgment about the fact. In other words, you must look at the fact without thought. Then there is an awareness, a state of attention without a center, without frontiers, where the known doesn’t interfere…
(London, 4th Public Talk, June 12, 1962 Collected Works, Vol.XIII, p.188)


So, through awareness I begin to see myself as I actually am, the totality of myself. Being watchful from moment to moment of all its thoughts, feelings, its reactions, unconscious as well as conscious, the mind is constantly discovering the significance of its own activities, which is self-knowledge….
All relationship is a mirror in which the mind can discover its own operations. Relationship is between oneself and other human beings, between oneself and things or property, between oneself and ideas, and between oneself and nature. And, in that mirror of relationship, one can see oneself as one actually is, but only if one is capable of looking without judging, without evaluating, condemning, justifying. When one has a fixed point from which one observes, there is no understanding in one’s observation.
So, being fully conscious of one’s whole process of thinking, and being able to go beyond that process, is awareness. You may say it is very difficult to be so constantly aware. Of course it is very difficult—it is almost impossible. You cannot keep a mechanism working at full speed all the time; it would break up; it must slow down, have rest. Similarly, we cannot maintain total awareness all the time. How can we? To be aware from moment to moment is enough. If one is totally aware for a minute or two and then relaxes, and in that relaxation spontaneously observes the operations of one’s own mind, one will discover much more in that spontaneity than in the effort to watch continuously. You can observe yourself effortlessly, easily—when you are walking, talking, reading—at every moment. Only then will you find out that the mind is capable of freeing itself from all the things it has known and experienced, and it is in freedom alone that it can discover what is true.
(Brussels,Belgium, 4th Public Talk, June 23, 1956 Collected Works, Vol.X, pp.53-4)


Understanding comes with the awareness of what is. There can be no understanding if there is condemnation of or identification with what is. If you condemn a child or identify yourself with him, then you cease to understand him. So, being aware of a thought or a feeling as it arises, without condemning it or identifying with it, you will find that it unfolds ever more widely and deeply, and thereby discover the whole content of what is.  To understand the process of what is there must be choiceless awareness, a freedom from condemnation, justification, and identification. When you are vitally interested in fully understanding something, you give your mind and heart, withholding nothing. But unfortunately you are conditioned, educated, disciplined through religious and social environment to condemn or to identify, and not to understand. To condemn is stupid and easy, but to understand is arduous, requiring pliability and intelligence. Condemnation, as identification, is a form of self-protection. Condemnation or identification is a barrier to understanding. To understand the confusion, the misery in which one is, and so of the world, you must observe its total process. To be aware and pursue and pursue all its implications requires patience, to follow swiftly, and to be still.
There is understanding only when there is stillness, when there is silent observation, passive awareness. Then only the problem yields its full significance. The awareness of which I speak is of what is from moment to moment, of the activities of thought and its subtle deceptions, fears and hopes. Choiceless awareness wholly dissolves our conflicts and miseries.
(Madras, 11th Public Talk, December 28, 1947 Collected Works, Vol. IV, pp. 143-4)


I wonder if you have ever walked along a crowded street, or a lonely road, and just looked at things without thought? There is a state of observation without the interference of thought. Though you are aware of everything about you, and you recognize the person, the mountain, the tree, or the oncoming car, yet the mind is not functioning in the usual pattern of thought. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you. Do try it sometime when you are out driving or walking. Just look without thought; observe without the reaction which breeds thought. Though you recognize color and form, though you see the stream, the car, the goat, the bus, there is no reaction, but merely negative observation; and that very state of so-called negative observation is action. Such a mind can utilize knowledge in carrying out what it has to do, but it is free of thought in the sense that it is not functioning in terms of reaction. With such a mind—a mind that is attentive without reaction—you can go to the office, and all the rest of it.
(Saanen, 7th Public Talk, July 26, 1964 Collected Works, Vol.XIV, p. 20)

Time - The Illusion

Time - The Illusion
Sometimes people experience so-called co-incidences.
Synchronicity, co-incidences, and miracles are able to happen because the "past" has not yet gone.
The present affects the "past", and plays out Now.
The "past" is still present in the form of karma.
The "future" comes into existence according to what has been chosen in the "past", or according to what is being chosen this very moment, right Now.
The "past" is still playing out.
The "future" has not yet come.
Just Be… Now

When thoughts arise, things manifest physically (karma), and the world arises.
When thoughts disappear, nothing is manifested physically, and the world disappears.
Perhaps psychic readings come into "reality" because of the "reading".
Don't worry about the "past".
Don't worry about the "future".
What's done is done, so let it go.
What's to come will come, as an automatic consequence.
Those who have complete and utmost trust and faith in God/Universe/Life worry about nothing.
Only those who have complete trust, and allow life to unfold naturally in the Now, can experience synchronicity and miracles.
Absolutely everything you need in life is already yours, but only if you stop worrying about such things.
Just Be... Now.

