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9f991b8 Life is a journey. Time is a river. The door is ajar metaphor life zen Jim Butcher
1b4b201 The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling. truth inspirational zen Robert M. Pirsig
a52c301 "The truth knocks on the door and you say, "Go away, I'm looking for the truth," and so it goes away. Puzzling." truth zen Robert M. Pirsig
4554196 In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few philosophy inspirational zen Shunryu Suzuki
ee981df If you just sit and observe, you will see how restless your mind is. If you try to calm it, it only makes it worse, but over time it does calm, and when it does, there's room to hear more subtle things - that's when your intuition starts to blossom and you start to see things more clearly and be in the present more. Your mind just slows down, and you see a tremendous expanse in the moment. You see so much more than you could see before. It's a discipline; you have to practice it. india inspirational steve-jobs zen meditation Walter Isaacson
ddedfab "Commander, I always used to consider that you had a definite anti-authoritarian streak in you." "Sir?" "It seems that you have managed to retain this even though you are authority." "Sir?" "That's practically zen." -- terry-pratchett feet-of-clay prachett sam-vimes zen samuel-vimes Terry Pratchett
da3c693 When you've understood this scripture, throw it away. If you can't understand this scripture, throw it away. I insist on your freedom. freedom zen Jack Kerouac
18d2148 The more you know, the less you need. wisdom zen Yvon Chouinard
c11776e For your past, for your flaws, and ultimately for your stress; I judge no one whom I've met along the way because in a sense we were all wounded in our own ways. motivational spiritual philosophy wisdom inspirational zen peace Forrest Curran
3237455 The problem with all students, he said, is that they inevitably stop somewhere. They hear an idea and they hold on to it until it becomes dead; they want to flatter themselves that they know the truth. But true Zen never stops, never congeals into such truths. That is why everyone must constantly be pushed to the abyss, starting over and feeling their utter worthlessness as a student. Without suffering and doubts, the mind will come to rest on cliches and stay there, until the spirit dies as well. Not even enlightenment is enough. You must continually start over and challenge yourself. suffering spirit learning life truth perpetual student zen mastery Robert Greene
54c955c A great tree develops over time and can tell stories not only those of happiness, but also those that contain pain from what it has seen over the years, and as a result is the wise ancient tree that it is today. As the seasons change, the tree naturally goes through changes as well: where the leaves turn yellow and orange in the fall, falling by the Winter, returning in the Spring, and with full set of new leafs by the Summer. Love is no different in that there will be times when we are fully naked in the Winter, and left to wonder about Spring when it seemed so easy to love, yet the wise tree knows that no winter will last forever no matter how cold it may be. motivational spiritual philosophy wisdom inspirational zen peace Forrest Curran
7e6164b As I naturally go through a full range of emotions in my life, I mustn't feel ashamed for feeling lost, for it is honest and human to feel such. motivational spiritual philosophy wisdom inspirational zen peace Forrest Curran
0791f78 We become so absorbed in our flaws and faults that we forget that it is better to be a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without. To have flaws is beauty in itself, a fact so frightening that we hurry to hide them from sight and tarnish the whole in the process of comparing ourselves to others. motivational spiritual philosophy wisdom inspirational zen peace Forrest Curran
9fc3819 One day in my shoes and a day for me in your shoes, the beauty of travel lies in the ease and willingness to be more open. motivational spiritual philosophy wisdom inspirational zen peace Forrest Curran
cc9f7b6 Some we proudly display on our arms, while others we shyly conceal. Tattoo the moments of sorrow as well as the moments of splendor and beauty. Tattoo in an acknowledgment and tribute to home, and tattooing your beliefs that define who you are. Whether we intended to or not, every moment of our lives are tattooed to our heart. motivational spiritual philosophy wisdom inspirational zen peace Forrest Curran
