Happy New Year

I hope year 2010 has been a good year for you! If it hasn't been, I am sorry to hear that. But take heart, in a few hours time, 2010 will be history. You can then leave all the unpleasantness behind. 

The new year is literally round the corner. So let us welcome it with open arms!

I wish one and all a Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year! And may 2011 be better than the year before!

Cheers to 2011! Happy New Year Everyone!

Teachings Of Buddha

Neither in the sky nor in mid-ocean, nor in entering a mountain cave, is found the place, where abiding one may escape the consequences of an evil deed.

Speak not harshly to anyone; Those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Painful indeed is language violent; Blow for blow will pursue thee.

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye. 

The original human nature is pure. It is our worldly cultures and conditionings that fogged our mind and divided people. 

Self is an error, an illusion, a dream; open your eyes and awake. He who has found there is no 'I' will let go of all the lusts and dreams of egotism.

We are the results of what we were. And will be the results of what we are.

No enemy can harm one so much as one’s own thoughts of craving, hate and jealousy. 

Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well. 

He who sees things as they really are, is not affected by scents whether vice or pleasant.

When emotional thoughts such as pride, hatred, jealousy arise, there is no place for us to practice patience. 

Just as a solid rock remains unshaken by the wind. Even so, may blame and praise not ruffle the wise.

Let a man overcome anger by love; Let him overcome evil by good; Let him overcome greed by liberality, and lies by truth.

A man is not learned because he talks much; He who is patient, free from hatred and fear, he is called learned.

Proverbs

Only the spoon knows what is stirring in the pot. - Unknown

One kind word can warm three winter months. - Unknown

Don’t live in a town where there are no doctors. - Unknown

You can bury a lot of troubles digging in the dirt. - Unknown

Life is for one generation; a good name forever. - Unknown

When the cat is away, the mice begin to play. - Unknown

The greatest of faults is to be conscious of none. - Unknown

The only way to pass any test is to take the test. - Unknown

Never advise anyone to go to war or to marry. - Unknown

He who would leap high must take a long run. - Unknown

A small leak unattended will sink a great ship. - Unknown

Always try to be a little kinder than necessary. - Unknown

A good workman never quarrels with his tools. - Unknown

Courtesy costs nothing but means everything. - Unknown

Fools look to tomorrow; wise men use tonight. - Unknown

A runaway monk never praises his monastery. - Unknown

Nothing in excess. Moderation in all things. - Unknown

We learn the rope of life by untying its knots. - Unknown

Sour, sweet, bitter, pungent, all must be taste. - Unknown

Good habits result from resisting temptation. - Unknown

The man that lives by hope will die by despair. - Unknown

Watch Where You Store Those Vitamins

The claim: Always store vitamins in the medicine cabinet.

The facts: The bathroom medicine cabinet may seem like an ideal place for keeping vitamins and supplements. But research suggests otherwise.

In studies, scientists have found that the warm, moisture-rich conditions found in most bathrooms tend to degrade vitamins and other supplements over time.

Researchers have found that this process, known as deliquescence, can reduce the potency of vitamin B, vitamin C and other water-soluble supplements - even rendering them useless. Airtight lids do not necessarily solve the problem as opening and closing them allow humidity and moisture to get in.

In a study published this year by food scientists at Purdue University, researchers measured the stability of different vitamin C supplements in various temperatures and levels of humidity. They showed signs of degradation above 80 per cent humidity, a level of bathroom humidity that the steam from a hot shower could produce.

Other studies have found similar effects on thiamin, vitamin B6 and other water-soluble nutritional products expose to humid environments.

Even if you do not keep your vitamins in the bathroom, not that the average humidity in Singapore is 84 per cent.

Humidity levels can spike in kitchens as well. Fore best results, try keeping vulnerable products - like multivitamins, children’s vitamins or powdered health products - in a cool, dry area with little humidity, like the fridge. If your vitamins soften or develop dark spots, it means they have started degrading and should probably be discarded.