Only that which is relative is subject to change.
That which is Absolute can have no such limitations.
The Absolute is not subject to divisions and limitations of past, present, and future.
The ever-present Now is actually a Timeless Foreverness beyond form and physicality.
The senses cannot perceive this.
The ego/mind/intellect cannot comprehend it.
One must be It to know It.
Let go of the ego/mind/intellect. Let it fall away.
Just Be... Now.

There is nothing whatsoever to gain or realize, for The Absolute already Is.
There is only the letting go of that which stands in the way.
No time. No thoughts. No-Mind.
Just Be... Now.


Authour: Unknown

Law of Karma and Reincarnation

Question: Do you believe in reincarnation and karma?

Jiddu Krishnamurti: Now I suppose you will settle back in your seats and feel comfortable. What do you mean by "believe," and why do you want to believe? Is belief necessary to find out what is true? To find out what is true, you must approach life afresh, you must have the capacity to see things anew, but the mind that is cradled in belief is obviously incapable of discovering what is new.

So, before you can discover whether there is reincarnation or not, you must find out if your mind is free from belief. Most of us believe because it is convenient, because it is satisfying; in it there is a great deal of hope. It is like taking some drug or narcotic and feeling pacified. Such a belief is a projection of our own desire. So, to find out the truth of any matter, obviously there must be freedom from hypothesis, from belief, from any form of conclusion - whether of Buddha, Christ, yourself, or your grandmother.

You must approach it afresh, and only then are you capable of discovering what is true. Belief is an impediment to reality, and that is a very difficult pill to swallow for most of us. We are not seeking reality; we want gratification, and belief gives us gratification, it pacifies us. So, we are essentially seeking gratification, escaping from the problem, from pain and suffering. Therefore we are not really seeking the truth. To find the truth, there must be the direct experiencing of sorrow, pain, and pleasure, but not through a screen of belief.

So, similarly, let us find out what you mean by reincarnation - the truth of it, not what you like to believe, not what someone has told you, or what your teacher has said. Surely, it is the truth that liberates, not your own conclusion, your own opinion. Now, what do you mean by reincarnation? To reincarnate, to be reborn - what do you mean by that? What is it that actually comes into birth again? - not what you believe or do not believe.

Please put all that aside, it is only childish stuff. Let us find out what it is that comes back again or reincarnates. To find that out, you must first know what it is that you are. When you say, "I shall be reborn," you must know what the 'I' is. That is the question, is it not? I am not dodging it. Don't think this is a clever move of mine. You will see the problem clearly as we proceed, as we explore. You say, "I shall be reborn." What is the 'I' that is to be reborn? Is the 'I' a spiritual entity, is the 'I' something continuous, is the 'I' something independent of memory, experience, knowledge? Either the 'I' is a spiritual entity or it is merely a thought process.

Either it is something out of time which we call spiritual, not measurable in terms of time, or it is within the field of time, the field of memory, thought. It cannot be something else. Let us find out if it is beyond the measurement of time. I hope you are following all this. Let us find out if the 'I' is in essence something spiritual. Now, by "spiritual" we mean, do we not, something not capable of being conditioned, something that is not the projection of the human mind, something that is not within the field of thought, something that does not die. When we talk of a spiritual entity, we mean by that something which is not within the field of the mind, obviously.

Now, is the 'I' such a spiritual entity? If it is a spiritual entity, it must be beyond all time; therefore it cannot be reborn or continued. Thought cannot think about it because thought comes within the measure of time, thought is from yesterday, thought is a continuous movement, the response of the past; so thought is essentially a product of time. If thought can think about the 'I', then it is part of time; therefore that 'I' is not free of time, therefore it is not spiritual - which is obvious.

