Buddha told his disciples: "Whoever makes an effort can attain enlightenment in seven days. If he can’t manage it, certainly he will attain it in seven months, or in seven years." A young man, upon hearing this, decided that he would attain it in one week, and he wanted to know what he should do: "Concentration" was the reply. The young man began to practice, but in ten minutes he was already distracted. Little by little, he began paying attention to everything that distracted him, and thought that he was not wasting time, but was getting used to himself.
One fine day he decided it was not necessary to arrive at his goal so fast, because the path was teaching him many things.
It was at that moment that he became an Enlightened one.
"O Great Spirit, whose voice I hear in the winds, I come to you as one of your many children. I need your strength and your wisdom. Make me strong, not to be superior to my brother, but to be able to fight my greatest enemy: Myself."
~Chief Dan George, Squamish Band, Lakota Nation (1899-1991)
Whatever happens, no matter what challenges are thrown along your path, remember one thing: Every moment, every meeting, every success, and every failure... All are opportunities to make a change for the better.
Life is fluid, but its viscosity changes. Scientifically, heat reduces viscosity, action causes heat. If you want life to flow more swiftly, act!
Watch your thoughts; they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.
~Anonymous
*Note: the above quote has been attributed to Frank Outlaw, Charles Reade and Talmud. Since none of the three have been confirmed to be the author, the quote is attributed properly to "anonymous" until such confirmation can be made.
In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they actually change their minds and you never hear the old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that has happened in politics or religion. Carl Sagan
"What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others."
~Pericles
"Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts."
~Arnold Bennett (British novelist)
"All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another."
~Anatole France (French novelist)
"You can avoid having ulcers by adapting to the situation: If you fall in the mud puddle, check your pockets for fish."
~Unknown
"No two men ever judged alike of the same thing, and it is impossible to find two opinions exactly similar, not only in different men but in the same men at different times."
~Michel de Montaigne (French Renaissance Philosopher)
The Monk Mayo asked this question of the Sixth patriarch: "What is Zen?" The Patriarch replied: "when your mind is not dwelling on the dualism of good and evil, what is your original face before you were born?"