The bottom Line: Storing vitamins in a medicine cabinet and other humid areas can reduce their effectiveness.

- The New York Times 

Food For Thought

The survival of the fittest is the ageless law of nature, but the fittest are rarely the strong. The fittest are those endowed with the qualifications for adaptation, the ability to accept the inevitable and conform to the unavoidable, to harmonize with existing or changing conditions. - Dave E. Smalley 

There is a point, of course, where a man must take the isolated peak and break with all his associates for clear principle; but until that time comes he must work, if he would be of use, with men as they are. As long as the good in them overbalances the evil, let him work with them for the best that can be obtained. - Theodore Roosevelt 

For a person to build a rich and rewarding life for himself, there are certain qualities and bits of knowledge that he needs to acquire. There are also things, harmful attitudes, superstitions, and emotions that he needs to chip away. A person needs to chip away everything that doesn’t look like the person he or she most wants to become. - Earl Nightingale 

The Teachings Of Buddha

Just as water cools both good and bad and washes away all impurity and dust, in the same way you should develop thoughts of love to friend and foe alike, and having reached perfection in love, you will attain enlightenment. 

A victor only breeds hatred, while a defeated man lives in misery, but a man at peace within lives happily, abandoning up ideas of victory and defeat. 

Through zeal, knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal, knowledge is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow. 

To utter pleasant words without practicing them, is like a fine flower without fragrance. 

As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives. 

Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water... 

Little by little a person becomes good, as a water pot is filled by drops of water. 

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm. 

When one masters his wretched desire, which is so hard to overcome, then one’s sorrows just drop off, like a drop of water off a lotus. 

Suffering does not befall him who is without attachment to names and forms. 

There is only one reality in life - change. Everything changes, nothing remains without change. 

If a man should do wrong, let him not do again nor take pleasure in it, for painful is the accumulation of evil.

A heart untouched by worldly things, not swayed by sorrow, passionless and secure - that is the greatest blessing.

Proverbs

To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory. - Unknown

Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind. - Unknown

Out of sight, out of mind; long absent, soon forgotten. - Unknown

Don’t look for more honour than your learning merits. - Unknown

It is impossible to change your basic characteristics. - Unknown

No one is so generous as he who has nothing to give. - Unknown

He who buys what he needs not, sells what he needs. - Unknown

One good head is better than a hundred strong hands. - Unknown

Cold feet are often the direct result of burned fingers! - Unknown

Better go to heaven in rags than to hell in embroidery. - Unknown

Mediocrity is climbing molehills without sweating. - Unknown

Don’t let your sorrow come higher than your knees. - Unknown

An order is easier to obey when issued with a smile. - Unknown

Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes. - Unknown

Don’t stay long when the husband is not at home. - Unknown

Reason is the wise man's guide, example the fool’s. - Unknown

For every stormy wind, a calm of peace will come. - Unknown

Pray not for lighter burdens but for stronger backs. - Unknown

A person with a bad name is already half-hanged. - Unknown

We must govern the clock, not be governed by it. - Unknown

Worries go down better with soup than without. - Unknown

Coffee Helps Asthmatics

The claim: A cup of coffee can ease symptoms of asthma.

The facts: Caffeine is known more as a pick-me-up than a home remedy but, for years, scientists have wondered whether it may have benefits for people with asthma.

The suspicion stems in part from its chemical structure, which resembles that of theophylline, a common asthma medication that relaxes the airway muscles and relieves wheezing and other respiratory problems.

In fact, when caffeine is ingested and broken down by the liver, one by-product is small amounts of theophylline.

In a 2007 study in the Cochrane Database Of Systematic Reviews, researchers analysed the results of half a dozen clinical trials looking at the effects of caffeine on asthmatics.

They found that caffeine produced small improvements in airway function for up to four hours, compared with a placebo. Even a small dose - less than the amount in a cup of Starbucks coffee - could improve lung function for up to two hours.

However, studies show the improvements are very slight and not enough to make caffeine a replacement for medication.

