Nowhere to Begin

We have to allow ourselves to realize
that we are complete fools; otherwise,
we have nowhere to begin.

Chogyam Trungpa

Yes I Am

Am I good enough?
Yes, I am.

Michelle Obama

Authenticity

Authenticity is the highest state of being that one can achieve. In the years to come, authenticity will become the replacement for enlightenment as the true goal of spiritual practice and more than that, the true goal of life itself.

Teal Swan

Brain Sex

Brains reflect the lives they have lived,
not just the sex of their owners.

Gina Rippon

Rule of Thumb

My rule of thumb as a writer and reader ...
is feel it first, think about it later.

Stephen King

I Contain Multitudes

Do I contradict myself?
Very well, then I contradict myself.
I am large. I contain multitudes.

Walt Whitman

Peace in the Present

Peace in the present
cannot be found by
seeking it in the future.

Judy Cohen

Where Are You Going?

Actually, all paths lead away from the truth ... how's that?
All paths. There's no such thing as a path to the truth.
The truth's already here. Where are you going?

Adyashanti

Sickness is a Guru

Sickness is a guru.

Tibetan Saying

No Downside

There's no downside
to a clear mind.

Byron Katie

Function of the Poet

The function of the poet is to find
out what part of the mythology
is useful in his lifetime.

Gary Snyder

Available to You

All of it is available to everybody,
but it depends on who you think you are
as to whether or not it is available to you.

Ram Dass

Everyone Has a Plan

Everyone has a plan until
they get punched in the mouth.

Mike Tyson

Every Life Your Life

Every life that has ever been lived
was your life.

Teal Swan

Tell Me More

Anything that hurts me,
I just say tell me more.

Byron Katie

Voice of God

That which is the voice of God
is silence.

David Hawkins

What I'm Saying

Only that in you
which is me can hear
what I'm saying.

Ram Dass

How It Is

As long as you have certain
desires about how it ought to be,
you can't see how it is.

Ram Dass

How Long to Let Go

It's always a question of
how long it takes to let go.

Ram Dass

Let Them Sleep

Those who don't
want to change,
let them sleep.

Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi

The Way That is in You

There is only one way and that is your way.

There is only one salvation and that is your salvation.

Why are you looking for help? Do you believe

help will come from outside? What is to come

will be created in you and from you. Hence look

into yourself. Do not compare, do not measure. 

No other way is like yours. All other ways deceive

and tempt you. You must fulfill the way that is in you.

Carl Jung

Love is Misunderstood

Love is misunderstood to be an emotion; actually,
it is a state of awareness, a way of being in the world,
a way of seeing oneself and others.

David Hawkins

Spiritual Evolution

Spiritual evolution occurs as the result
of removing obstacles and not actually
acquiring anything new.

David Hawkins

Being Where I'm At

I can't be phony holy anymore.
I've just got to be where I'm at.

Ram Dass

The Way One Dies

The way one dies is not random;
it's connected to karma.

Ram Dass

They Did Not See

When I was a child, I saw God, I saw angels; I watched
the mysteries of the higher and lower worlds. I thought
all men saw the same. At last I realized that they did not
see ...

Shams of Tabriz

Another Place to Hide

The experience of peace is
just another place to hide.

Ram Dass

The Heart Gives

The heart gives and receives
but above all, it gives.

Jean Vanier

Our Journey

Our journey is toward simplicity and
quietness, to a kind of joy that is
beyond time, a journey where we leave
behind all our models of who we are.

Ram Dass

All I Achieve is His Service

Since the day when I met with my Lord, there
has been no end to the sport of our love. I shut
not my eyes, I close not my ears, I do not mortify
my body; I see with eyes open and smile, and
behold His beauty everywhere: I utter His Name,
and whatever I see, it reminds me of Him;
Whatever I do, it becomes His worship. Wherever
I go I move round Him; all I achieve is His service.

Kabir

We Are ...

We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Nothing You Can Do

There's nothing you can do
until you're enlightened.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
(per Ram Dass)

Bravery

The ultimate definition of bravery
is not being afraid of who you are.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

It's Enough

It's extraordinary to start to rest
in the place in your being where
whatever it is, it's enough.

Ram Dass

Truth of Awareness and Suffering

When true awareness takes place, suffering does not exist. Through awareness, suffering is somewhat changed in its perspective. It is not necessarily that you do not suffer, but the haunting quality that fundamentally you are in trouble is removed. It is like removing a splinter. It might hurt, and you might still feel pain, but the basic cause of that pain, the ego, has been removed.

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche

Burn Out

If you think you're somebody doing something,
it's gonna burn out. Simple as that.

Ram Dass

Only to Serve Others

I don't want anything.
I exist only to serve others.

Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji)

The Source of Compassion

It's very easy to lose your center to service,
and to forget that compassion for ourselves
is the source of compassion for all others.

Ram Dass

Love Serve Remember

Love everyone, serve everyone,
remember God, and tell the truth.

Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji)

Becoming Nobody

Once you have become somebody,
then you are ready to start the journey
to becoming nobody.

Ram Dass

What a Master is For

You are only a disciple because your eyes are closed.
The day you open them you will see there is nothing
you can learn from me or anyone. What then is a Master
for? To make you see the uselessness of having one.

Anthony de Mello

The Love of God

Everything is impermanent,
except the love of God.

Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji)

No One Else

Nothing is being withheld from you. You are completely
on your own. Everything is available for direct knowing.
No one else has anything you need. No one else can lead
you, pull you, push you, or carry you.

Jed McKenna

Before We Are Ready

Most of us primarily have to get our psychological and
life games in order before we are ready for the higher
spiritual practices. Often we want more than we are
ready to have. We take on practices that could bring
you to God, or to enlightenment. But because we are
so caught in psychological stuff, in ego trips, we merely
take them and convert them to things around our ego.

Ram Dass

See God in Everything

It's better to see God in everything
than to try to figure it out.

Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji)

Open to Our Own Death

Until you and I have opened to the imminence
of our own death either personally or culturally,
we are being motivated by a behavior of avoidance
that is distorting the truth that we see.

Ram Dass

True Instrument

If you are going to be a true instrument
of the alleviation of suffering in the world,
you have to be able to look at suffering
with open eyes, with all of your stuff,
with your fear, and all of it.

Ram Dass

The Art is ...

The art is to be one
and dance as two.

Ram Dass

Being Is ...

Being is dying
by loving.

Meher Baba

Open Heart

Opening my heart made it easier
for my mind to change.

Ram Dass

Wait For Grace

Bring your mind to one point
and wait for grace.

Neem Karoli Baba (Maharaj-ji)

Comfortable with Not Knowing

Sometimes surrender means giving up
trying to understand and being comfortable
with not knowing.

Eckhart Tolle

Lemonade

When life gives you lemonade, there's
no need to fuck around with lemons.

Michael Gungor

You Are the Universe

You are the universe doing what the universe does,
just as light is what the sun does or a wave is what the
ocean does. You could also see this in the opposite way -
the universe is You doing what You do.

Michael Gungor

You May Never Know

You may never know what results come of your actions,
but if you do nothing there will be no results.

Mahatma Gandhi

My Message

My life is my message.

Mahatma Gandhi

Life Happens

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

John Lennon ("Beautiful Boy")

Truth Waits

Truth waits for eyes
unclouded by longing.

Ram Dass

Always Take Sides

Always take sides. Neutrality helps
the oppressor, never the victim.
Silence encourages the tormentor,
never the tormented.

Elie Wiesel

The Right Friends

Being honest may not get you a lot of friends,
but it will always get you the right ones.

John Lennon

Help Someone

We can't help everyone, but
everyone can help someone.

John Lennon

Peace

Peace is not something you wish for; it's
something you make, something you do,
something you are, and something you give away.

John Lennon

Only Nobody

Only nobody gets free.

Ram Dass

Sense of Humor

If you don't have
a sense of humor,
it's just not funny.

Wavy Gravy

A Source of Danger

The literal mind does not understand the ironic mind,
and sees it always as a source of danger.

Christopher Hitchens

Being Everything

What is sought remains
hidden from the seeker
by already being everything.

Tony Parsons

Independent Mind

The essence of the independent mind lies
not in what it thinks, but in how it thinks.

Christopher Hitchens

Demand Nothing

When you demand nothing of the world,
nor of God, when you want nothing,
seek nothing, expect nothing then the
Supreme State will come to you
uninvited and unexpected.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

Telling the Truth

If you stop telling lies about me,
I'll stop telling the truth about you.

Adlai Stevenson (to Richard Nixon)

I've Got a Feeling

Toto, I've got a feeling
we're not in Kansas anymore.

Dorothy (in Wizard of Oz)

No Place

There's no place
like home.

Dorothy (in Wizard of Oz)

Bad Company

If you're lonely when you're alone,
you're in bad company.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Nowhere Else

Heaven is the place where
you think of nowhere else.

Pico Iyer

Behavior Never Lies

I no longer listen to what people
say, I just watch what they do.
Behavior never lies.

Winston Churchill

Justice

Justice is what love
looks like in public.

Cornel West

Revolutionary Act

In a time of universal deceit,
telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

George Orwell, "1984"

Happiness Never Decreases

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.

The Buddha

Astounding Ourselves

If we all did the things we
are capable of doing, we
would astound ourselves.

Thomas Edison

The Trick to Success

Something my father always told me was that
the trick to success is to know when you have
enough and stop and appreciate it.

Diana Marcum

The Best Course

Whatever is destined not to happen
will not happen, try as you may.
Whatever is destined to happen
will happen, do what you may to
prevent it. This is certain.
The best course, therefore,
is to remain silent.

Ramana Maharshi

You're the One

A teacher of fear can't bring peace on earth.
We have been trying to do it that way for
thousands of years. The person who turns
inner violence around, the person who finds
peace inside and lives it, is the one who teaches
what true peace is. We are waiting for just
one teacher, You're the one.