So, the 'I', the 'you' is only a process of thought; and you want to know whether that process of thought, continuing apart from the physical body, is born again, is reincarnated in a physical form. Now go a little further. That which continues - can it ever discover the real, which is beyond time and measurement? We are experimenting to discover truth, not exchanging opinions. That 'I', that entity which is a thought process - can it ever be new? If it cannot, then there must be an ending to thought. Is not anything that continues inherently destructive? That which has continuity can never renew itself. As long as thought continues through memory, through desire, through experience, it can never renew itself; therefore, that which is continued cannot know the real. You may be reborn a thousand times, but you can never know the real, for only that which dies, that which comes to an end, can renew itself.

The other part of the question is whether I believe in karma. What do you mean by the word karma? To do, to act, to be. Let us try to find out in spite of old women's tales.Karma implies, does it not, cause and effect - action based on cause, producing a certain effect; action born out of conditioning, producing further results. So karma implies cause and effect. And are cause and effect static, are cause and effect ever fixed? Does not effect become cause also? So there is no fixed cause or fixed effect.

Today is a result of yesterday, is it not? Today is the outcome of yesterday, chronologically as well as psychologically; and today is the cause of tomorrow. So cause is effect, and effect becomes cause - it is one continuous movement; there is no fixed cause or fixed effect. If there were a fixed cause and a fixed effect, there would be specialization, and is not specialization death? Any species that specializes obviously comes to an end. The greatness of man is that he cannot specialize. He may specialize technically, but in structure he cannot specialize. An acorn seed is specialized - it cannot be anything but what it is.

But the human being does not end completely. There is the possibility of constant renewal; he is not limited by specialization. As long as we regard the cause, the background, the conditioning, as unrelated to the effect, there must be conflict between thought and the background. So the problem is much more complex than whether to believe in reincarnation or not, because the question is how to act, not whether you believe in reincarnation or in karma. That is absolutely irrelevant. Your action is merely the outcome of certain causes, and that action modifies future action - therefore there is no escape from conditioning.

So, to put our problem differently, can action ever bring about freedom from this chain of cause-effect? I have done something in the past; I have had experience, which obviously conditions my response today, and today's response conditions tomorrow. That is the whole process of karma, cause and effect; and obviously, though it may temporarily give pleasure, such a process of cause and effect ultimately leads to pain. That is the real crux of the matter: Can thought be free? Thought, action, that is free does not produce pain, does not bring about conditioning. That is the vital point of this whole question.

So, can there be action unrelated to the past? Can there be action not based on idea? Idea is the continuation of yesterday in a modified form, and that continuation will condition tomorrow, which means action based on idea can never be free. As long as action is based on idea, it will inevitably produce further conflict. Can there be action unrelated to the past? Can there be action without the burden of experience, the knowledge of yesterday? As long as action is the outcome of the past, action can never be free, and only in freedom can you discover what is true. What happens is that as the mind is not free, it cannot act; it can only react, and reaction is the basis of our action. Our action is not action but merely the continuation of reaction because it is the outcome of memory, of experience, of yesterday's response.

So, the question is, Can the mind be free from its conditioning? Surely, that is implied in this question of karma and reincarnation. As long as there is continuity of thought, action must be limited; and such action creates opposition, conflict, and karma - the response of the past in conjunction with the present, creating a modified continuity. So, a mind which has continuity, which is based on continuity - can such a mind be free? If it cannot be free, is it possible for continuity to cease?

This is a most important question. To discover whether the mind can ever be free from the background implies a tremendous inquiry. Is not the mind based on the background? Is not thought founded upon the past? So, can thought ever free itself from the past? All that thought can do is to come to an end - but obviously not through compulsion, not through effort, not through any form of discipline, control, or subjugation. As an observer, see the truth of what it means for thought to come to an end. See the truth, the significance of it, and the false response is removed. That is what we are trying to do in answering this particular question.

When there is action not based on idea or on the past, then the mind is silent, absolutely silent. In that silence, action is free from idea. But you will want an answer to your question: whether I believe or not in reincarnation. Do you know, are you any wiser, if I say I believe in it or do not believe in it? I hope you are confused about it. To be satisfied by words of explanation indicates a petty mind, a stupid mind.

Examine the whole process of yourself. That examination can take place only in relationship, and to discover the truth in any relationship, there must be a state of constant watchfulness, constant, passive alertness. That will show you the truth, for which you need no confirmation from anybody. As long as thought continues, there can be no reality; as long as thought continues as the yesterday, there must be confusion and conflict. Only when the mind is still, passively watchful, is it possible for the real to be.