The other problem is that because of their chemical similarities, consuming too much caffeine can compound any side effects of theophylline.

As a result, doctors advise people taking that medication to watch their consumption of foods with caffeine.

The bottom line: Caffeine’s benefits for asthma are real but minimal.

- The New York Times 

In A Hurry

              A woman and her husband interrupted their vacation to go to the dentist. 

              “I want a tooth pulled, and I don’t want Novocaine because I’m in a big hurry,” the woman said. “Just extract the tooth as quickly as possible, and we'll be on our way.” 

              The dentist was quite impressed. “You’re certainly a courageous woman,” he said. “Which tooth is it?” 

              The woman turned to her husband and said, “Show him your tooth, dear.”

Food For Thought

It’s okay that your parents aren’t perfect; no one’s are. And it’s okay that they didn’t have any perfect children either; no one’s are. You see, our whole purpose is to strive together in righteousness, overcoming our weaknesses day by day. Don’t ever give up on each other. - Ardeth Greene Kapp 

Our personal world may seem vast, but within the perspective of a universe we are all like the frog in the well – so small, so limited, so unaware of the whole. Our challenge is to break out of our limitations, self-imposed or otherwise, and accept the fact of our limitless self, vitally interacting in a limitless universe. - Leo Buscaglia

During your life, everything you do and everyone you meet rubs off in some way. Some bit of everything you experience stays with everyone you’ve ever known, and nothing is lost. That’s what is eternal, these little specks of experience in a great, enormous river that has no end. - Harriet Doerr

Imperfect World, Happy Balance

I copied this (with permission, of course) from ‘Sorry, no heaven’, one of the blogs I am following.

I feel blessed

and in a state of perpetual grace

not because only good things happen 

but because all things happen, 

and we are breathing.

Sad things happen, 

and there are accidents 

and evil people 

and suffering. 

These are our teachers

and these are the realities of the world

that have to be embraced for good or bad,

for better or worse, 

in sickness and in health 

the sacred marriage vows 

between man and his imperfect universe.

- Ruth Ostrow

Selected from ‘Chatter Poems’ 

The Teachings Of Buddha

The one who carries things thinks he's got things, but the one who looks on only sees the heaviness. Throw away things, lose them, and find lightness.

All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. 

Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed. 

Like a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not moved by praise or blame.

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity. 

Full of love for all things in the world, practicing virtue, in order to benefit others, this man alone is happy.

A kind man who makes good use of wealth is rightly said to possess a great treasure; but the miser who hoards up his riches will have no profit. 

We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. 

Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it. 

From craving arises sorrow, from craving arises fear, but he who is freed from craving has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 

When one is overcome by this wretched, clinging desire in the world, one’s sorrows increase like grass growing up after a lot of rain. 

If a viper lives in your room and you wish to have a peaceful sleep, you must first chase it out. 

Just as the bee takes the nectar and leaves without damaging the color or scent of the flowers, so should the sage act in a village.

Life is ...

Life is …

… never incomplete if it is an honorable one. At whatever point you leave life, if you leave it in the right way, it is whole. - Seneca

… not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. - Soren Kierkegaard

… my college. May I graduate well, and earn some honours! - Louisa May Alcott

… like riding a bicycle. You don’t fall off unless you stop peddling. - Claude Pepper

.. a dream for the wise, a game for the fool, a comedy for the rich, a tragedy for the poor. - Sholom Aleichem 

… not always what one wants it to be, but to make the best of it, as it is, is the only way of being happy. - Jennie Jerome Churchill

… what happens to us while we are making other plans. - Thomas La Mance

… the garment we continually alter but which never seems to fit. - David McCord

... not meant to be easy, my child; but take courage – it can be delightful. - George Bernard Shaw

… a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you’re just coming out of one, or you’re getting ready to go into another one. - Rick Warren

… a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it. - Ernest Holmes

… a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

… the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises. - Samuel Butler

… ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. - Lou Holtz

… not a matter of milestones but of moments. - Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy 

… a perpetual instruction in cause and effect. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

… what we make it, always has been, always will be. - Grandma Moses

… beautiful in its simplicity. - Thomas Matthiessen

… half spent before we know what it is. - George Herber

… a long lesson in humility. - Sir James Matthew Barrie

… a do-it-yourself project. - Denis Waitley

… a one-way street. You cannot U-turn. 