b9c905d "You've got to live right, too. It's the way you live that predisposes you to avoid the traps and see the right facts. You want to know how to paint a perfect painting? It's easy. Make yourself perfect and then just paint naturally. That's the way all the experts do it. The making of a painting or the fixing of a motorcycle isn't separate from the rest of your existence. If you're a sloppy thinker the six days of the week you aren't working on your machine, what trap avoidance, what gimmicks, can make you all of a sudden sharp on the seventh? It all goes together ... The real cycle you're working in is a cycle called yourself. The machine that appears to be "out there" and the person that appears to be "in here" are not two separate things. They grow toward Qaulity or fall away from Qaulity together." quality zen perfect Robert M. Pirsig
814724e Mountains should be climbed with as little effort as possible and without desire. The reality of your own nature should determine the speed. If you become restless, speed up. If you become winded, slow down. You climb the mountain in an equilibrium between restlessness and exhaustion. motorcycle zen Robert M. Pirsig
557a73f See for yourself whether letting go when a part of you really wants to hold on doesn't bring a deeper satisfaction than clinging. zen peace Jon Kabat-Zinn
9743c5b Zazen is better than a home. Zazen is a home that you can't ever lose. zen meditation home Ruth Ozeki
115af1b No such thing as time travel, he'd rumbled patiently, once. Only live with what you've done, and try in the future to do what you're happy to live with. zen regret Richard K. Morgan
1d24d99 Hand over your responses to the man who triggers them, and you have already lost the battle for self. Look beyond, and find yourself there instead. life zen Richard K. Morgan
ff5e6bc ...it should be remembered that men always prize that most which is least enjoyed. inspirational zen James Fenimore Cooper
472c0ad What is a course of history, or philosophy, or poetry, no matter how well selected, or the best society, or the most admirable routine of life, compared with the discipline of looking always at what is to be seen? zen Henry David Thoreau
bdc4243 The best way for you to get that new experience is to change your response to what happens. happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
cec2912 Who you allow into the circle of your life will make the difference in the quality of your life. friendship happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
897bf6f What determines each person's state of happiness or unhappiness is not the event itself, but what the event means to that person. inspiration life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
946e723 If you are surrounded by people who not only don't believe in your goals and your positive outlook on life, but who also continually try to tear you down, it will be extremely challenging for you to hold firmly in mind that you will succeed and that you can be happy. life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
89a3adc To Mr. Jones, she said, imagine you're looking up at a blue sky, and imagine a tiny airplane skywriting the letter Z. Then let the wind erase the letter. Then imagine the plane writing the letter Y. Let the wind erase it. Then the letter X. Erase it. Then the letter W. Let the wind erase it. mind chuck-palahniuk subconscious zen Chuck Palahniuk
c733ada "Again, all of life presents us with two basic ways to treat events. We can either label them "god for us" or "bad for us." The event is only an event. It's how we treat the event that determines what it becomes in our lives. The event doesn't make that determination- we do." depression happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
e9c5809 The more you engage in any type of emotion or behavior, the greater your desire for it will become. depression happiness philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness chris-prentiss zen emotions Chris Prentiss
1ac1d3c In general, I call her every night, and we talk for an hour, which is forty-five minutes of me, and fifteen minutes of her stirring her tea, which she steeps with the kind of Zen patience that would make Buddhists sit up in envy and then breathe through their envy and then move past their envy. tea-lovers zen tea patience Aimee Bender
5a08535 The true source of happiness is within each of us. philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
76f1aee He said he'd heard the sound of one hand clapping. He said, once his mind took in the wondrous no-sound of holy oneness, the empty echo of eternal bliss, he was never the same. He could hear it still, he said, resounding in the ether and tickling the back of his brain. Something not normal was going on with his brain. No argument there. magic tim-leary carlos-castaneda hippies new-age epic-fantasy zen paranormal-romance mysticism Brenda Marie Smith
5acec87 For every fact there is an infinity of hypotheses. The more you look the more you see. thoughts mindfulness possibilities perspective zen thinking questions ideas Robert M. Pirsig