Source - Jiddu Krishnamurti talks at Ceylon, 1949-50

This whole process is meditation...

To be aware is to watch your bodily activity, the way you walk, the way you sit, the movements of your hands:

it is to hear the words you use, to observe all your thoughts, all your emotions, all your reactions. It includes awareness of the unconscious,with its traditions, its instinctual knowledge, and the immense sorrow it has accumulated—not only personal sorrow,but the sorrow of man. You have to be aware of all that; and you cannot be aware of it if you are merely judging,evaluating, saying, "This is good and that is bad, this I will keep and that I will reject," all of which only makes the mind dull, insensitive.

From awareness comes attention. Attention flows from awareness when in that awareness there is no choice,no personal choosing, no experiencing... but merely observing. And, to observe, you must have in the mind a great deal of space. A mind that is caught in ambition, greed, envy, in the pursuit of pleasure and self-fulfillment, with its inevitable sorrow, pain, despair, anguish—such a mind has no space in which to observe, to attend. It is crowded with its own desires, going round and round in its own backwaters of reaction. You cannot attend if your mind is not highly sensitive, sharp, reasonable, logical, sane, healthy,without the slightest shadow of neuroticism.

The mind has to explore every corner of itself, leaving no spot uncovered, because if there is a single dark corner of one's mind which one is afraid to explore, from that springs illusion...

It is only in the state of attention that you can be a light unto yourself, and then every action of your daily life springs from that light— every action—whether you are doing your job, cooking, going for a walk, mending clothes, or what you will. This whole process is meditation...

J. Krishnamurti

A Little Zen

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The following are taken from The Little Zen Companion by David Schiller.

Yasutani Roshi

The fundamental delusion of humanity is to suppose that I am here and you are out there.

Mark Twain

There ain't no way to find out why a snorer can't hear himself snore.

Thoreau

Our life is frittered away by detail ... Simplify, simplify.

Chuang-Tsu

The purpose of a fishtrap is to catch fish, and when the fish are caught, the trap is forgotten. 

The purpose of a rabbit snare is to catch rabbits. When the rabbits are caught, the snare is forgotten. 

The purpose of words is to convey ideas. When the ideas are grasped, the words are forgotten. 

Where can I find a man who has forgotten words? He is the one I would like to talk to.

Bulgarian Proverb

If you wish to drown, do not torture yourself with shallow water.

Yaqui Mystic

To be a man of knowledge one needs to be light and fluid.

Buddhist Proverb

When the student is ready, the Master appears.

Chinese Proverb

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.

Basho

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old; seek what they sought.

Lew Welch

Someone showed it to me and I found it by myself.

Ts'ai Ken T'an

Water which is too pure has no fish.

Zen Saying

The one who is good at shooting does not hit the center of the target.

Tao Te Ching

In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don't try to control. In work, do what you enjoy. In family life, be completely present.

Word carved on a stone on John Ruskin's desk

TODAY.

Zen Parable

A man walking across a field encounters a tiger. He fled, the tiger chasing after him. Coming to a cliff, he caught hold of a wild vine and swung himself over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above. Terrified, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger had come, waiting to eat him. Two mice, one white and one black, little by little began to gnaw away at the vine. The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. Grasping the vine in one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!

Goethe

Thinking is more interesting that knowing, but less interesting than looking.

William Hazlitt

Whatever interests, is interesting.

Tao Te Ching

We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.

Artur Schnabel

The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah, that is where the art resides.

John Cage

I have nothing to say, I am saying it, and that is poetry.

R.H. Blyth

We walk, and our religion is shown (even to the dullest and most insensitive person) in how we walk. Or to put it more accurately, living in this world means choosing, choosing to walk, and the way we choose to walk is infallibly and perfectly expressed in the walk itself. Nothing can disguise it. The walk of an ordinary man and of an enlightened man are as different as that of a snake and a giraffe.

Folk Zen Saying

A heavy snowfall disappears into the sea. What silence!

Zen Saying

Knock on the sky and listen to the sound!

Woody Allen

I'm astounded by people who want to "know" the universe when it's hard enough to find your way around Chinatown.

W.H. Auden

To ask the hard question is simple.

Zen Koan

What is your face before your mother and father were born?

Thoreau

It is as hard to see one's self as to look backwards without turning around.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

What is troubling us is the tendency to believe that the mind is like a little man within.