… a journey, not a guided tour. 

Proverbs

As every thread of gold is valuable, so is every moment of time. - Unknown

It is the heights you reach that count, not the height you are. - Unknown

A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams. - Unknown

Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead. - Unknown

Success requires no explanations. Failure permits no alibis. - Unknown

Becoming number one is easier than remaining number one. - Unknown

A day is a span of time no one is wealthy enough to waste. - Unknown

He that cannot endure the bad will not live to see the good. - Unknown

It is better to be a honest failure than to be a corrupt success. - Unknown

Believe nothing and be on your guard against everything. - Unknown

Be careful what you wish for. There is a price – always! - Unknown

A single penny fairly got is worth a thousand that are not. - Unknown

The fragrance always stays in the hand that gives the rose. - Unknown

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

To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it. - Unknown

Affectation is a greater enemy to the face than smallpox. - Unknown

Zeal is fit only for wise men but is found mostly in fools. - Unknown

He that can’t endure the bad will not live to see the good. - Unknown

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

Speaking without thinking is shooting without aim. - Unknown

He that is born to be hanged will not be drowned. - Unknown

Facts About Water ?

Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism by as much as 3%. 

One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study. 

Lack of water is the number 1 trigger of daytime fatigue. 

Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers. 

A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page. 

Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50% less likely to develop bladder cancer. 

Are you drinking the amount of water you should drink every day? 

- Source Unknown 

Mental Health Evaluation

              During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the director, “What is the criterion that defines a patient to be institutionalised?”

              “Well...” said the director, “we fill up a bathtub, and we offer a teaspoon, a teacup, and a bucket to the patient and ask him to empty the bathtub.”

              “Oh, I understand,” said the visitor. “A normal person would choose the bucket as it is larger than the spoon or the teacup.”

              “Noooooooo!” answered the director. “A normal person would pull the plug.”

Happiness is…

Happiness is…

… is a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, my alight upon you. - Nathaniel Hawthorne 

… a by-product of function, purpose and conflict. Those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war. - William S. Burroughs 

… a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

… an attitude of mind, born of the simple determination to be happy under all outward circumstances. - J. Donald Walters 

… the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. - Denis Waitley

… when what you think, what you say and what you do are in Harmony. - Ghandi

… not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present. - Jim Rohn

… an attitude. We either make ourselves miserable, or happy and strong. The amount of work is the same. - Francesca Reigler

… not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. - Dalai Lama 

… not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind. - Daphne Du Maurier

… good health and a bad memory. - Ingrid Bergman 

… only a by-product of successful living. - Dr. Fox Riggs

… a mathematical impossibility – it adds and multiplies when it is divided among others. 

… a decision. We decide to be happy with what we are and have, or die from envy and jealousy of what we lack. 

… produced not so much by great pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by little advantages that occur every day.

… the art of never holding in your mind the memory of any unpleasant thing that has passed. 

… not dependent on your circumstance or your bank balance.

… often the result of being too busy to be miserable. 

… an inside job – within oneself.

… a state of the mind. Move to that state.

The Teachings Of Buddha

He who looks for me, that is, through any material form, or seeks me through any audible sound, that man has entered on an erroneous course, and shall never behold the Buddha. 

The truth is open for all who can understand. You must be lamps unto your selves. You must depend upon no eternal refuge, depend on no leader, and depend on no teacher. Look within. You are the Buddha. 

When we feel happy and peaceful, our happiness and peace radiates around us, and others can enjoy it as well. This is called ‘the enjoyment of others of our body of bliss’. 

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. 

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. 