06c9cc3 Here, then, is the last moment of true perception, a man fishing in a red jacket and a cloudy sky reflected on opaque water. zen perception Michael Cunningham
df5d566 Mountains like these and travelers in the mountains and events that happen to them here are found not only in Zen literature but in the tales of every major religion. This allegory of a physical mountain for the spiritual one that stands between each soul and its goal is an easy and natural one to make. Like those in the valley behind us, most people stand in sight of the spiritual mountains all their lives and never enter them, being content to listen to others who have been there and thus avoid the hardships. Some travel into the mountains accompanied by experienced guides who know the best and least dangerous routes by which they arrive at their destination. Still others, inexperienced and untrusting, attempt to make their own routes. Few of these are successful, but occasionally some, by sheer will and luck and grace, do make it. Once there they become more aware than any of the others that there's no single or fixed number of routes. There are as many routes as there are individual souls. religion religious-paths philosophy-of-religion mountains zen Robert M. Pirsig
fac59e4 ADAZhIO ,,Svetlinata si sveti nav'n ot sutrin do vecher, bez da s'znava, che e svetlina. Visokite d'rveta vdishvat tishina, bez da e nuzhno da diriat d'lbokata s'shchnost na d'rvesinata. Pustite stepi se izliagat po gr'b i protiagat snaga do bezkrai, bez da se pitat za patosa na svoiata pustota. Podvizhni pias'tsi prosto se dvizhat, ne misliat za nishcho, dokoga, nak'de. Tsialoto tova udivitelno s'shchestvuvanie e udivitelno, bez to samoto da e udiveno. Chervenata luna prilicha na raztsepeno oko, progaria mraka na nebeto, bez da se chuvstva iznenadana ot svoita samota. I kotka dreme na ogradata. Spi, disha. Tolkoz. Viat'r't ne spira noshch sled noshch, dukha nad gori i planini. Vikhri se bezspir. I dukha. Ne se zamislia i ne se oplakva. Samo ti, o, tlenna pl't, pishesh tsiala noshch i triesh, t'rsish smis'l i prichina da popravish. inspirational zen Amos Oz
7faeec5 But until then, and right now, the sun is bright, the air is cool, my head is clear, there's a whole day ahead of us, we're almost to the mountains, it's a good day to be alive. It's this thinner air that does it. You always feel like this when you start getting into higher altitudes. high-altitude i-love-montana montana mountains zen Robert M. Pirsig
d269df3 What he's looking for, what he wants, is all around him, but he doesn't want that because it is all around him. Every step's an effort, both physically and spiritually, because he imagines his goal to be external and distant. the-time-is-now wherever-you-go-there-you-are surroundings the-moment zen Robert M. Pirsig
1efd568 This is shaping up even worse than you anticipated. Still, you feel a measure of detachment, as if you had suffered everything already and this were just a flashback. You wish that you had paid more attention when a woman you met at Heartbreak told you about Zen meditation. Think of all of this as an illusion. She can't hurt you. Nothing can hurt the samurai wh enters combat fully resolved to die. You have already accepted the inevitability of termination, as they say. Still, you'd rather not have to sit through this. losing-a-job samurai zen Jay McInerney
2f261df You can be happy if you are willing to let go of your past and leave yourself unencumbered so you can fly freely. happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
d4fe6f1 "The answers are never "out there." All the answers are "in there," inside you, waiting to be discovered." philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
1a2f2fe "Your actions create an "energy vortex" that draws in the necessary ingredients for your venture." inspirational-quotes happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
ca718ad Although you may have never sat down and defined what your philosophy is, it is fully operative and working in your life at all times. It deals with what you believe about the world in which you live, about its people and events, about how you affect them. life-and-living life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
5aeb05c Stress comes from the way you relate to events or situations. life philosophy stress-management zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen stress Chris Prentiss
36e7e05 If you feel depressed for an hour, you've produced approximately eighteen billion new cells that have more receptors calling out for depressed-type peptides and fewer calling out for feel-good peptides. depression happiness philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness mindfulness zen Chris Prentiss