The three qualities necessary for training

Great faith. Great doubt. Great effort.

Albert Einstein

The true value of a human being can be found in the degree to which he has attained liberation from the self.

Carl Jung

The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.

The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

Who is the Potter, pray, and who is the Pot?

Coco Chanel

How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone.

John Lennon

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

Samuel Johnson

When making your choice in life, do not neglect to live.

Zen Mondo

A monk asked Chao-chou, "I have just entered the monastery: please give me some guidance." 

Chao-chou said, "Have you eaten your rice gruel?" 

The monk said,"Yes, I've eaten." 

Chao-chou said, "Then go wash your bowl."

Albert Einstein, three rules of work

1. Out of clutter, find simplicity. 

2. From discord, find harmony. 

3. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

Kahlil Gigran

Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.

Robert M. Pirsig

So the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other task, is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one's self from one's surroundings. When that is done successfully, then everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all.

Charles Dickens

He did each single thing as if he did nothing else.

Willa Cather

That is happiness: to be dissolved into something complete and great.

St. Anthony

The prayer of the monk is not perfect until he no longer recognizes himself or the fact that he is praying.

Rilke

-Children, one earthly Thing truly experienced, even once, is enough for a lifetime.

Zen Koan

What is the color of wind?

Ludwig Wittgenstein

The mystical is not how the world is, but that it is.

Zen Story

Fa-yen, a Chinese Zen teacher, overheard four monks arguing about subjectivity and objectivity. He joined them and said: "There is a big stone. Do you consider it to be inside or outside your mind?" 

One of the monks replied: "From the Buddhist viewpoint everything is an objectification of mind, so I would say that the stone is inside my mind." 

"Your head must feel very heavy," observed Fa-yen, "if you are carrying around a stone like that in your mind."

Lin-Chi

When you meet a master swordsman, show him your sword. When you meet a man who is not a poet, do not show him your poem.

Wallace Stevens

The river is moving. The blackbird must be flying.

Zen Koan

Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in teh wind. One said, "The flag moves." The other said, "The wind moves." They argued back and forth but could not agree. Hui-neng, the sixth Patriarch, said: "Gentlemen! It is not the flag that moves. It is not the wind that moves. It is your mind that moves." The two monks were struck with awe.

Zen Saying

Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind.

Shakespeare

There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.

The Buddha

Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a polluted mind, suffering will follow you, as the wheels of the oxcart follow the footsteps of the ox. Everything is based on mind, is led by mind, is fashioned by mind. If you speak and act with a pure mind, happiness will follow you, as a shadow clings to a form.

Spanish Proverb

It is notthe same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring.

G. K. Chesterton

You can only find truth with logic if you have already found truth without it.

Simone Weil

Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached.

Zen Story

Two monks were once travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. Coming around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection. 

"Come on, girl," siad the first monk. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud. 

The second monk did not speak again until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he no longer could restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he said. "It is dangerous. Why did you do that?" 

"I left the girl there,: the first monk said. "Are you still carrying her?"

Zen Saying

When an ordinary man attains knowledge, he is a sage; when a sage attains understanding, he is an ordinary man.

Zen Story

Wealthy patrons invited Ikkyu to a banquet. Ikkyu arrived dressed in his beggar's robes. The host, not recognizing hin, chased him away. Ikkyu went home, chaged into his ceremonial robe of purple brocade, and returned. With great respect, he was received into the banquet room. There, he put his robe on the cushion, saying, "I expect you invited the robe since you showed me away a little while ago," and left.

Erich Fromm

Man's main task in life is to give birth to himself.

Dogen

You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.

Taoist Mondo

One day Chuang-tzu and a friend were walking along a riverbank. "How delightfully the fishes are enjoying themselves in the water!" Chuang-tzu exclaimed. 

"You are not a fish," his friend said. "How do you know whether or not the fishes are enjoying themselves?" 

"You are not me," Chuang-tzu said. "How do you know that I do not know that the fishes are enjoying themselves?"

Kentucky Folklore

"My feet are cold," one says, and the legless man replies: "So are mine. So are mine."

Zen Koan

When you can do nothing, what can you do?

Pablo Picasso

Computer are useless. They can only give the answers.

Krishnamurti

Meditation is not a means to an end. It is both the means and the end.

Tao te Ching

The more you know the less you understand.

Peter Matthiessen

In this very breath that we take now lies the secret that all great teachers try to tell us.