Let go the past, let go the future, and let go what is in between, transcending the things of time. With your mind free in every direction, you will not return to birth and aging. 

He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness. 

One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of one’s time in religious offerings to the gods.

There is no fire like passion, there is no shark like hatred, there is no snare like folly, there is no torrent like greed. 

All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this in wisdom, then one becomes dispassionate towards the painful. 

Though one should conquer a million men in battlefield, yet indeed he is the noblest victor who has conquered himself. 

Do not speak harshly to any one; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful: blows for blows will touch thee.

Life is ...

… full and overflowing with the new. But it is necessary to empty out the old to make room for the new to enter. - Eileen Caddy

… truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat. - Anais Nin 

… like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will. - Jawaharlal Nehru

… good when we think it’s good. Life is bad when we don’t think. - Doug Horton

… not lost by dying; life is lost minute by minute, day by dragging day, in all the thousand small uncaring ways. - Stephen Benet

… the art of drawing sufficient conclusions from insufficient premises. - Samuel Butler

… a wave, which in no two consecutive moments of its existence is composed of the same particles. - John Tyndall

…like a play: it’s not the length, but the excellence of the acting that matters. - Seneca

… neither good nor evil; it is simply the place where good and evil exist. - Seneca

… fortified by many friendships. - Sydney Smith

… a stranger’s sojourn, a night at an inn. - Marcus Aurelius

… a big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can. - Danny Kaye 

… God’s novel. Let him write it. - Isaac Singer

… Paradise for those who love many things with a passion. - Leo Buscaglia

… meant to be enjoyed, not endured. - Anthony D'Angelo

… really simple, but men insist on making it complicated. - Confucius

… a compromise of what your ego wants to do, experience tells you to do, and what your nerves let you do.

… a school. Those who learn to love and help others graduate with honours.

… what we make it, always has been, always will be. To get more out of life, give more of yourself. 

… not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away!

… ever active – never inert. If it were otherwise, it would be non-existent.

… not dated merely by years. Events are sometimes the best calendars. 

… a battle in which we fall from wounds we receive in running away.

… difficult; once you accept that, it gets easier. 

… an adventure to be lived, not a problem to be solved. 

Food For Thought

Be patient with all that is unresolved in your heart, and try to love the questions themselves. Do not seek the answers that cannot be given, for you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now, and perhaps without knowing it you will live along some day into the answers. - Rainer Maria Rilke

Do not assume that he who seeks to comfort you now, lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life may also have much sadness and difficulty, that remains far beyond yours. Were it otherwise, he would never have been able to find these words. - Rainer Maria Rilke

A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. . . . How could a person possibly become what he is not thinking? Nor is any thought, when persistently entertained, too small to have its effect. The ‘divinity that shapes our ends’ is indeed in ourselves. It is one’s very self. - Spencer W. Kimball 

Proverbs

Maxims are the condensed good sense of nations. - Unknown 

When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart. - Unknown

A frog lodged in a well cannot ever understand the limitless expanse of sky.- Unknown

Who is not satisfied with himself will grow; who is not sure of his own correctness will learn many things. - Unknown

Never put on airs when successful. Always remain calm and composed when disappointed. - Unknown

A hundred men may make an encampment, but it takes a woman to make a home. - Unknown

A single conversation across the table with a wise man is worth a month’s study of books. - Unknown

Everyone is kneaded out of the same dough but not baked in the same oven. - Unknown

Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare. - Unknown

Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box. - Unknown

Even though you know a thousand things, ask the man who knows one. - Unknown

Where there is smoke there is fire. Where there is will, there is a way. - Unknown

It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers. - Unknown

No matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn back. - Unknown

Drink nothing without seeing it; sign nothing without reading it. - Unknown

Who travels for love finds a thousand miles not longer than one. - Unknown

Better be ill spoken of by one before all than by all before one. - Unknown

It is easy to make a buck. It is a lot tougher to make a difference. - Unknown

Rash From Use Of Cellphones

The claim: Cellphones can cause an allergic reaction.