6c834ac She was strangely unaware that she could look and see freshly for herself, as she wrote, without primary regard for what had been said before. creative-writing zen writing-process writers Robert M. Pirsig
37f900d "Ao relacionar-se com o mundo objetivo, por intermedio de suas faculdades, o mundo exterior torna-se real para o homem, e de fato e so o "amor" que faz o homem verdadeiramente crer na realidade do mundo objetivo a ele extrinseco. Sujeito e objeto nao podem ser separados . "O olho transformou-se em olho humano quando seu objeto se converteu em um objeto humano, social, criado pelo homem e a este destinado... Eles [os sentidos] se relacionam com a coisa devido a esta, mas a coisa em si mesma e uma relacao humana objetiva para si propria e para o homem, e vice-versa. A necessidade e o gozo perderam, assim, seu carater egoista, e a natureza perdeu sua mera utilidade pelo fato de sua utilizacao ter-se transformado em utilizacao humana. (Com efeito, so posso relacionar-me de maneira humana com uma coisa quando esta se relaciona de maneira humana com o homem)" Esta ultima afirmacao e quase exatamente a mesma feita no pensamento do budismo Zen, assim como por Goethe. De fato o pensamento de Goethe, Hegel e Marx se acha intimamente ligado ao do Zen. O que ha de comum neles e a ideia do homem superar a cisao entre sujeito e objeto; o objeto e um objeto, mas no entanto cessa de ser objeto , e nesta nova abordagem o homeme se funde com o objeto, conquanto ele e o objeto continuem a ser dois. O homem ao relacionar-se humanamente com o mundo objetivo, supera a alienacao de si mesmo." marxista zen Erich Fromm
eae2cd9 "Zen is a journey of exploration and a way of living that, in and of itself, does not belong to any one religion or tradition. It is about experiencing life in the here and now and about removing the dualistic distinctions between "I" and "you" between "subject" and "objective", between our spiritual and our ordinary, everyday activities." inspiration happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness chris-prentiss zen Chris Prentiss
aa31634 Every belief that you hold manifests itself in some manner by either causing you to take some form of action or by preventing you from taking action. If you don't believe something is possible, you won't even attempt it. happiness life philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness metaphysics zen Chris Prentiss
e54f223 "To doubt the literal meaning of the words of Jesus or Moses incurs hostility from most people, but it's just a fact that if Jesus or Moses were to appear today, unidentified, with the same message he spoke many years ago, his mental stability would be challenged. This isn't because what Jesus or Moses said was untrue or because modern society is in error but simply because the route they chose to reveal to others has lost relevance and comprehensibility. "Heaven above" fades from meaning when space-age consciousness asks, Where is "above"? But the fact that the old routes have tended, because of language rigidity, to lose their everyday meaning and become almost closed doesn't mean that the mountain is no longer there. It's there and will be there as long as consciousness exists." words meaning philosophy zen Robert M. Pirsig
18e6373 A strong personal philosophy does more than sustain us through the tragedies of life. It also stains us daily in everything we think and do. It gives us optimism and hope. philosophy zen-and-the-art-of-happiness zen Chris Prentiss
2d09eca Newton invented a new form of reason. He expanded reason to handle infinitesimal changes and I think what is needed now is a similar expansion of reason to handle technological ugliness. The trouble is that the expansion has to be made at the roots, not at the branches, and that's what makes it hard to see. strike-at-the-root zen Robert M. Pirsig
84759dc "The title of this Chautauqua is "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance," not "Zen and the Art of Mountain Climbing," and there are no motorcycles on the tops of mountains, and in my opinion very little Zen. Zen is the "spirit of the valley," not the mountaintop. The only Zen you fin on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there." mountain-climbing spiritual-journey spiritualism mountains zen Robert M. Pirsig
2e1859a But the ones who go posing as moralists are the worst. Cost-free morals. Full of great ways for others to improve without any expense to themselves. There's an ego thing in there, too. They use the morals to make someone else look inferior and that way look better themselves. It doesn't matter what the moral code is -- religious morals, political morals, racist morals, capitalist morals, feminist morals, hippie morals -- they're all the same. The moral codes change but the meanness and the egotism stay the same. philosophy zen psychology Robert M. Pirsig