Byron Katie

No Place

If you ain't where you are,
you're no place.

Colonel Sherman T. Potter, M*A*S*H

Covert Aggressives

It's not that they don't see,
it's that they disagree.
It's not that they're not aware enough,
it's that they don't care enough.

George Simon

Safety

Safety is not the absence of threat,
it is the presence of connection.

Gabor Mate

Truth Remains

What is religion? A cloud in the sky.
I live in the sky, not in the clouds,
which are so many words held together.
Remove the verbiage and what remains?
Truth remains.

Nisargadatta Maharaj

My Life Flows

When I look inside and see that
I am nothing, that is wisdom.
When I look outside and see that
I am everything, that is love.
And between these two, my life flows.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

It Is As It Is

You may try to trace how a thing happens,
but you cannot find out why a thing is as it is.
A thing is as it is because the universe is as it is.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

I Remain as I Am

I leave my human nature to
unfold according to its destiny.
I remain as I AM.

Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj

Let It Kill You

Find what you love
and let it kill you.

Charles Bukowski

How Important You Are

You are here to enable
the divine purpose of the
universe to unfold. That
is how important you are.

Eckhart Tolle

I Traveled a Long Way Seeking God

I traveled a long way seeking God,
but when I finally gave up and turned back,
there He was, within me!

Lalla (English version by Swami Muktnanda)

The Sun Never Says

Even
after
all this time
the sun never says to the Earth,
"You owe me."
Look
what happens
with a love like that -
it lights the whole
world.

Hafiz

Seemingly Meaningless

If you are confronted with unavoidable suffering,
what can you learn from the situation? How do
we respond to apparently meaningless suffering?
What will we do with that now, for we cannot
change it? What meaning can we squeeze out
of this seemingly meaningless situation?

Viktor Frankl

As He Can Be

If you take a man as he is, you make him worse.
If you take a man as he can be, you help him
become who he can be, the best version of who he is.

Viktor Frankl

Meaning to Live For

Ever more people have the means to live,
but no meaning to live for.

Viktor Frankl

Challenged

When we are no longer able to change a situation,
we are challenged to change ourselves.

Viktor Frankl

Golden Rule, Revised

Do onto your self as you
would have others do onto you.

Dan Metevier

A Permanent Part of Me

The question in all of our relationships should be:
How can I provide a sense of belonging to this person?
What would I say or do differently if I considered them
to be a permanent part of me?

Teal Swan

Your Teacher

Anything that is troubling you,
anything that is irritating you,
THAT is your teacher.

Ajahn Chah

Deer Symbolism

Use gentleness to
nudge those around you
in the right direction.

Deer

Entirely Attentiveness

This is the first, the wildest, and the wisest thing
I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely
out of attentiveness.

Mary Oliver

The Best Answer

Silence is sometimes
the best answer.

Dalai Lama

Let There Be Spaces

Let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of you bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strong of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Kahlil Gibran

The Way Out

The way out of our negative emotions is
into our negative emotions.
The way out of our illusions is
into our illusions.
The way out of our suffering is
into our suffering.

Teal Swan

Opportunity to Know Love

Take that opportunity to know love whenever it presents itself. Open yourself and let this world penetrate you to your core. Let it do it's worst. Because the worst it can do does not compare to the pain of staying closed and building walls between you and the world.

Teal Swan

Loving Relationships

If we want loving relationships with ourselves,
we have to resolve the shame that we feel.
If we want loving relationships with other people,
we have to help them resolve their shame instead
of adding to it.

Teal Swan

A Door Into the Temple

Today I'm flying low and I'm
not saying a word.
I'm letting all the voodoos of ambition sleep.

The world goes on as it must,
the bees in the garden rumbling a little,
the fish leaping, the gnats getting eaten.
And so forth.

But I'm taking the day off.
Quiet as a feather.
I hardly move though really I'm traveling
a terrific distance.

Stillness. One of the doors
into the temple.

Mary Oliver

Also the Soul

The artist must train not only his eye
but also his soul.

Wassily Kandinsky

Less About You

Start to see the things people say and do to you as less about you and more of a perfect reflection of the tragic relationship that they have with themselves.

Teal Swan

As a Part of Yourself

Most people think that love is to feel intensely positive
towards something or someone. This is not the case.
That is the byproduct of love. To love something is to
take it as a part of yourself.

Teal Swan

Reverse the Process

We came to earth to experience the illusion of separation
so that by seeing it we could reverse the process.
Not so we could propagate it.

Teal Swan

To Become One

Our divinity and humanity must
merge to become one.

Teal Swan

Conscious and Aware

Many people think that being spiritual means
being positive, but being spiritual means being
conscious and aware. To become conscious is
a much different thing than to become positive.

Teal Swan

Finding Happiness

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves,
and it is not possible to find it elsewhere.

Agnes Repplier