The facts: Talking on a cellphone for long periods can carry certain risks, like getting dirty looks from those around you. But allergies?

In recent years, dermatologists have seen a small but growing number of people with itchy rashes along their jaw lines, face and ears which go away when cellphone use is discontinued.

The reason, studies suggest, is an allergy to metals in the phones, most often nickel.

Women are more likely to be affected because they are often sensitised to it by ear piercings and metal jewellery, said Dr Clifford Bassett, a New York City allergist and fellow of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, who has treated the conditions.

It is unclear how many people develop allergic reaction to their phones but the medical literature is rife with case studies.

In a typical case, described by researchers at Brown University and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2008, an 18-year-old developed a strange rash on the right side of his face.

When his cellphone headset tested positive for nickel, he switched to a nickel-free phone and the allergy cleared up.

The researchers later tested 22 popular models of cellphones and found nickel in 10 of them, mostly in the headsets and menu buttons.

For those who suspect a metal allergy, a patch test at a doctor’s office can provide confirmation, Dr Bassett said, adding that a simple swab test can reveal the presence of nickel in a phone or other product.

The Bottom Line: In people with nickel allergies, cellphones can cause an allergic reaction.

- The New York Times 

Food For Thought

When stressed or going through a difficult time, it is essential that you take the time to relax in order to replenish your mind, body, and spirit. Nurture your well-being by creating an oasis of calm in your life. Getting calm allows you to get a fresh perspective and helps you cope better physically and emotionally with your troubles. Being able to control at least one aspect of your life, in this case, time to yourself, helps you to get a grip on the rest of it. - Anonymous

Remember that you are an actor in a play, and that the Playwright chooses the manner of it: If he wants you to act a poor man you must act the part with all your powers; and so if your part be a cripple or a magistrate or a plain man. For your business is to act the character that is given you and act it well. The choice of the cast is Another’s. - Epictetus

When two texts, or two assertions, perhaps two ideas, are in contradiction, be ready to reconcile them rather than cancel one by the other; regard them as two different facets, or two successive stages, of the same reality, a reality convincingly human just because it is complex. - Marguerite Yourcenar

The Teachings Of Buddha

It is in the nature of things, however dear they may be to us, that we must separate from them, leave and depart from them. Anything that is born, that is formed and brought into being, contains within itself the qualities naturally associated with its own dissolution.

Never have anything to do with likes and dislikes. The absence of what one likes is painful, as is the presence of what one dislikes. Therefore don’t take a liking to anything. To lose what one likes is hard, but there are no bonds for those who have no likes and dislikes. From preference arises sorrow, from preference arises fear, but he who is freed from preference has no sorrow and certainly no fear. 

When the senses touch sense objects and the thoughts touch thought objects, the fires of lust and desire are kindled. Your ears hear praises of yourselves and then your thoughts think of self importance and you are fearful lest you lose the self-importance. You forget that this self is not the true self of you which is universal and deathless. 

Once you understand non-self, then the burden of life is gone. You'll be at peace with the world. When we see beyond self, we no longer cling to happiness and we can truly be happy. Learn to let go without struggle, simply let go, to be just as you are - no holding on, no attachment, free.

If a man cares not if things are thus and not thus, then provided he has no harsh thoughts, he has indeed found happiness. He has certain security for he has found freedom from grief and care. Truly, he has overcome the world. 

Improvement or degeneration, happiness or misery, are all the results of our deeds. We ourselves are moulders of our fate. No one else is to be blamed for our misery, or praised for our happiness.

Conditions all go their own natural way. Whether we laugh or cry over them, they just go their own way. And there is no knowledge of science that can prevent this natural course of things. Everything falls apart in the end.

All men tremble at punishment, all men fear death; remember that you are like unto them, and do not kill, nor cause slaughter. He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after death.

Spiritual - Quotes

If your spiritual practice and the demands of your everyday life are not in harmony, it means there's something wrong with the way you are practicing. Your practice should satisfy your dissatisfied mind while providing solutions to the problems of everyday life. If it doesn't, check carefully to see what you really understand about your religious practice. - Anonymous

You are here because this existence needs you as you are. Otherwise somebody else would have been here and the existence would not have helped you to be here, wouldn’t have created you. You are fulfilling something very essential, something very fundamental as you are !!! - Anonymous

When we inhale, the air comes into the inner world. When we exhale, the air goes out to the outer world. The inner world is limitless, and the outer world is also limitless. We say "inner world" or "outer world" but actually, There is just one whole world. - Shunryu Suzuki-roshi 

When you are deluded and full of doubt, even a thousand books of scripture are not enough. When you have realized understanding, even one word is too much. - Fen-yang

When the Light of Purpose illuminates our lives, we will see clearly the Path on which we are to walk. - George Petavine

Something For The Creditors

              The doctor shook his head sadly and said in a mournful voice. “I’m sorry to say that you are suffering from a severe case of bronchial pneumonia and, as you know, it is extremely contagious.”

              With a deep sigh, the patient slowly turned to his wife and in a pathetically weak voice said, “Dear, if any of our creditors start hounding you again, tell them I’m finally in a position to give them something.”

Happiness

All of us seek happiness. All of us want to be happy, and free of suffering. Nobody wants to be sad, miserable and unhappy. And yet, there are so many unhappy people around. Why is happiness so elusive? Or is it really? Maybe the fault lies in our looking for happiness in the wrong places, in our not understanding what happiness means, and what makes us happy.

Due to ignorance, we strive to find happiness in places where it cannot be found. We keep on doing this because superficial appearances delude us into thinking that it can be found where we seek it – within the world of desires and senses. However, true happiness cannot be found there. Thus, our efforts lead us to more frustration and unhappiness.

So where can happiness be found? How can one be happy? What is the definition of happiness? Perhaps the answer lies in the following words of wisdom.

Happiness ...

… doesn’t depend on any external conditions, it is governed by our mental attitude. - Dale Carnegie 

… isn’t the easiest thing to find, but one place you’re guaranteed to find it is in a friend’s smile. - Allison Poler 

… grows at our own firesides, and is not to be picked in strangers’ gardens. - Douglas Jerrold

… comes only when we push our brains and hearts to the farthest reaches of which we are capable. - Leo C. Rosten

… often sneaks in through a door you didn’t know you left open. - John Barrymore

… does not consist in pastimes and amusements, but in virtuous activities. - Aristotle

… depends more on the inward Disposition of mind than on the outward Circumstances. - Benjamin Franklin

… makes up in height what it lacks in length. - Robert Frost

… walks on busy feet. - Kitte Turmell

… does not depend on how much you have to enjoy, but how much you enjoy what you have.

… begins with a light hearted and cheerful perception of the world.

… lies in our own backyard, but it’s probably well hidden by crabgrass. 

Proverbs

A proverb is much matter decocted into a few words. - Thomas Fuller

Make sure to be in with your equals if you’re going to fall out with your superiors. - Unknown

If you don’t go into the cave of the tiger, how are you going to get its cub? - Unknown

First secure an independent income, then practice virtue. - Unknown

He that makes himself a sheep shall be eaten by a wolf. - Unknown

Do not throw the arrow that will return against you. - Unknown

Gratitude is the heart’s memory. - Unknown

Charity sees the need, not the cause. - Unknown

He who borrows sells his freedom. - Unknown

If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.- Unknown

Grey hair is a sign of age, not of wisdom. - Unknown

The believer is happy; the doubter is wise. - Unknown

Call on God, but row away from the rocks. - Unknown

Use your enemy’s hand to catch a snake. - Unknown

If you scatter thorns, don’t go barefoot. - Unknown

It is not enough to aim; you must hit. - Unknown

The best armour is to keep out of range. - Unknown

A hungry dog will eat dirty puddings. - Unknown

Clothes make the man. - Unknown